How to Talk About Your Plans in English Learn English Grammar
I mean good button has been pressed hi
Internet hello everybody welcome back to
our live stream this week we are going
to talk about making breaking and
changing plans I have three sort of
segments three groups of discussion
topics planned for today so we have a
lot to do actually maybe I prepared too
much but today in this livestream lesson
we’re going to focus a lot on using
patterns so instead of focusing on like
a grammar point we’re going to focus on
a few actually quite a few patterns you
can use to make and break break means
cancel and change your plans so that’s
going to be our topic for today
everything’s getting loaded I see the
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well Facebook I see you first YouTube I
think oh good YouTube is up hi hello um
brenno and Rodrigo and Christian and
Lewisohn Chang Hana and Oliver and
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Mohammed hi and on Facebook tarik and
Anthony and Ali and Singh hello
everybody good I don’t see Twitter yet
oh yes I do
hello Twitter I will retweet you good
okay
so everyone’s joining while we wait for
a couple of other people well a few more
people to join as they get the
notification I have a couple exciting
announcements that I want to share last
week if you joined us we you know we
talked about we talked about work kind
of idioms like workplace idioms and last
week actually maybe some of you already
saw this photo but last week we had a
really cool work collaboration so this
is something I posted this on Instagram
actually but this maybe some of you know
who she is the woman next to me this is
Trang from the very popular YouTube
channel and English resource
II like and so last week we shot a few
videos together it was a really fun
collaboration opportunity and a really
interesting chance to get to meet and
work with to work with her so we talked
last week about an expression we talked
about the expression win-win so a
win-win situation is like an agreement
where both parties or both groups
benefit they get something good in
return so this was a great example of a
win-win so there is going to be some
videos I think one video on our channel
that you guys will be able to watch and
some videos on her channel on elight
Shanna as well so this was really really
cool and I hope you guys check that out
I think it will be available maybe in
April the beginning of April or so so a
few more weeks but anyway that was
really exciting and a great example I
think of a win-win situation okay so
that’s the review as you join of course
as always please be sure to hit the like
button the heart button if you like and
share the video of course - all right
now I want to review a couple things
there were a couple of viewer questions
from last week thank you for sending
your questions actually someone asked
Samia said our game changer and
spontaneous the same thing our game
changer in spontaneous the same thing so
game changer is new information that you
get that changes your approach to a
project or to a plan spontaneous however
just means sort of random behavior so
they are quite different so spontaneous
is is an adjective
actually it’s like it’s a word that we
use to describe the behavior of
something else game changer is a noun
which refers to something that changes
our behavior so a little bit different
but I wanted to mention that oh that’s a
different thing that we’re going to talk
about in a different show isn’t it okay
right that’s a
anyway um this week as I said this week
we’re going to talk about making and
breaking and changing your plan so I
have prepared a couple of different
topics is it okay if I use the mouse for
a second Kyle sorry okay I just need to
see my notes okay it’s all yours thank
you all right so I want to begin with
some expressions for making plans some
actually quite a few patterns you can
use to make your plans so we’ve talked
about some of these before actually so
this might be review for many of you but
that’s okay so let’s take a look at the
first four patterns I want to talk about
today for making your plans yes that’s
the one
let’s take a look at these four patterns
first this one so these are all sort of
introductory phrases like you can use to
begin making your plans with these
expressions so are you doing anything
and then give some timeframe like a day
or a time of day here
same thing for this second one what are
you up to at a certain time I’ll think
so that’s nice what are you up to at a
certain time so for example are you
doing anything tomorrow or what are you
up to on Saturday for example so these
expressions these top two patterns are
used to check the schedule of another
person are you doing anything on
Saturday are you doing anything Sunday
um you don’t need to use a preposition
here you can say are you doing anything
tonight are you doing anything Friday
both are fine in this pattern what are
you up to
what are you up to actually somebody
asked a question in ask Alicia about
this phrase up to up to this what are
you up to I answered it in the ask
Alicia video but this part what are you
up to means what are you doing what are
you doing so what
you up to on Sunday here we could use on
Sunday what are you up to tonight what
are you up to for lunch just to ask
about someone’s schedule this one
however if you want to suggest a
specific plan you can use one of these
two patterns these are both quite casual
