Learn the top five British English phrases teachers want to hear
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Hi, I’m Gabriella. |
| Gina: And I’m Gina. The Top Five Useful Phrases From Your Hosts. |
| BODY |
| Gabriella: Hosts? You mean us? |
| Gina: Well, mainly you. You’re best with these lists! |
| Gabriella: Okay! Let’s give our listeners the best phrases we can, huh? |
| Gina: I’m counting on you! |
| Gabriella: All right! Oh, that’s our first phrase, by the way – “all right”. |
| Gina: All right, that’s a good place to start! |
| Gabriella: All right can mean so many different things in so many different situations. When you used it just now, you were confirming that you agree with “all right” being used as a phrase. |
| Gina: Yes, I was saying that it was okay, that I agreed. What about other meanings? |
| Gabriella: If I were to say “all right?” with a rising intonation so that it sounds like a question, it’s the same as asking if you’re okay. |
| Gina: It can also be a greeting, too, in some parts of the UK. You’d use it with friends and people you already know as it’s a colloquial way of saying both “hello” and “how are you” all in one go. |
| Gabriella: That’s right. You’d answer back with “all right,” usually if you were feeling good and wanted to greet them back. |
| Gina: It’s very all-purpose. If someone is struggling with something and you want to know if they need help, you can say “all right?” too. |
| Gabriella: You can, yeah. The next phrase is “come on”. |
| Gina: Again, this has many different meanings depending on the circumstances. |
| Gabriella: Yeah, it does. A lot of slang terms do! It can be used as an encouragement, such as “come on, you can do it!” or to ask someone to follow you, “come on, let’s go!” |
| Gina: It can also be used to show frustration, “oh come on!” [loud and disbelieving voice] |
| Gabriella: Yeah, you need to make your frustration heard by being loud, just like you were. You can also use it to show you don’t believe somebody “come on, you don’t expect me to believe that?” |
| Gina: If you drag out the words “come on…” [drag out] it sounds more disbelieving and the rest of the sentence isn’t needed. |
| Gabriella: Next is another word for which intonation is very important too, and that word is “sure”. |
| Gina: What do you mean by saying that intonation is very important for this word? |
| Gabriella: How you say it changes its meaning. Ask me to do something… |
| Gina: Um, okay. Can you explain what the differences in intonation mean? |
| Gabriella: Sure! [firm] With a firm “sure”, like that, it means that I am certain I can do it. Now, Gina, ask me the same question again. |
| Gina: Um, okay. Can you explain what the differences in intonation mean? |
| Gabriella: Sure… [drag out, uncertain]. There, I was a lot more uncertain and spoke slower – it means that I’m not certain I can explain and even that I may not want to do it. I suppose this “sure” is similar to saying either “I guess” or “if I must”. |
| Gina: Ah, I see what you mean now. It’s the same word but the different intonation really changes the meaning. You can use it one more way though. If you say it in a sarcastic and lower tone, like “sure” [sarcastically], it means you’re questioning whatever you’ve heard. |
| Gabriella: You’d never question me, though would you? You always trust my explanations. |
| Gina: Sure [sarcastically] (laughs), no, I do believe you! I believe you so much that I’m looking forward to phrase number four. |
| Gabriella: Thanks. You should definitely not use this phrase to describe my explanations, okay? The fourth phrase is “it’s rubbish”. |
| Gina: I wouldn’t dare! |
| Gabriella: “Rubbish” is the common word in the UK for trash, garbage or refuse. It means something of little worth that should be thrown out. |
| Gina: It can also be used as an adjective to describe things that are bad, or of little worth. |
| Gabriella: Yes. It’s a good word to remember because although it is a negative adjective and a casual term, it’s not a rude one. If you say that something is “rubbish”, the word itself won’t cause any more offense than saying something is bad. |
| Gina: You can also use it as a verb though, right? |
| Gabriella: Yes. In this case it means to “criticise” or “dismiss” something. I could say “don’t rubbish the idea” or “they rubbished my proposal”. |
| Gina: Let’s hope that we don’t need to rubbish your last choice of phrase. |
| Gabriella: Ahh, there’s no chance of rubbishing this last one, because it is “no chance.” |
| Gina: Oh, very clever. So, tell the listeners what “no chance” means. |
| Gabriella: It means that something will definitely not happen. If it is the middle of summer and blazing hot, then there is no chance of it snowing in the next five minutes. It just will not happen. |
| Gina: So it can be used to describe things that will 100%, not happen. |
| Gabriella: Yes. If someone asks you your opinion on something and you think it is impossible, then you can say “no chance.” |
| Gina: Okay. Gabriella, do you think that Manchester City will win the next Manchester derby? |
| Gabriella: I think that they have no chance! Or, I could just say “no chance” and it would mean the same. |
| Gina: Right, thank you! |
Outro |
|---|
| Gina: That’s five phrases, so that means this lesson is finished. And so is this series! Thanks for listening, everyone. |
| Gabriella: We hope you enjoyed the series and found it useful, We’ll see you in another series on EnglishClass101.com! |
| Gina: Yeah, see you again. Goodbye! |
| Gabriella: Bye! |
Comments
Hide