28 Advanced English Sentences I Actually Use in Real Life

I'm going to give you a heads up. We're going to keep things moving and make great time. If any of those three phrases are new to you and a bit confusing in today's English lesson, I'm going to teach you those three phrases plus 25 more that I actually use in my everyday English conversations. And the phrases in today's lesson are great because they are not the ones that you'll ever learn from an English textbook or an official English classroom because they are real life, everyday English, and they're the phrases that native speakers don't even realize they're using. So let's get started with today's lesson. Make sure to visit englishwithkayla.com to learn more about these phrases and to have me teach you there more in my community. All right, let's get started now. We're going to start off with just some phrases that I use every day just at home or making plans. First phrase, I'm just trying to get through the day. We say this when we're having a busy day or kind of a difficult day and we're kind of stressed or overwhelmed. Our goal is just to simply make it through the day, not make it perfect or not, you know, do our best, best, best work. I'm just trying to make it through the day. Maybe you didn't sleep well, work was really stressful, maybe you have a sick kid. You might just say, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to make it through the day. This means I'm trying to get things done at the bare minimum. That's what we mean as English speakers when we say just trying to make it through the day. I'm just trying to make it through the day. So we definitely don't use this phrase if we're happy or super energized. We use it when we're stressed out or having a difficult time. Just trying to get through the day. The next phrase is used all the time because, you know, when someone does something and you weren't expecting it or they didn't warn you about something that you should know about, you might want to tell them, give me a heads up next time. Give me a heads up. Or a lot of times English speakers say, hey, I'm just going to give you a heads up. This means I'm going to let you know something in advance that's important to know later. I'm in. Just give me a heads up. Maybe you have some co-workers and they say, hey, after work, do you want to go get drinks with us for happy hour? You might say, I can't today. Next time, try to give me a heads up and I'll plan ahead and try to go with you guys. So this means if I had more advanced notice or more time to plan, I could come. But today it's too short notice. I can't come. Give me a heads up next time. I promise I'll give you a heads up next time. Or you might want to say to your co-worker, hey, I'm going to give you a heads up. Our boss is looking at these reports today, so make sure it looks really good. So you're kind of giving them advanced warning about something that you know so that they can be prepared in advance. You know, let me give you a little heads up. Sometimes in life when difficult things come up, we kind of want to procrastinate handling the situation or solving the problem. And sometimes that's OK. A common phrase that I find myself saying is I'm not ready to deal with this or I'm not ready to deal with this right now. This just means I can put it off till later. It's maybe too stressful. There's too much going on. When I have time to sit and think later and it's more quiet or my kids don't need my help with things, I can deal with that. I'll deal with this later. I say that phrase all the time as well. I'm not ready to deal with that right now. This phrase is pretty strong, so be careful who you're using it with and be careful of your tone. If you're at work and you'll say, I'll deal with this later. Make sure you're not saying it to your boss in a tone that sounds like you're too stressed out or anything. Maybe you just want to say, I can prioritize this now and I'll deal with this later. So tone is really important when it comes to this phrase and context as well, because you don't want to be using it in a super professional situation to imply that you're procrastinating something. I'm not ready to deal with that right now. I always think about the phrase, keep it simple, stupid. That's a funny phrase in English we use to just say, do not make things too complicated. And if you don't want to say, keep it simple, stupid, you want to say, let's not overcomplicate things. This just means that sometimes it's best to make things simple because it is not a difficult situation and you don't need to make it more difficult than it needs to be. So if you're making a plan or solving a problem and it's just something small, don't overcomplicate it. Just solve the problem and move on. Don't make a huge deal out of it. I don't want to overcomplicate that. This phrase is really good for solving problems or just explaining something to someone quickly and say, hey, I don't want to overcomplicate it. Let's just do this. You're just saying, let's stick to the simple plan. Let's not overcomplicate matters unnecessarily. There are so many things on my to-do list that I have been wanting to do for a long time. And the phrase that I would naturally use here to say this is, I've been meaning to do that. I've been meaning to clean out that closet. I've been meaning to organize that drawer, whatever it might be. A lot of times these cleaning and organization projects are on my to-do list forever. So I've been meaning to do them, meaning I want to do them, but you know, they're just not a high priority. We just use this phrase to say that we want to do something, but we just haven't done it yet because we haven't had time or it just hasn't been a priority. A lot of times too we use this when we need to talk to someone that we haven't talked to in a long time or visit someone. I've been meaning to call my mom. I've been meaning to call my grandpa, whatever it is. I've been meaning to apologize. You're trying to say, I have good intentions. I want to do this thing, but there's a reason that you couldn't get it done. I've been meaning to call you. A phrase that I say out of frustration all the