AVOID Repeating These Words in Daily English Conversation Use These Alternative Words
- Hello everyone and welcome
back to English with Lucy.
Today I’m going to talk to
you about five very boring,
overused words, yes, no,
sorry, thank you, and okay.
These are words that we use all the time
in daily English conversation,
and I’m going to give
you some more advanced,
more specialised alternatives
that you can use on a daily basis.
This is perfect for you,
if you don’t want to repeat
yourself over and over again.
There’s nothing worse than feeling
that you’re repeating yourself.
Well, actually, there might
be some worse things in life.
Before we get started,
I would just like to thank
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Right, let’s get started with the lesson.
Okay, let’s start with the word yes.
I’m pretty confident that
most of you know this word,
I bet you can’t even remember
when you learnt this word.
In English, we have lots of
alternatives for this word,
but learners of English
will often find themselves
just using the word yes,
instead of the alternatives.
I have got seven for you today,
the first one is this one, yep, yep.
Now this is usually
used in spoken English,
and it’s quite informal.
It’s a non-standard spelling of yes,
and it represents the
pronunciation, yep, yep.
“Have you done your homework?”
“Yep, yep, I have.”
We use it all the time, especially
in casual conversations,
but when I was teaching students
in person, I would use it
and they would look at me
with a face of confusion.
It’s not a word that you
often find in textbooks,
an alternative for this which
is used more in America,
you’ll still find it in Britain,
but because it’s a spoken word
rather than a written word,
this next alternative represents
the American pronunciation
more, its, yap, yap.
We also have number three,
which is yeah, yeah.
This can be spelled in a variety of ways,
but it’s normally used in spoken English,
and it is just a casual way of saying yes,
and I imagine if we did a study
of every single sentence uttered
by English speakers across the world,
I feel that yeah, would
be more common than yes.
I feel that I hear it more than yes.
Yes has lots of emphasis,
it’s more formal.
Yeah, is more casual,
and it’s easier to say in my opinion.
Now, number four, is slightly more formal,
and it is used to respond
usually to a request.
It’s certainly, certainly.
We also have the more American
version which is sure, sure.
“Can you drive me home today?”
“Sure, certainly.”
Now, because in the UK,
we watch a lot of American TV
programmes and American films,
we are becoming more used to
using Americanisms like sure,
so it’s definitely something
that we will understand
and potentially use.
An additional alternative number six is,
of course, of course.
Now the last one, or should
I say the last three,
but I’ve grouped them into one,
they’re not necessarily a
direct translation of yes,
but they’re used in place of yes.
They are I do, I will, and I have,
and there are many others as well.
I’m talking about echoing a question.
For example, “Do you like kittens?”
Instead of saying, yes,
you could say I do.
“Will you have a kitten soon?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Have you bought an excessive
amount of cute kitten toys?”
Yes or I have.
I just thought I’d mention that one there,
so if you find yourself saying yes, a lot,
you can switch it up and
say something different.
Now, what comes next?
I’ll give you a few
seconds to guess, it’s no.
So in the yes section I
mentioned yep and yap,
we have that informal
variant of no as well,
it is nope, nope.
“Did you do your homework?”
“Nope, nope.”
Again, as with yep, I think
that we use nope, more than no.
I would like a scientist
to do a study into this,
it’s something I want to know about,
but I don’t care enough to do it myself.
Another alternative, which
is potentially used more
in America, and it’s
definitely not formal,
you would not want to say
this to your boss, nah, nah.
I use this a lot actually,
I’d use it with my friends,
I use it to express a bit of disgust.
“Do you want this for dinner?”
“Urgh, nah, nah”
I might also use it if I’m
expressing a bit of disbelief.
“Nah, no I don’t believe that, nah”
Another one which is very
forceful, no way, no way.
There is no way in hell that
I’m going to do that, no way.
Now, I’m not sure if you know this,
but British people love to say
please, thank you, and sorry,
sorry, especially all the time,
so it should come as no surprise,
that sorry, is a perfectly
fine alternative for no.
This is global, but especially in Britain.
“Are you coming tonight?”
“Sorry.”
I don’t even have to say
no, just a sorry, we’ll do.
Something that’s slightly
less strong is not likely,
not likely, rather than
saying it’s not likely,
just not likely, will do.
“Do you think you’ll get
a promotion this year?”
“Not likely, no, I don’t think
“that I will get a promotion this year.”
Now another really forceful
one, we can say absolutely not,
or certainly not.
I love that word,
and I’m noticing it growing
in popularity at the moment.
Everyone seems to be saying absolutely,
so get on board the absolutely
train, absolutely not.
“Will you go out with him again?”
“Absolutely not, certainly not.”
If you want to express no in
another apologetic way we have,
unfortunately not, unfortunately not.
Or we also have, I’m
afraid not, I’m afraid not,
and don’t get this confused,
because to be afraid of something
is to be scared of something,
but if I say I’m afraid not,
it means I’m sorry.
You know, I’m scared to tell you this
because I’m so sorry about it, but no.
We also have, if only, if only,
short for if only I could.
“Can you come tonight?”
“If only, if only I could but I can’t.”
It’s implying that you can’t,
and finally one to use if
you’re offered something
or you’re offered an experience
and you want to decline it,
I’ll pass, short for I’ll
pass on that, no, thank you.
Right, let’s move on to
Britain’s favourite word, sorry.
I’ve got five alternatives for you.
The first one is I didn’t
mean it or I didn’t mean to.
