50 Advanced Phrases For English Conversations
Hello I’m Emma from mmmEnglish!
This video is perfect for intermediate to advanced
English learners who want to improve their skills
in English conversations.
So I’m gonna share the exact phrases and expressions
that you need to do things in English conversations
like when you want to interrupt someone
or you want to change the topic.
Maybe when you need to end a conversation
and lots of others as well.
In fact, I’m sharing fifty useful phrases that will help you
in English conversations, all useful expressions
that you need to improve your speaking skills
and to help you maintain conversations for longer.
So I hope you’re ready. Let’s get into it!
Now a lot can happen during a conversation.
Talking about the topic is one important part
but to speak fluently and to speak with ease,
you need to have a range of conversation tools
up your sleeve because there are lots
of other shifts and changes that happen
during a conversation
depending on who you’re talking to,
what’s going on around you and
whether or not you’re interested or not.
Right now we’re going to focus on the tools
that you need to move around
in your conversations easily and naturally.
Alright and if you make it through to the very end of this
video, I’m gonna share some advanced expressions
to help you talk about controversial topics
to help you express your ideas when you know
that not everyone’s gonna agree with you
right and you want to prepare them for that.
Now if that sounds a little too intense for you
and maybe you want to start by focusing on
simpler conversation strategies about
just starting a conversation with someone,
then I recommend that you first watch
this lesson up here.
So conversations are always two ways, right?
That’s what makes a conversation.
So as you give your opinion or you share something,
it’s always nice to invite the other person’s opinion right?
And this is a really important strategy to help you
extend your conversations,
asking for other people’s opinions.
So what do you say when you’re asking for other
people’s opinions?
Well quite simply, you could ask “Do you agree?”
Very basic. It’s quite closed that question, so what about
if you opened up that question
to get a more interesting answer?
What do you think about that?
What’s your opinion?
Or how do you feel about it?
If you want to make it a little more polite, you might say.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on that.
Or I’m interested to hear your opinion about this.
And more formally,
maybe if you were at a meeting at work,
you know you might ask
“Would you like to add anything?”
And this is just, you know, a nice sort of
polite way of inviting other people into the conversation
to share their opinion.
So what about what to say when you want to interrupt?
When someone else is talking
and you want to interrupt them,
well there are definitely ways to do it rudely
but of course, there are many ways to do it
politely as well. Sometimes you have to
interrupt in conversations.
So of course, you could say “Sorry”
“Excuse me” is a little more polite
and then you can actually lead straight on
with your different idea or your opinion there.
Sorry I thought our meeting was on Thursday next week
not Wednesday.
You know it’s just a little brief interjection
to help you share a different opinion
or a different thought.
Now you can informally interrupt someone to
add an idea to a conversation by saying
“Do you mind if I add to that?” or
“Can I jump in here?”
and that literally means can I jump into the conversation
right now at this point. I’ve got something to share.
I want to say it.
Now there are some more polite ways to express this
as well. You might say
“Sorry to interrupt but I’ve got something to say”
Or “Sorry for interrupting”
Now there’s not a lot of difference between those two.
I would just say that
“Sorry to interrupt”
is probably used more when you’re speaking directly
to the person that you’re interrupting
and then maybe if you’re stepping into a room full of
people talking, a meeting room or something like that,
then you might say
“Sorry for interrupting,
I just needed to share something with you.”
Now to go even more formal than that, perhaps if you’re
working in a hotel and you need to interrupt a customer,
you might say
“Sorry, may I interrupt you for just a moment?”
Or “If I may interrupt you for a minute,
I’d like to share something with you”
Oh actually, if you don’t mind me interrupting
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Okay. Where was I?
That was a good example of what to say
when you’ve gone off topic.
If you go off topic, it means that you started
talking about something, so for example apples,
but while you were talking you started
to talk about something else, you know, maybe you got
distracted or you got excited and went off
telling a different story.
Or even the other person that you’re talking to
has gone off topic and you’re thinking
“How on earth did we end up talking about potatoes?”
You’ve got to get your conversation back on track right?
And it really is just that simple shift in the conversation.
So here’s how to do it.
So anyway, getting back to my story..
As I was saying…
Where was I?
Ah yes…
You can also combine
some of these expressions together.
So anyway, where were we?
Ah yes… You were talking about apples!
What to say when you think you understood
but you need to double-check.
These are really important expressions to learn,
to help you as you’re listening
so that you can feel more confident about your answers,
you know, when you’re answering someone else’s
question, this is just a little check
to make sure you’re answering it accurately.
So if you didn’t quite hear perfectly, you could say
“So what you’re asking is…”
and then repeat back what you heard.
So, what you want to know is…
and then repeat.
Do you mean?
And then paraphrase what you heard
or you could say
“In other words, what you’re saying is…”
and this is a really natural part of conversation.
Native speakers are not gonna care if you ask them
to confirm what they said because it just makes it
much easier to continue the conversation, right?