time is, that's the last thing I need today. That's the last thing I need right now. That's the last thing I need. So we usually either say today, this week, or right now. It just means you've had a lot of annoying stressful problems going on and there's just one more thing that's happening that's, you know, adding more work or more stress to your situation. I always say, you know, when you have a lot of bills in life, maybe things start breaking, your car breaks down, your air conditioning breaks, your refrigerator stops running, whatever it means. Whatever it is, you say, oh that's the last thing I need right now. It just means like you have a lot of things to pay for and a lot of work to do. You can't deal with this problem because there's so many things going on. You're the last thing he needs right now. Speaking of dealing with problems, if you want to say that you are going to help someone or deal with a problem but you just don't have the time at this moment, but you're kind of making it a priority, a softer way to say like I'll handle this later is I'll take care of this when I get a chance. When I get a chance I'll take care of this or when I get a chance I'll help you with this. So when I get a chance is a really nice way to say like it's a priority but like I can't do it right the second right now. I'll text you when I get a chance. A lot of times too if you want to ask someone for help but it's not super urgent and you want to be patient with someone you say when you get a chance can you help me or when you get a chance can you deal with this. So it's a polite way to say you know it's a priority but no rush. Give me a call when you get a chance. We're gonna go over some more phrases now that have to do with scheduling and just kind of keeping your day going. The first phrase is we need to keep things moving. This is a kind way to say that we need to keep making progress or we can't take breaks in our schedule because there's something you know kind of urgent or this work has a due date whatever it might be. So you can use this just in your casual everyday life with your family and your friends or you can use this in a business or professional context. Let's keep things moving or we need to keep things moving. Okay we need to keep things moving here. This phrase is common for really busy situations or just staying with a plan like let's keep things moving we said that we'd finish by four o'clock. Meaning if we stop and take breaks we're not going to be on schedule for what we plan. So I'm going to need to keep this thing moving. We need to be careful with this next phrase because if you are really sharp and really blunt with it it can sound like you're impatient or it can just sound kind of rude but if you need to tell someone that you don't have a lot of time to listen to what their story is or to help or whatever it is you can say can we make this quick? I'm sorry can we make this quick? I gotta go really sooner. Can we make this quick? I have something that I have to finish. The phrase can we make this quick just means can we be brief here and it's just really casually commonly said instead of like can we be brief? Can we make this quick? Can we make this quick? When you're planning out something or scheduling something you want to make sure everyone understands what the plan or schedule is. So you might say I'm trying to get everyone on the same page or a lot of times we say I'm going to get everyone on the same page here. We end that word here I don't know why it's just really natural in this situation. Just so everyone's on the same page. On the same page is a super common idiom for just meaning everyone understands the situation or everyone has the same knowledge going into a plan. Well I'm glad we're on the same page. So at work your team might say is everyone on the same page? I mean does everyone understand? Does everyone think they know what the plan is together? I'm sorry we need to get on the same page here. The phrase we're cutting it close. We're cutting it really close. This phrase implies that you are barely making it somewhere on time or you have very little extra time left. Cutting it close. Sorry. When you have an appointment like a doctor's appointment you have school you have reservations or you're trying to make it to the airport on time and you think well we don't have a lot of extra time or it's going to be close if we are on time you could say we're cutting it really close. So maybe you're making a plan and you say if we leave by one we're cutting it really close we might want to leave a little earlier. So you have extra time and you're not cutting it close. You cut it pretty close. For me I like to be at the airport really early. I do not like to cut it close but some people it doesn't stress them out. They don't mind you know being there right before they board their flight because they've just traveled and they're more experienced. Cutting it close again sir. If you ever heard the phrase when life gifts you lemons make lemonade. I know it's a really common phrase in English and other languages as well. You might want to just use this phrase instead because that idiom is pretty overused. So you might just say let's make the most of it or sometimes we say let's make the best of it. This just means even though it might seem like kind of a bad or imperfect situation let's try to make it the best as possible. Let's try to enjoy ourselves. So for instance if it rains while you're on a sunny tropical vacation and it's gloomy outside you might say well let's make the best of it and stay inside and relax and watch movies and play cards. So obviously the situation isn't perfect. You're not enjoying the great weather you thought you would have but you're making the best of it and still trying to have fun. Let's make the most of it. A phrase that I commonly hear myself saying is I'm doing the best to stay organized. I'm doing my best to stay organized. I'm doing either the best or my best. So this just means that you know there's a situation that requires me to maybe bring a lot of things or you know keep track of a lot of different schedules because I have a lot of kids and it's