Most of these can be used
in conjunction with sorry,
so don’t worry, Brits watching,
you can still use your favourite word.
“I didn’t mean to run over your toe.”
To run over something implies
that you have gone over it
with your car wheel.
Another one, it was wrong of me.
“It was wrong of me to
put your white work shirts
“in with my red knickers.”
You’ve got pink work shirts now.
Alternatively, you could
say I was wrong to.
“I was wrong to go to
the concert without you,
“to go and see your
favourite band without you.”
Also we have I should never have.
“I should never have worn
white on your wedding day.”
True story, I didn’t wear
white, but I went to a wedding
and a girl was wearing a
white bridal-style dress,
is this okay in your culture?
Let me know because it’s not okay in ours,
didn’t say anything just judged silently.
Now the last one, this is
definitely an Americanism,
it’s come over to the UK,
and it’s very, very casual
and can sometimes be considered obnoxious
if used in an incorrect
situation so be careful with it,
but it is my bad, my bad.
Now I remember being a young child
and hearing this on
programmes like Friends,
and I didn’t really
understand what it meant.
I was always taught to
say sorry, of course,
because I grew up in Britain
and it’s our favourite word,
but I remember hearing my
bad and thinking your bad,
like you are bad?
No, my bad, it’s a very casual,
fairly impolite way of saying sorry,
it’s okay to use it with your friends
and if it’s not a serious mistake.
Okay, let’s move on to
thank you, thank you.
I have got eight
alternatives for thank you,
lots to do here.
The first one is you’re
a star, you’re a star,
or you’re an absolute star,
we’re using the absolute word.
Instead of saying thank you,
we’re just telling someone
that they’re so wonderful,
and we appreciate them so much.
Very similar is you’re a
life-saver, you’re a life-saver.
So that means that
somebody has done something
that has saved you a lot of trouble.
Maybe you left your phone on a train,
and somebody managed to
get in contact with you
and give it back to you,
“Ah, you’re a lifesaver,
you’ve saved my life.”
“You’ve brought me my smartphone
back and that is my life.”
Another way of showing that
you really appreciate someone,
I don’t know what I’d do without you.
I don’t know what I’d do without you,
very similar to life-saver.
Another one which is a good
way to respond to a compliment
because if you’re lucky enough
to receive lots of compliments,
you might find yourself saying
thank you, thanks, thank you,
thanks all the time, and that’s
a wonderful problem to have.
But another phrase that we
can use is, I appreciate that,
I appreciate it, I appreciate that.
Yeah, it’s a nice one,
so next time you receive
lots and lots of compliments,
you can switch between,
thank you, I appreciate that,
thanks, I appreciate it.
Ah, you’re just so lucky
to have me aren’t you?
I have equipped you for your
next influx of compliments.
You’re welcome.
Now something you can say
if someone has made an
extra effort for you,
if they’ve gone above and beyond
that means to make an extra effort,
you can say you shouldn’t
have, you shouldn’t have
and this doesn’t literally mean,
you shouldn’t have done something,
it’s obviously done with a smile.
It means you shouldn’t have
gone to so much effort,
thank you so much.
Finally, we have three informal ones.
One is extremely British, and
there was actually a study,
the other day, the other day,
I mean a couple of years ago
in a very unreliable newspaper,
but I enjoyed reading it,
saying that this word has
now replaced thank you.
It is cheers, cheers, and this
is typically something we say
when we bash our drinks
together before drinking them,
but now it’s something we
use instead of thank you.
“Cheers, cheers, mate,
thank you for that.”
Another one, which I don’t like,
and I’ve said this before
in a video, I don’t like it.
At nurseries and at schools,
they encourage the children to
say ta instead of thank you,
because it’s easier to say,
but when someone says,
“Ah, tah, tah very much.”
I just think it sounds
like they’re not putting in enough effort,
but maybe I just need to get over myself,
and then the last one is
fab, short for fabulous.
It’s just a way of saying, great,
thank you so much fab, that’s fab.
Okay, lastly, on to
overused word number five,
it’s okay, okay.
I have got five here for you.
The first one is okey-dokey, okey-dokey,
or is it Ned Flanders from the Simpsons
that says okely-dokely, maybe
don’t say that, well, you can.
Okey-dokey is very common.
It’s definitely something that’s informal.
Use it amongst friends.
Potentially don’t write it
in formal academic writing.
Definitely don’t use it in
formal academic writing.
Another very plain and simple
alternative is all right,
all right, okay, all right,
they are almost exactly the same.
We also have very well, very well
which almost implies a
little bit of displeasure.
“Very well if that’s what you want.”
Next, we have right-oh, right-oh,
and this is one that
has come from my fiance,
I asked him just before
writing this script,
if he can think of any
other alternatives for okay,
and he said right-oh
and this is definitely one that is used
by the older generation, I think,
but I think it’s a lovely one,
and these older kind of
more old fashioned words
do come back in fashion.
If I were to say to him,
“Oh, by the way,
“my mom’s coming over for lunch.”
“Right-oh, good, okay.”
And the last one, one that is
very commonly used in Britain
when we don’t want to express,
positive or negative emotions
about something, fair enough,
fair enough, okay, I have
no feelings about this.
Right, that was it for today’s lesson.
I hope you enjoyed it, and I
hope you learned something.
Please feel free to share
any other alternatives
that you can think of,
or any alternatives that
you use in your own language
that might not necessarily
translate into English,
but might be interesting.
I’m always interested in where you’re from
and what kind of words you use.
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I will see you soon for
another lesson, mwah.
(gentle music)