10 Phrases Native English Speakers Use Everyday

Here are 10 phrases that native English speakers use every day and that you can use to sound a little bit more natural when you speak English. Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy and well, this YouTube channel, English Speaking Success. And today I want to show you 10 phrases that native English speakers use probably every day and that will help you, if you like, also sound more natural when you speak English. It's funny how sometimes just these one or two words you say at the beginning of a sentence can have can have a huge impact. I remember once I was traveling with my wife and she introduced me to a friend who was Chinese and she said have a chat with him and tell me his level of English. So I met this guy and I said how are you? and he said, "I'm quite all right, thanks." And I stopped and turned to my wife and said, I think he's got a pretty good level of English. Because just that one phrase, I'm quite all right. Thanks. He said it perfectly with the right intonation, it's such an unusual phrase for non-natives to know. Probably indicated he'd lived in the UK or maybe learned from British teachers. It's a very British phrase. So, it's funny. Sometimes these words can have a a big impact. That said, a word of warning. I love that expression, a word of warning. But it's more than one word, Keith. I know. A word of warning. If you're preparing for an exam, TOEIC, TEFL or IELTS, these words are not enough, right? Um, of course, you need to improve your overall level of English, but these words can be interesting and very useful to know. So without further ado, let's begin. Right, here we go. Number one. Well, well, we use this for thinking time, but also sometimes to soften an answer. Imagine the situation. Your wife, you're preparing to go out to a party. Your wife puts on a new dress and she says, "Do you like my new dress?" And you say, "Well, oh, I need thinking time. What am I going to say? Be honest. Be diplomatic." Yeah, it looks great. And she says, "You don't like it, do you? You can't win. I know." Or you might say, "Well, um, I'm not sure. Maybe something more casual for this party." So, here it's more about softening the answer. Number two, actually. Actually, we use this for correcting people, but also we use it to maybe add a surprising truth. Correcting people. Imagine somebody says, "So Keith, you live in England, right?" "Actually, I live in Spain." I'm correcting them. And often in this case, we say, "Actually, falling rising tone." Actually, I live in Spain. Okay, Keith, you don't eat fish, right? Actually, I do eat fish. Okay. Um, also adding a surprising truth. Go back to the situation with my wife and the new dress. Do you like my new dress? Um, I actually like it. Great answer because it's kind of adding surprise and making them happily happy, right? I actually quite like it. Excellent. It's used, I think, actually often when in a quite a soft way, informal way to soften things or give a bit of surprise. Okay, number three. Right. Right. I like this one. Um, we use this in different situations. First of all, you can use it to show understanding. So, when you're listening to your partner explaining something and you go, "Right, right. Right." Okay. You're showing understanding. Okay. Another way is we use it for moving on or giving instructions. There's a bit of a joke that an English man can't stand up until they've said the word right. So we say right and then you stand up and say it's time to go. Right, let's go. Right, it's time to leave. Or in in a meeting, everybody's sat down and you go, right, what should we discuss today? That word at the start, it cracks me up. It's so British, but it's lovely. Right. What should we do today? Also, it can be used for gentle surprise. Okay, imagine you're going to a party with some friends and then Jack and Mary turn around and say, "Oh, we're going to get a taxi." And you can walk. Oh, right. Surprise. Oh, right. I thought we were going together. Oh, no. Sorry. We're in a rush. Oh, right. that kind of gentle surprise often followed by I thought we were going to do this. Oh, right. Next, the next one is no way. No way. No way is just to express surprise or disbelief. Sometimes in the UK we also say get away informally. Get away. Not meaning go away, but just surprise. Get away. Very much more British. For example, if your friend says, "I won the lottery. No way. That's amazing." There you go. Expressing surprise or disbelief. Next, the next one is an interesting word. Uh, indeed. Indeed. It's actually quite formal, but we sometimes use it maybe with a sense of humor in Britain. I think it's used less in America with the meaning of kind of formal agreement. Um, so if somebody says, well, you know, we're going to do this. It's a really good idea. Indeed. Indeed it is. So, it's slightly formal, but you can also use it to add emphasis to things. So, you can say, well, that's very interesting indeed. Um, that's a really nice dish indeed. Again, I don't think I would encourage you to use this. It sounds a bit strange, but for you to recognize when it's used what it really means. Okay, let's move on. And time for a quick break. Apple, cup of tea, Earl Gray. And to let you know, you can now join my YouTube channel. You