difficult. But in order for me to get everything to work or a schedule to work I do my best to stay organized. So I'm implying that the situation is hard but I'm doing my best. I'm not saying I'm perfect but I'm doing my best and when we say to stay organized it just means to keep on schedule or to keep to the plan. I'm doing my best Lynn. So this phrase it's it sounds really humble and it's being realistic like I'm just doing my best to stay organized instead of saying like I'm trying to perfectly stay on schedule. I'm doing my best to stay organized. This just means I'm doing my best to keep everybody's schedule in line or to keep all the things that I need for the day. I am just trying to stay organized. When someone is very worried and you feel like they're overly worried about a problem that hasn't even happened yet you might offer the advice we'll cross that bridge when we get there. That means it's not really worth thinking about this problem because it hasn't even happened yet and it might not even happen in real life. Can we cross that bridge when we get there? It's really common to use this idiom when you're trying to comfort someone who's really anxious or who's just an over thinker in general. We'll cross that bridge when we get there or sometimes we say it as we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Yeah let's cross that bridge when we get to it. So this idiom just implies don't think about an issue unless it actually happens in real life. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. These next phrases will be really useful for your social life, friendly conversations, anything casual. The first one I use all the time. I'm down if you are. I'm down means I'm willing to do what you want to do and then you're checking with them if you are. When we say we're down we say we're available or wanting to do something. It's a really casual commonly used expression. I'm down if you are down. When you're making just last minute plans with your friends like going to get coffee, going to a movie, a restaurant, whatever it is you might just say yeah I'm down if you are. It's like are we agreeing to this plan? Are we both down? I'm down. Another way we say this sometimes is we say I'm in. I'm in if you are. But I'm down if you're down. If you're a little bit unsure about the plan or the proposed plan you might say I'm not totally sold on that idea or I'm not totally sold on that plan. This means you're just not totally convinced or completely convinced about the plan. And if you haven't noticed American English speakers use the word totally to mean completely all the time in their casual English. So you might try out this word as well. I'm just not sold on the whole idea. So again you can use this really casually in your everyday social planning. I'm not totally convinced of that plan or that idea. Or you can be talking in a more serious conversation with this phrase as well. I'm not totally sold on it. If you're sold on an idea it means you're convinced of it or you are really enthusiastic about it. We did not break up. I'm just not totally sold on the relationship yet. It's really a softened way to say like I don't know about that idea. It's not saying I really don't like it but you're saying that you're kind of unsure or you're not totally convinced. I'm not a hundred percent sold on Russo. A very classic slang phrase that's used with younger generations and older is to say to go with the flow. I'm just going with the flow. This just means you're not having strict plans. You're just accepting things as they happen. Just go with the flow. On vacation or during the weekend you might not want to have a strict plan. You might not be the type of person who likes to have everything planned out. You might be more spontaneous. So you might describe yourself as wanting to go with the flow. I'm just gonna go with the flow. And if you're talking about a person who's very relaxed and casual you might say they totally just go with the flow. It's kind of a positive thing to be seen as a person who goes with the flow. These people just want homes you know and they go with the flow. When you have these plans that you were kind of unsure about or not totally sold on and you do them anyway and they go well you might say that actually turned out better than I expected. Or you might say that actually turned out better than I thought. This is a way of just saying you were pleasantly surprised by how fun something was or just how well it went in general. It turned out better than I thought. Maybe you went to a new hairstylist and you were kind of unsure. They didn't seem super confident but you got a haircut from them anyway. You might say well that actually turned out better than I expected if you get a good result. So you're surprised and you're surprised in a good way if you use this phrase. It turned out better than I expected. We talk about the phrasal verb to bring something up which means to introduce a topic of conversation or to start talking about a problem that you're having with someone or a conflict. You need to bring it up into conversation so maybe it doesn't feel natural to just go up to the person and talk about it right away. You might want to make small talk and kind of slowly start to introduce the topic. Now sometimes in conversations we say I don't know how to bring this up. This just means like I really don't have a natural way of introducing this topic or starting to talk about it where it doesn't feel unnatural. But instead of just saying it bluntly I'm going to introduce it by saying I don't know how to bring this up. Listen I didn't really know how to bring this up. This is a really common way to just say this topic is difficult to speak about with you because there's going to be some conflict or maybe I just don't want to hurt your feelings whatever the topic might be. So this is probably pretty commonly used with a friend or a family member or even a co-worker if you're just having a small issue or a medium issue. It's never something like really crazy with this but I would say this this phrase is pretty commonly used with the phrasal verb to bring something up. I don't know how to