DO NOT SAY I know or I understand there are MUCH better alternatives

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hello everyone

and welcome back to english with lucy

today

i’m going to tell you why you need to

stop saying i know

and i understand to know

means to be aware of through inquiry

observation or information

now the issue is with this word it can

make you seem

like a know-it-all i know i know i know

i know

it can sound a little impolite

there are many other ways of saying that

you know something

or that you understand something i’ve

included understand in this list because

it’s very overused it’s one of the first

words that we

learn when we’re learning english

whether you understand something or if

you don’t understand something

i think it’ll be really helpful for you

to have a

bank of other phrases other words and

other interjections that you can use

in place of i know and i understand

and a lot of these have little

differences in meaning so you can make

more complex observations so

this video is perfect for expanding your

vocabulary

but if you want to improve your

pronunciation and your listening skills

even further then i highly recommend the

special method

of combining reading books with

listening to their audiobook

counterpart on audible it might sound

weird but let me explain because it

really does work

take a book that you have already read

in your own language and would like to

read in english

or simply a book that you would like to

read in english

i have got loads of recommendations in

the description box for you

and read this book whilst listening to

the audiobook version

on audible i choose audible because it’s

got almost

every book i love their subscription

model

and it’s my platform of choice i use it

all the time especially when running

reading alone will not help you with

your pronunciation because

english isn’t a strictly phonetic

language the way a word is written in

english

might not give any indication as to how

it is pronounced in english

but if you listen to a word as you read

your brain will start making connections

and the next time you see that word

you’ll know exactly

how it’s meant to sound how it’s

pronounced and the next time you hear

that word

you’ll know exactly how it’s spelt or

written it’s

such an effective method and the best

part is you can get

one free audio book that’s a 30 day free

trial on audible

all you’ve got to do is click on the

link in the description box to sign up

right let’s get back to the vocabulary

lesson

so i have got verbs near synonyms for i

know

to know and i’ve got some phrases and

interjections as well

so for this exercise i want you to

imagine that i’m a boss of a company

and i have taken inspiration from my

some one of my previous bosses

lots of shady inspiration so number one

the first synonym for to know

is to be aware of to be aware of

and this basically means to know that

something exists

for example i’m aware of the lack of

water in the office toilets

don’t worry an engineer is coming next

friday number two

is to realize to realize

and this is to understand a situation

sometimes suddenly ah i’ve just realized

i have only just become aware of

something

it can however just mean to understand

for example

i realize how frustrating it is that

your paychecks were late this month

but i couldn’t sign them because i was

on a yacht and the wi-fi was terrible

number three is to recognize to

recognize

and this is to accept that something is

legal important

or true for example i recognize

how much it means to you to have natural

light in the office

but i have very sensitive eyes

number four quite similar is to

appreciate

to appreciate this means to understand a

situation

and to realize that it’s important for

example

i appreciate why you’d like more sick

pay

but i’m afraid that people might abuse

number five is to acknowledge to

acknowledge

this means to accept or admit the

existence

or the truth of something for example i

acknowledge

that the lack of toilet paper is

frustrating but it’s not that hard to

put a couple of sheets in your pocket

each morning

and number six not an exact synonym for

either of them but i think it’s

important it is

to notice to notice which means

to see or to become conscious of

something or someone

for example i did notice that you’ve

been parking by the entrance each day

i understand that you have a bad leg but

you must be considerate of more

executive

members of staff right let’s move on to

some phrases and interjections

that you can use instead of i know or i

understand

again lots of them have little

differences

it might seem pointless that i’m giving

you the definition for each of them but

just

watch for differences because they’re

very subtle number seven is

i see i see it means i understand

and that i’m paying attention to what

someone is saying

however it does depend on tone of voice

if i say

i see it can show a bit of disapproval

so if someone were to say to me i was

off sick yesterday

because i had a stomach bug i might

reply saying

i see was there vomit because if there

wasn’t any vomit you should have come in

we can also extend this to number eight

which is i see what you mean

i really see what you mean this means

more or less the same thing but it’s

almost

further implying that you don’t really

agree for example

if a member of staff said to me i won’t

be able to finish that project tonight

because it’s my birthday and my

husband’s taking me out

i might reply with i see what you mean

i’ll offer the project to somebody more

dedicated

number nine is fair enough fair

enough this is used to show that you

understand and accept

what someone has said for example if

someone says to me

i’m not coming to the office party on

friday night because i suffer with bad

social anxiety

i might say fair enough i’ll see you on

monday you loser

number 10 is all right and we can also

say

11 which is ok these are fairly basic

i’m sure you’ve heard of them already

and these are used to especially express

that you have heard what someone has

said

more than the fact that you accept it

for example if my secretary comes to me

and says

i’d just like to remind you that your

interviewee has been waiting in the

lobby for three hours

i might say all right as in i’ve heard

you

i’ll come down after i finish this game

of solitaire

number 13 and 14 are i

see your point and i take your point

they mean the same thing these are used

to say that you understand what

someone’s saying

but it’s also used to imply that you

disagree with it for example if john

comes to me and says

i think that you need to let mary go

i might reply saying i see your point

john but i’m not sure i’m allowed to

fire someone

for not agreeing to go on a date with

you come back to me if you find a better

reason

number 15 is i don’t blame you i don’t

blame you

this is used for saying that you

understand why someone has done

something or why they feel a particular

way

for example if mary comes to me and says

i’m going to speak to hr about john hr

is human resources i might reply by

saying

i don’t blame you mary he’s a total

weirdo

but don’t tell hr i said that number 16

is a slang one i get what you mean

or even more slang i get you to get

in this case means to understand

i get you i understand you you get me

you understand me

so if cynthia were to come to me and say

i don’t think that eight minutes is long

enough for a lunch break

i might reply saying i get what you mean

cynthia but it’s calculated by an

algorithm and it’s what the computer has

decided’s best for you

number 17 even more slang is

gotcha gotcha this is a reduction it

means

i get you i’ve got you i’ve understood

you

so someone comes to me and says i’d like

to propose a salary

review i could say gotcha

you think it’s too high as well don’t

you

number 18 is i’m certain that

and this just means i know i’m certain

that i’m absolutely sure

so if someone comes to me and says i’m

feeling overwhelmed with this new

workload

i might reply saying don’t worry i’m

certain that you’ll be feeling

underwhelmed like the rest of us in no

time that’s it for today’s lesson i hope

you enjoyed it i hope you learned

something

don’t forget to claim your free

audiobook and 30 day free trial on

audible the link is in the description

box

don’t forget to connect with me on all

of my social media i’ve got my facebook

my instagram my twitter and my personal

lucy bellaire channel where i talk about

everything that

isn’t related to english i will see you

soon

for another lesson

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you