expressions you can use so this first
one are you free for and here you need
to explain your purpose the activity you
would like to do are you free for lunch
on Sunday for example or are you free
for dinner on Saturday so here you can
suggest a specific activity and a time
for that so here actually here I’ve used
on meaning the best choice in this
pattern is to use a day a day of the
week but you could say are you free for
dinner tomorrow or are you free for
lunch today are you free for a movie
this weekend
so you can change on in this sentence in
this pattern I’m introducing I’m using
on here but you can change this that’s
fine okay the second one do you want to
is slightly different from are you free
for so are you free just means do you
have time do you have time for something
but do you want to is a little maybe a
little bit more direct like do you want
to go to a movie or do you want to get a
coffee do you want to get a drink on
Friday so perhaps a little bit more
direct but in general these two can be
used to ask the same thing
it’s like making an invitation for a
plan so these two are about schedule
you’re asking about the other person’s
schedule so a couple of nice and nice
patterns to introduce your plan however
let’s go to a couple that are more for
formal situations so if you need to ask
about someone’s plans at work or in a
business setting for example
I want to share a couple patterns for
that and then you and then it’ll be up
to you to make it invitation as well so
here are a couple of more formal
patterns that you can use actually so
here first one are you available and
here I have on or at so if you watch the
preposition videos we’ve done you know
on is used for a day at is for a time so
are you available on Sunday for a
meeting for example here the word
available I’ve used the word available
are you available on a day for a thing
for an activity remember in the casual
expression I talked about the word or
the pattern are you free are you free
think of are you available as the formal
version of are you free are you free
so are you available on Monday for lunch
or are you available at 3 o’clock for a
meeting are you available on Tuesday for
a really great movie experience I don’t
know so whatever formal thing you want
to suggest you can use that also here’s
another one so do you have time do you
have time you could use this like
especially if you’re speaking with a
busy person I suppose do you have time
on so same thing here day 4 on or at
4:00 time do you have time on Monday for
a meeting do you have time at 4 o’clock
for a meet and greet I don’t know what
you do so this is maybe nice for like a
busy person but these expressions are a
little more formal than the the first
group of expressions we talked about if
you missed the first group of
expressions don’t worry you can watch
this live stream back later okay
so with this information a formal
invitation or a casual invitation let’s
do our first chat question then simple a
simple one please make an invitation
please make an invitation so I gave you
a lot of examples already
so we talked about are you doing
anything Sunday as a quick introduction
or what are you up to this weekend or
are you free for coffee later today or
do you want to get a drink on Saturday
for example so make an invitation please
send an invitation into the chat and we
will review we’ll review so please send
an invitation make an invitation for a
plan something um you would like to do
or maybe a plan you need to make in the
future so please send one in Oh free ala
on YouTube you are there first one from
home do you have something on Friday for
dinner
uh do you for that instead of do you
have something I would say do you have
plans do you have plans on Friday for
dinner is perfect that one’s nice are
you available on Sunday night for a
vigil okay good
Wally says do you want to hang out on
Sunday perfect perfect and Wally by the
way is using do you wanna if you check
the YouTube chat do you want to hang out
on Sunday nice casual uh Messiah hi are
you available on tomorrow for a meeting
great thank you for that when you want
to use a day of the week are you
available on Sunday good use on if you
want to say tomorrow or yesterday no
preposition there so do you have time
tomorrow for a meeting is good Wow nice
ones guys are you available for a movie
tonight nice Hannah John do you want to
go to dinner this week do you want to
plus verb you need a verb do you want to
go to dinner this week nice would you
like to go out with me this weekend
perfect great one okay come with me to
the cinema tonight please nice one
Nelson thanks okay uh nyan hi do you
want to drink coffee with me on this
Friday ah another great point when you
want to use this as in this Friday in
your example or this Saturday no
preposition is needed do you want to
drink coffee with me this Friday or do
you want to drink coffee with me on
Friday both are correct but not
on and this okay whoa nice ones do you
have time to lunch tomorrow
Nicole good point in very formal
situations lunch can be used as a verb
but in general we don’t use lunch as a
verb do you have time to get lunch
tomorrow might be more natural there all
right whew good ones okay you guys have
awesome invitations very nice very nice
so I want to take a quick break our
first break for today because we have a
lot of things to talk about and today we
also have I know we always talk about
these PDF cheat sheets but this week we