bring this up. I didn't know how to bring it up. Now one phrase that is commonly used is I wasn't sure what to make of it. When we talk about making of it, making of something, it's talking about an interaction, a conversation, or just a comment or message that someone sent to you. So for instance someone might say wow you actually look really good today. You'll say I didn't really know what to make of it. I didn't know what to make of that compliment because it felt like you were saying I normally don't look and you actually do look good today. So you're like was that a compliment? Was that rude? I don't know what to make of it. I wasn't sure what to make of you. Or someone might just respond to your long emotional text message by saying okay or okay. You don't really know what to make of that. You don't know if they actually are okay with whatever you just said or you don't know what to make of it could they actually be really mad at you by just responding so short of a message to your long emotional heartfelt text message. So we use this phrase when we're confused by someone's actions, words, or just any sort of general interaction. A really interesting phrase that I'm going to teach you is that's exactly what I was getting at. So if someone is having a hard time like understanding what you're saying and they're kind of explaining back to you or maybe they're explaining a point that you haven't even talked about yet, a conclusion, you might say yes like that's exactly what I was getting at. This is what I was trying to explain here. It's complimenting someone's explanation or someone's reasoning or their opinion. What exactly are you getting at? When we say that's what I'm getting at it means that's what I'm trying to express. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I see what you're getting at. We're going to change topics here and talk about some phrases that you can use when you're going to restaurants, stores, or just kind of running errands. The first one is can I get this to go? If you're at a restaurant and you need to take the food to go, maybe you're taking it home, maybe you're taking it to work for lunch, whatever it might be, instead of you know saying like I'm going to eat this here you'll say can I take this to go? This is a really common way just to say can I have the food bagged up as takeout. Can I get this beer to go? Yeah. When you have one of those interactions with the worker at the store when they're like can I help you with anything and the answer is no but you don't just want to be rude, you might just say oh I'm just browsing. I'm just browsing for now or maybe you actually don't want help. You want to be able to look around before you're pressured to buy anything. You can use this word browsing. It just means looking around the store seeing if there's anything you're interested in. Uh well thanks I'm just browsing. And then if you need help if you're somewhere maybe you're at a medical office maybe you're inside a stadium whatever it might be you can't find what you're looking for you might ask someone to point you in the right direction. This is a casual phrase that means can you kind of tell me where it is? You don't have to you know walk me there but can you just guide me? Hey I'm looking for this thing to help me with this can you point me in the right direction? You'll usually ask this to someone who works there or who would know you know the layout of the building. Let me point you in the right direction. Finally we're gonna go over some phrases that are great for travel vacation and just being out and about in today's lesson. One phrase that I love is we're making good time. You can use this when you're working efficiently or if you're traveling efficiently especially if you're in a car and you haven't stopped a lot and you haven't gotten into traffic jams or anything that's delayed you you can say we're making really good time. I think we're making really good time. It doesn't mean you're having a good time but it means you're getting things done or you're traveling quicker than expected. We're making good time. Do you bring everything when you go on vacation or do you travel pretty light? So if you travel light it means you don't bring anything that isn't necessary or you might use this phrase I overpack. I'm trying not to overpack. This is what people say a lot especially women like myself who want to bring outfits for every occasion on a on a vacation. It's like we bring too many things so if you're trying not to overpack you're trying to eliminate unnecessary items because it's hard to travel and bring such a large luggage that's really cumbersome. I try not to overpack. When you're traveling and you get to a new place you might want to just look around first. This phrase we're going to look around first it just means we're not going to do any activity or choose exactly where we're staying or what we're doing. We're just gonna gotta walk around and get a feel for the area before we can commit to what we're doing. Let's just take a look around. And the last phrase you might be an overpacker but you might say I'd rather be safe than sorry. This means I'd rather be over prepared than regret being careless and not bringing enough things later or not being prepared later. Better be safe than sorry. So for instance I leave super early for the airport probably way more early than necessary because I don't mind just sitting around reading or entertaining myself. I'd rather be safe than sorry because it is very stressful to be you know running late to the airport and barely making it onto your flight. Better be safe than sorry. So if you're bringing extra supplies you're arriving super early you are one of those people that would rather be safe than sorry. This is a super common English phrase. Better safe than sorry. Congratulations because you've now learned 28 new English sentences that you can use in your everyday life. I'm really glad you stuck with me on this lesson. I hope you visit englishwithkayla.com and become one of my students there. I hope to see you guys in the next video so you can learn more English there as well and thanks again for watching. Goodbye.