If you’re working in customer service, maybe at a hotel
or at a restaurant or something like that
then using the verb ‘confirm’ is a little more
formal. You might say
“I’d like to confirm what you said”
or “Excuse me, can I just confirm that/what you said”
Naturally, we agree and we disagree with people
all of the time right and there are so many
different ways to do this in English.
Agreeing is pretty simple right, you can just say
“Yes! Absolutely!”
to say that you agree.
I completely agree with you!
And we have this really fantastic expression which is
“I couldn’t agree more”
I couldn’t possibly agree more.
I really strongly agree with you.
But what to say to somewhat disagree?
Now all of these examples are ways to say that you
accept some of the ideas that the other person
has shared but you don’t completely agree with them.
Okay so you might say
“I see what you mean but…”
and then express, you know, a different opinion.
I understand your point of view but…
I can see where you’re coming from but…
I agree with you up to a point, however…
I’ve got a different opinion.
So then what to say when you disagree completely?
I don’t feel the same way.
Actually, I don’t quite agree or I disagree.
I’m afraid I don’t agree with you on that
or about that.
Now this is quite an interesting English expression.
“I’m afraid”
We use it when we’re trying to make a statement
more polite not just to say that we’re worried
or we’re scared.
I’m afraid I can’t help you.
I’m afraid we’ve run out of sausages.
So it’s just a way of making those statements
a little more polite and you can do the same thing
when you’re disagreeing.
I’m afraid I don’t agree with you.
So to be quite formal when you disagree,
then try to add a word like ‘respectfully’
Respectfully, I have to disagree.
And then if you feel like your conversation isn’t
going anywhere maybe there’s a bit of tension,
people are getting frustrated and annoyed
and you want to change the topic.
Well, we’ll have to agree to disagree then.
It’s a way to end the discussion,
especially when it’s getting a little heated
and change the topic a little.
Now of course in English, you can be quite rude
with your body language when you’re disagreeing
with someone.
So in formal situations or when you want to be
really polite, try to be aware of what your body is doing.
So avoid shaking your head or
rolling your eyes or sighing.
You know? Unless you really want that other person
to see that you’re frustrated or you’re annoyed with them
Speaking of changing the topic,
what do you say when you want to do that in English?
What to say to change the topic?
Now this is useful.
You might want to change the topic for a few different
reasons. It could be as simple as
you’ve run out of things to say about the topic.
So instead of ending the conversation,
you can simply change the topic and change direction.
That reminds me…
Or speaking about or speaking of that…
You know this is a really useful expression or a way of
you know kind of linking two ideas in a conversation.
Speaking about your holiday to Greece,
did I tell you that I’ve got a trip
planned later in the year?
But maybe you just want to introduce something
completely different.
So then you could try
“Oh, by the way, did I tell you about this?”
Or “Oh, while I remember…”
Or “Before I forget
I’ve got something I want to say.”
This has nothing to do with what we’re talking about but
I’ve got to share it anyway.
I know this is completely changing the topic
but I’ve got to tell you.
So what to say when you’re talking about
a controversial topic?
Now this is more advanced conversation skills
but maybe you want to talk about politics,
religion, social issues. I quite enjoy learning about
these topics and having discussions about these things
but I know that my views will not always be the same
as everyone else’s.
But that doesn’t mean that you need to avoid it, right?
You just need a few tools and a few tips
to help you keep the conversation open and positive
So when you’re introducing an idea that you feel like not
everyone’s going to agree with
then you could try saying
“I know not everyone agrees with me”
but this is what I think.
Or I know this is a contentious issue.
Contentious.
And then go in to explain.
It might be an unpopular opinion
but I strongly believe…
I don’t see eye to eye with everyone on this matter,
but I think it’s really important to discuss this.
Whilst you may not agree with my views,
I’m definitely interested in hearing yours.
I’m not trying to ruffle anyone’s feathers here.
This is a fun little idiom to say I’m not trying
to make anyone upset or angry,
you know, I’m just sharing a different opinion.
I’m not intending to ruffle anyone’s feathers.
What to say when you want to end a conversation?
So having one of these simple expressions on hand will
help you to politely end a conversation and move on.
Right we don’t want to get stuck in a conversation.
Well, I’d best be off! It’s been great chatting.
Anyway, I’d better get back to it.
Or
I better get back to work.
I’m so glad I ran into you. It’s been great catching up.
I’ll see you soon.
So there you have it!
That was over fifty common phrases to help you
have more advanced English conversations
and help you to maintain those conversations
even longer.
Now all of these tools are ones that native English
speakers use all the time in conversations.
So listen out for them in movies and podcasts.
Try to hear them in context.
Now definitely don’t try and learn all of them at once,
okay not all fifty phrases at once
but definitely choose a couple of them from each
category and really start to get familiar with them
and how to use them.
You guys know that you can catch me
over on Instagram and on Facebook
and make sure you take a look at
The Ladies' Project too, I’ve linked to it up here.
You can catch The Ladies' Project on Instagram as well
and as always you can keep practising
with me right now
right there in that lesson.