11 Short English Conversation Phrases

Presented by Ganesh Kumar for Learn English Lab (https://www.youtube.com/c/LearnEnglishLab)

Watch the full video here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6STn5BwVGKE

Lesson notes
Hello there, and welcome back to Learn English Lab. In this lesson, I’m going to teach you 11 short
conversation phrases that you can use when you talk to people. These are all common English
expressions, and they will help you sound more like a native speaker of the language. So, let’s jump
into it.

1. I’m afraid
This phrase does not show fear; it doesn’t mean that you’re scared. This is a polite expression used
to say something negative, and it’s very useful. For example, say someone calls an office and asks to
speak to the manager. His secretary is the one answering the call.

CALLER: “Hello. Could I speak to Mr. Peterson, please?”

SECRETARY: “I’m afraid he’s not here right now.”

Or, let’s say one of your friends wants to borrow money from you.

FRIEND: “Hey, I’m broke. Can you lend me $500 until next month?”
YOU: “I’m afraid I can’t, sorry. I’m out of cash myself.”

Here, “I’m broke” means “I don’t have any money”. And “Can you lend me $500 until next month?”
means “I’ll pay you back next month.”

In a meeting at your workplace, one of your colleagues says something that you disagree with, but
you want to be polite, so you say,

“I’m afraid I don’t agree with you.”

In all of these sentences, “I’m afraid” doesn’t mean that you are scared of anything; it just adds
politeness to what you’re saying. So, get into the habit of using “I’m afraid” to make negative
messages a little softer.

2. ASAP
This is an acronym (that is, a short form) of “as soon as possible”. But, the short form is so common
that you can use it as a single word – you can say “a-sap” – “asap”. We use this most commonly
when we request someone to do something immediately. Your boss at work might say:

BOSS: “Send me the report ASAP.”

Or, if you phone somebody but they’re not available; someone else answers the phone, you can say:

“Please tell her to call me back ASAP.”

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One of your friends wants to apply for a job but hasn’t sent in the job application yet and the
deadline is fast approaching. So, you give advice to your friend. You say,

“If you want to apply for the job, you should send in your application ASAP.”

Remember that ASAP simply means “as soon as possible”.

3. Not really
This expression just means “no”, but it’s a more soft and polite “no”. Let’s say you go to a party at
your friend Tom’s house, but the party isn’t all that good; it’s boring and the food’s terrible. But
another friend, who’s thoroughly enjoying it, comes to you and asks:

FRIEND: “Hey, are you having a good time?”

YOU: “Not really.”

You want to say “no” but you want to say it in a soft way. At the same party, you meet a guy who
just loves golf:

GUY: “Are you into golf?”

YOU: “Not really.”

You say, “not really” because you don’t want to say “no” and be rude, so you make it a little more
polite.

A couple of days later, your friend, Tom, who threw the party finds out that you didn’t like it; he calls
you up and he asks angrily:

TOM: “Hey, have you been telling people that my party sucked?”
YOU: “Not really. That’s not what I’ve been saying to people.”

Your mom overhears the phone conversation; she comes to you and she asks,

MOM: “What was that all about? Did you just have a fight with Tom?”
YOU: “Not really. It was just a small argument. But we’re good.”

4. Good stuff!
You say this to congratulate or encourage someone.

FRIEND: “I joined a gym today because I want to get in shape.”

YOU: “Good stuff!”

That means, “That’s good to hear.”, “You’ve done a good thing.” or “Congratulations!”

If the news is not just good, but great, you can say “great stuff”. I said this to my niece one time:

NIECE: “Uncle Gan, I just got accepted to law school!”

ME: “Great stuff! I’m really happy for you.”

Another time I said this was when I ran into my neighbor the other day:

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 ME: “Hey, Raj. You look happy. What’s the occasion?”
RAJ: “I got a promotion at work recently.”
ME: “Great stuff, man! That is fantastic news!”

5. I’m sorry to hear that

If the news is not so good, then you say, “I’m sorry to hear that”. “Sorry” does not mean that you are
apologizing; it just shows that you feel bad for the other person:

KAMAL: “I didn’t get accepted to Harvard university.”

FRANCIS: “I’m sorry to hear that. Have you tried applying to Stanford?”

SHAYNA: “I got laid off from work recently.”

BRIDGETTE: “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. But, keep your chin up. I’m sure you’ll find
another job soon.”

“I got laid off” means “I was fired from my job.”

CARLY: “Our house burned down, and we lost everything.”

SYED: “I’m really sorry to hear that.”

6. Give me a hand
This expression is just a fancy way of asking for help. You’re not actually asking for a hand, so this is
an idiom; it’s informal, it’s conversational and it makes you sound more like a native speaker. For
example, let’s say you’re trying to move some boxes, but they’re too heavy for you. So, you ask
someone else to help you with them:

“Can you give me a hand with these boxes?”

At work, one of your colleagues asks you for help:

COLLEAGUE: “I’m writing an important email, but I’m having trouble wording it correctly.
Can you give me a hand?”

You can also use this expression to offer help by saying “give you a hand”:

“Can I give you a hand with those bags?”

It means you’re offering to help someone carry some bags.

7. You’re kidding me!

The word “kidding” means “joking”. You say this phrase when you’re angry, annoyed or irritated, as
if you can’t believe how bad the situation is. Let’s say you let a friend borrow your cell phone for a
while. But then your friend comes back to you and says:

FRIEND: “I dropped your phone by mistake and the screen’s cracked. I’m really sorry.”
YOU: “You’re kidding me! This is a joke, right? Don’t tell me you actually dropped my
expensive iPhone!”