have seven new ones that the team put
together so you’re gonna see them in
just a second just a second yeah okay so
here there these are the ones we’ve seen
before like school and business and
travel but definitely if you have not
downloaded these yet they are free check
them out but from this week we have
these seven new ones so there’s an
emergency words cheat sheet that could
be really important to check perhaps the
around town so that means things in your
city or things in your town cooking a
cooking one so vocabulary for your
kitchen clothing we’ve talked a lot
about shopping and clothes in this
livestream so that could be useful pets
pets is another one music I am very
excited about that one the music one and
finally the hotel one so if you
downloaded the all of the other cheat
sheets all of the other PDF so sorry we
have new ones on the site like from I
think it went up yesterday yesterday so
to make sure you get these they’re all
free so go to the link below the video
on youtube or above the video on
Facebook on Twitter I think it’s above
the video as well and you can download
all of these for free so if you have an
account you can sign in and download
right away if you don’t have an account
you can make everyone
right so please check that out I know
the team worked really hard to prepare a
lot of new stuff for you guys so please
check that out they’re really nice ways
to kind of boost your vocabulary or help
you study like a certain point yeah so
please check that out please go download
those today all right but let’s move on
and remember if you are just joining
today’s topic is making breaking
cancelling and changing your plans so
where we’ve just talked about
expressions for making plans now we’re
going to go to breaking plans a little
bit and if you have not please make sure
to hit the like button it will help
other people to find the video so please
hit that like button helpful for us
alright let’s go to breaking your plan
so I keep using the expression to break
plans so to break plans means like to
cancel or to stop something like maybe
you know the expression to break up to
break up with someone like means to end
a relationship so we can use the same
verb to break plans as well alright so
I’m going to introduce one expression I
don’t really like actually but I’ll
explain why so this is one that is a
very common expression but I I really
dislike this expression however you
might hear it sometimes it is I’m so
sorry but something came up and now I
can’t whatever the activity is so for
example I’m so sorry but something came
up and now I can’t get coffee with you
something came up and now I can’t go to
a movie something came up and now I
can’t go out tonight so the reason I
don’t like this is because this part
something came up
it’s just like a vague vague means
unclear it’s this vague explanation it’s
a non explanation like there’s no
specific reason that you’re cancelling
on the other person yeah we say to
cancel on someone but you’re just saying
something came up so came up means
something happened
so something in my schedule came up I
have to like take a look at or I have to
deal with so but I don’t like this
because it’s not very specific I think
it’s better to give a specific reason
why you can’t or why you have to cancel
plans because personally I think it’s
pretty rude to cancel plans like unless
there’s a good reason I don’t know I
don’t make a plan unless I want to do
that thing so I think I not to cancel
plans so instead here are a few patterns
you can use to cancel plans and give a
specific reason for your cancellation so
let’s take a look let’s take a look I’m
so sorry again I’m so sorry but my boss
asked me to work and now I can’t go to
the movie with you for example so my
boss asked me to work so of course work
is a very common reason to cancel plans
to have to have to cancel plans here is
one way you can explain that so my boss
asked me to work or my boss asked me to
do overtime today now I can’t get a
drink sorry
there’s one if you are not feeling well
I’m sick and I can’t make it so this
make it here I’ve used I can’t make it
make it means I can’t come I can’t come
to I can’t make it it’s it’s kind of a
more casual expression we use here I’m
sick and I can’t make it to your event
I’m so sorry
or I’m sick and I can’t make it to your
party I’m so sorry so I can’t make it to
the plan the thing you had planned here
I’m so sorry
a more general explanation is I’m not
really I’m sorry I’m really not feeling
well today
I’m really so you can drop this if you
want I’m not feeling well today really
is just an emphasis here I’m really not
feeling well today mmm so you’re not
there’s your bit sick so these are some
more specific reasons to cancel on
someone
personally I don’t like the first one I
introduced alright but let’s go to an
couple other cancellation expressions
for maybe some more serious situations
or I don’t I I included another one here
that I’ve heard a couple times before
but let’s look first one maybe there’s a
family emergency you can use this
there’s been a family emergency I’m so
sorry I have to cancel so if there’s
some like serious situation like a
health problem or an accident maybe you
can use there’s bin so here not like
there was well I suppose you could say
there was but more naturally we use
there’s bin so this is the contracted
form of there has there has been a
family emergency that’s the present
perfect tense there there’s been a
family emergency I can’t come another