can become a member of the channel. And with that, you get some extra emojis and avatars you can use when you're posting comments on my videos and live streams. and also access to one or two private videos a month like these on different IELTS topics, extra insights, model answers, and some ideas and thoughts I have outside of YouTube about everyday life, an extra insight, extra practice. Join the YouTube channel. You can do that. There's a little button next to the subscribe button. Join for just $2 a month. the price of a cup of coffee in a lot of places. It's a good investment and it also supports me with the channel. Right now, let's get back to our video. The next word is exactly. Exactly. The t kind of disappears the sound. Exactly. Exactly. We can use this for strong agreement, right? If somebody has an idea, they say something like, "I think we should all live in peace." Exactly. You show your strong agreement. Sometimes it's used to express when somebody expresses an idea more clearly than you. So, you're trying to express something a bit difficult and then they say, "Da da da da." Exactly. That's exactly what I mean. Strong agreement. I think students should believe in their English ability more. Exactly. Next one. Number seven. No wonder. And often you say this like with a bit of surprise. No wonder. No wonder. It's when it's used to express something that is obvious or logical or when you have concluded something. So you go into work in the morning and your colleague, one of your colleagues is really tired. He's making mistakes. He's tired in the meeting. And you think, "What's up? Why are you so tired?" Oh, I was out all night last night with my friends drinking and dancing. No wonder, right? It's kind of a odd you you make a conclusion. Everything makes sense. No wonder. No wonder you are tired. But very often we just say no wonder. Imagine you're walking around a shop and there are different items and you say how much? How much? How much? And how much are these? Oh, these are much more expensive. Ah, yes, indeed. Because these are made of gold. Uh, no wonder. No wonder they're so expensive. They're made of gold. Ah, no wonder. No wonder. Do that with your eyes. No wonder. Next. The next one is quite a British one. Never mind. Never mind. Um, in Australia as well, they say no worries quite a lot. I think in America that's used less. They may say don't worry about it. So, it's used to express reassurance. Um, to tell somebody something's not important, right? Never mind. Keith, I can't come to your party tomorrow, your birthday party. Ah, never mind. It's okay. I understand. Never mind. I won't invite you next year then. H next the next word is anyway. Anyway is a lovely word. Um I think we use it so much and of course it's used for two things. One to change topic to something new or two to return to a topic you've been talking about. So there you are. you're down the pub with your mates having a drink and you're talking about something and it gets a bit boring and you say, "Anyway, let's talk about football instead, for example." Or you're down the pub with a friend and you're having a chat and then suddenly somebody interrupts you and says, "I'm excuse me, is this yours?" And then and then you start your conversation again and you say, "Anyway, as I was saying," and you return to the topic you were talking about. Okay, we've got one more. Okay, the next word quite not to be confused with sh quiet. Quite meaning fairly, right? Or does it? You see in British English it can have different meanings depending how you say it. So if you say I quite like it, it means it's okay. I fairly like it. It's quite good. It's not great. It's okay. But if you change the stress to the next word, I quite like it means oh it's it's really good actually. Um it's quite good. put the stress on the good. It's quite good then you're saying that it it's very good really strange I know right so depending if you emphasize quite then it's so so if you emphasize the adjective then it's good and also if you use um emphatic or exaggerated adjectives like amazing outstanding remarkable then it it it also just emphasizes that it's quite amazing Amazing. This film is quite remarkable. It's quite something this restaurant. It just it really says it's very very very very good. So there are different degrees and depending on the intonation and the stress it can mean different things. And I think the Americans use it much more positively. It's quite nice meaning it's very nice I think. But if you're an American watching do let me know. Do you remember the Chinese friend of my wife earlier on? He said, "I'm quite all right, thanks." Meaning, I'm quite all right means, "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm not great. I'm okay. I'm quite all right, thanks." Right. Next. Oh, did you notice that? Right. Next. Well, that was an interesting video. I actually quite liked it. I It was quite interesting. Mind you, I am an English teacher, so no wonder. Anyway, it's time to finish for today. There is a PDF of all of these words. If you want to download that and just have a reference and do a bit of practice, you can. Of course. Do remember to subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications. 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