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Or if you get to the airport late for a flight, the person at the check-in counter might refuse to check
you in, and you might say this expression in anger:

CHECK-IN OFFICER: “I’m afraid I can’t check you in. You’re too late and the gate’s closed.”
YOU: “Are you kidding me? I’m only two minutes late!”

I remember back when I was in school, I worked very hard studying for a test. It was the most
confident I’d ever been about an exam. But, then when the results came, this other kid in my class
told me I had failed, and I couldn’t believe it!

CLASSMATE: “Hey, the test results are in, and you failed.”
ME: “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

This is the strongest form of this expression: “You’ve got to be kidding me”. Thankfully, he was
kidding that time; not only did I pass the test, I got an A+. I was first in class. Believe that!

8. Fair enough
It means, “I can accept that” or “That sounds acceptable/reasonable.” Imagine that you’re in a
restaurant with a business contact. You ask:

YOU: “Do you want to try the chicken parmesan?”

JACOB: “I can’t eat that. I’m a vegetarian.”
YOU: “OK, fair enough. Maybe we can have eggplant parmesan instead.”

“Fair enough” here means, “I understand” or “That’s reasonable.”

Or, let’s say your friend interviewed for a job and got the job but decided not to take it. You ask:

YOU: “Why didn’t you take the job?”

FRIEND: “Because the pay was too low.”
YOU: “Fair enough. I can understand.”

Here’s a conversation between two students in the school cafeteria:

ROSIE: “I forgot my wallet. Can you pay for my lunch today? I’ll pay for yours tomorrow.”
SARAH: “Fair enough. That works for me.”

9. I couldn’t care less

We use this fancy expression to say that we absolutely do not care about something. I once asked a
friend of mine this question:

ME: “Who do you think really invented calculus: Newton or Leibniz?”

FRIEND: “Man, I hate math. I couldn’t care less who invented it.”

You can feel his distaste for mathematics in that sentence. Of course, you can dislike things other
than mathematics.

FRIEND: “What’s your favorite soap opera?”

ME: “I couldn’t care less about soap operas.”

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If you don’t know what a soap opera is, it’s basically any long-running TV series that is a drama.

Remember to use this expression next time one of your annoying friends wants to gossip about
celebrities:

FRIEND: “Hey, guess which celebrity couple just divorced.”

YOU: “Please don’t tell me. I couldn’t care less.”

10. Sick and tired

This is kind of related to the previous one, but this expression is more serious. It means you’re fed
up, you just cannot tolerate something. For example:

ME: “I’m not going to watch the news anymore. I’m sick and tired of all the negativity.”

I read in the newspaper today about a group of factory workers going on strike. One of them was
quoted as saying,

FACTORY WORKER: “We’re going on strike because we’re sick and tired of not getting paid
on time month after month.”

Now, my brother is a very smart guy. But he often tends to get stuck in a rut – that means, he
sometimes does the same things over and over again. So, when I went to visit last month, I asked
him,

ME: “Aren’t you sick and tired of eating macaroni and cheese for breakfast every single
day?”

Can you guess what he said? He said, “Not really.”

11. I’d better get going / I’ve got to go / I’ve got to run
These are some polite yet stylish ways of saying goodbye:

“I have to pick up my kids from school. I’d better get going.”

“I’ve got to go. Catch you later.”

“It’s getting late. I’ve got to run.”

The “got to” sounds like “gotta” in natural speech. These all mean the same thing: there is some
reason why you cannot stay and chat; you have to go.

And, with that, I hope you enjoyed this lesson. I’d love to stick around, but there’s some place I need
to be, so I’d better get going. Happy learning, and I will see you in another lesson soon!

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More lessons:
 100 English Sentences You Can Use in Conversation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dRuy1VLCiQ&list=PLmwr9polMHwsI6vWZkm3W_VE7
cWtYVjix
 1 Simple Trick to Become FLUENT in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0qT4cK-
wtk&list=PLmwr9polMHwsI6vWZkm3W_VE7cWtYVjix
 50 Words You are Pronouncing WRONG:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdtUjWb0O9w&list=PLmwr9polMHwtOrZVwGuiN8xLu
p5elPE6f
 10 Brand Names You are Pronouncing WRONG:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LoTF_B8vrU&list=PLmwr9polMHwtOrZVwGuiN8xLup
5elPE6f
 Most Common MISTAKES in English & How to Avoid Them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dax90QyXgI&list=PLmwr9polMHwsR35rD9spEhjFUFa
7QblF9
 HAVE BEEN / HAS BEEN / HAD BEEN:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhSqfzaMuLM&list=PLmwr9polMHwsR35rD9spEhjFUF
a7QblF9
 POWER Writing - Write ANYTHING in English Easily (Essays, Emails, Letters Etc.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT_D68RJ5T8&list=PLmwr9polMHwtPulG3q4SrSNIZzlJl
2gXf

Playlists:
 FLUENCY development lessons:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwsI6vWZkm3W_VE7cWtYVjix
 PRONUNCIATION lessons:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwtOrZVwGuiN8xLup5elPE6f
 GRAMMAR lessons:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwsR35rD9spEhjFUFa7QblF9
 MODAL VERBS (Could, Would, Should, May, Might, Must etc.):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwvGTssgSU9KWEm2T4WiWaTj
 PARTS OF SPEECH:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwsQmAjoAxtFvwk_PaqQeS68
 ARTICLES (a, an, the):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwsbkqz6kU5e6MgpvaYrpKfX

11 Short English Conversation Phrases 6