one that I’ve heard especially for
outdoor events is this expression the
weather is terrible today so I think I’m
gonna cancel and here I’ve just
contracted in my speech I think I’m
gonna cancel gonna so going to becomes
gonna yeah so the weather’s terrible
today I think I’m gonna cancel so these
are a couple of other expressions that
but there may be a little bit more
specific
alright last thing I want to talk about
in this section is an interesting word
which is when you well okay listen let’s
talk about the word first the word or
the expression is to stand someone up to
stand someone up so this does not mean
literally like you find a person laying
down and you like stand them up that’s
not what this means this expression
means to have plans with someone but you
don’t come and you don’t contact them to
cancel on them Thanks okay sorry so this
is generally a bad thing no problem go
thank you
this is generally a bad thing so this is
a very common expression well I
shouldn’t say very common but this is a
phrase we use on dates so for example if
I have a date planned and I go there
like to a restaurant or a coffee shop or
something but my date never comes and my
date never contacts me that means my
date stood me up so past tense of stand
is stood my date stood me up so this is
the expression we use when someone does
not come to a planned meeting to stand
someone up so I’ve been stood up a
couple like maybe one time before I’m so
mad I’ve had this happen to me maybe
you’ve had this happen to you so it’s
not a good feeling for sure it’s totally
not a good feeling but this is the
expression we use to explain that so now
you know all right we’ll finish with
that so I want to then we practiced
making an invitation at the beginning of
this lesson today so now I want to ask
you to please try to make a cancellation
statement so please now you made your
you made your invitation now cancel it
please cancel your invitation the one
you sent before and explain why you’re
cancelling explain the reason for your
cancellation yeah o’keefe Ali said I’ve
been in front of Hachiko and Sharia for
hours but she stood me up then I
realized she found someone else to go
out with ouch that sucks that sucks that
sucks is a slang expression which means
that’s too bad that’s too bad that sucks
um
pater says Alicia what does it mean
check that out check that out means
please look please look but check it out
check that out so look at that look at
this check that out means please look
please look but it’s a casual expression
ah Hana town says I’m so sorry my flight
has been canceled I can’t make it to the
party perfect very nice very nice
Justin says I’m sorry but I have this
thing for school that came up today I
can’t go to the movies with you so make
sure that cancellation I can’t go to the
movies with you is in there I’m going to
school tomorrow but I can’t because my
father doesn’t allow so are you
canceling school so make sure the
activity you’re cancelling is clear so
something happened a happened so I can’t
plan I can’t do this thing Junior hey
Junior I would love to but I already
have plans can we put it off to another
day
I’ll close to put something off it
sounds like I don’t want to do this I am
avoiding this task so like if there’s I
don’t know like we use it for like
cleaning the house like I’m going to put
off cleaning the house I don’t want to
do it instead can we um maybe can we
change to another day actually I’ll
introduce some expressions in just a
moment um Ali on Facebook I don’t have
time to explain again right now but if
you have a question you can watch this
live stream back when we finish so
please take a look at the archived video
after this finishes thank you for asking
um sure AB says I am NOT able to come to
the dinner party because of family
problems okay good good make sure family
problems you might be a little more
specific with that family problem sounds
like maybe there was an argument or
something like that if you want to
explain like an illness or sickness you
can be a little more specific all right
garrison hey garrison I’m sorry but I’ve
more I have more important plans for
tomorrow be careful the up if you use
that expression the other person will
probably feel very sad and very offended
because you said I have more important
plans than you so it’s like that’s kind
of crushing so instead you can use a
specific thing I’m sorry but I have to
work tomorrow I can’t come so I think a
person understands how work is important
this person needs to do his or her
so I would not recommend more important
plans but thanks for sending that that’s
a really good point
all righty but let’s oh gosh I’m I’ve
talked too much again today so I guess
we’ll take a quick break and then I’ll
introduce the last points quickly at the
end so if you missed it earlier we have
brand new seven brand new PDF cheat
sheets for you if you have not
downloaded these you can do so from the
link below the video on youtube and
above the video on Facebook so these uh
we’ve talked a lot about the original
PDFs many times on the live stream but
this week the team put together seven
totally new ones so there’s like hobbies
with cooking in music and maybe shopping
and there’s some everyday life ones like
around your city or maybe traveling like
at the hotel also emergency words too so
for example today we talked about like a
family emergency
if a family emergency happens how do you
explain that
so maybe check the PDF cheat sheet for
some more vocabulary words to explain
emergency situations yeah
alrighty we have to continue to the next
thing but anyway we only have a couple
minutes left so I’m going to go a little
bit quickly so the last topic for today
is changing plans if you’re just joining
the live stream is almost done but you
can always watch this back you can watch
the archived video later but if you’re
also just joining please please please
hit the like button yeah this one please
hit the like button and share it if you
like to so other people can find the
video but alright today’s last topic is
changing plans let’s change your plans
um changing your plan so let’s look at a
couple of patterns I might have to
decrease the number of example sentences
we’ll see okay but let’s look at the
first two patterns one junior men
and a similar one Junior mentioned this
in the YouTube chat a little bit earlier
but let’s look at these two first my
work schedule changed my work schedule
changed and now I can’t make it on
Sunday or now I can’t make it on
Saturday for example then so okay so
here’s your cancel expression my work
schedule changed and now I can’t make it
I can’t come as we talked about I can’t
come on Saturday I can’t come on Sunday
so here’s our cancelation expression
then here’s the change expression can we
do Sunday instead can we do Monday
instead
so here I’ve used the verb do so we use
do to mean can we do our plan can we do
our activity on a different day but you
don’t need to use a preposition here so
my work schedule changed and now I can’t
make it on Saturday can we do Sunday
instead or my work schedule changed and
now I can’t make it on Tuesday night can
we do Wednesday night instead so here do
means our plan whatever your agreement
was we can make it short and use the
verb do can we do something else
so suggest a different day or a
different time instead hello there first
time watching live on YouTube I can’t
read your name but welcome and then this
one this is similar to what Junior
mentioned earlier hey are you free next
week instead of this week I had
something come up so again here I’ve
used this I’ve used this just for an
example I don’t like this expression
really I think it’s better to use a
specific point something specific that
happened for a reason you can’t come so
but this part is most important I think
in this case because you are beginning
the interaction you’re beginning the
discussion by saying like I want to
change our plans so here this is the
cancellation phrase really but this is
the change phrase hey are you free next
week instead of this week so you can
chain
this to add a hey are you free Saturday
instead of Sunday or hey are you free
tomorrow night instead of Wednesday
night so instead of means like in place
of in place of something alright so
those are a couple um then I suppose I’m
out of time aren’t I Kyle I should
probably wrap it up yes I won’t ask the
last question yeah okay all right no
problem um let’s see I don’t want to
talk about that phrase so I think we’ll
probably we’ll just end it here I
suppose for today and maybe I’ll try to
post like on Twitter I suppose a couple
of the other expressions I wanted to
talk about today just to introduce the
pattern so I’ll post that maybe this
afternoon after the live stream hope
that’s okay so if you’re not following
on Twitter you can check there or find
me there that’s fine
I’ll do that nice compromise okay so
let’s finish there for today because I’m
already late gosh I’m just a chronic /
explainer it’s terrible anyway so those
are a few ways to make and break and
change your plans if you missed today’s
live stream why don’t worry you can
check the video on Facebook on YouTube
or on Twitter so please take a look at
the archived videos there it should be
up very shortly very quickly after we
finish so we’ll finish up today’s lesson
there I hope that it was helpful for you
thank you so much for sending your
example question are your example
sentences and your questions it’s really
really nice um next week we will be back
we will be back with a new live stream
topic next week next week we’re kind of
we’re going back a little bit we did
like job interview discussions job
interview questions a few weeks ago so
next week we’re going to talk about
improving your English resume improving
your English resume yeah so this is our
topic for next week improving your
English so your resume be careful not
resume actually sorry my fault I should
have put an axe
/ this word but resume not resume but
resume resume so your resume is your
work history paperwork so your education
all that stuff so improving your English
resume is our topic for next week okay
so the time will be Wednesday March 7th
at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time that’s
New York City time New York City time so
that’s Wednesday night next week 9 p.m.
New York City time you can check your
time accordingly so thank you very much
for joining us again this week thank you
so much for liking and sharing the video
and please make sure to check out the
brand-new the 7 brand-new PDF cheat
sheets so I’m going to finish now so
please check the link below the video on
youtube and above the video on Facebook
and Twitter to download all of those for
free so please join us next week next
week Wednesday March 7th I will see you
again then so enjoy the rest of your day
enjoy the rest of your night the rest of
your week I’ll see you again next time
you