CONVERSATION

The purpose of the next 11 pages is to show you the type of English that is usually used in conversation. Although your English is now advanced enough so that you can speak in different situations, you may feel that you want to use more natural-sounding English. The language in the following pages will help you to say what you think and feel more exactly, more politely and in a way that sounds more natural. These pages are in two parts. The first, Conversations at work’, gives you phrases that are slightly formal and right for when you are at work. The second, ‘Conversations with friends’, gives you phrases to use with people that you know socially and can talk to more informally.

Conversations at work

The language you use at work is often different from the language of everyday conversation. It is often, though not always, more formal, and it includes phrases that you do not usually hear in informal conversations. Below are phrases that are often used when people have meetings in order to discuss work. These phrases will help you to speak clearly and professionally, in a way that is both confident and polite.

Opinions

Speaking up

Use these phrases when other people have been speaking and you want to say something:

Could / can I (just) say something here?

Could / can I (just) add something here?

Could / can I (just) come in here?

Could / can I (just) make a point here?

Giving an opinion

Use these phrases when you want to give your opinion. In meetings, a speaker will often introduce their opinion with one of these phrases. This ‘softens’ the statement, making it sound less direct and more polite.

The way I see things…

I tend to think that…

It seems to me that…

It’s my feeling that…

In my experience…

It’s my experience that…

Examples:

I tend to think that it’s the marketing department’s responsibility to sort this out.

It seems to me that we’re going to waste a lot of money taking this approach.

It’s my feeling that enough time has been spent on this project already.

Asking for an opinion

Use these phrases to ask someone else what they think about something:

James, what’s your opinion of /

about / on…?

James, what do you think of / about…?

James, what’s your feeling about …?

James, could we have your input here?

Example:

James, what’s your feeling about staffing

levels in the department?

Agreeing

Use these phrases to agree with whatsomeone has said:

I agree (with you).

(I think) you’re right.

I tend to agree. / I tend to agree with Anna.

I’m with Anna on this one.

Agreeing strongly

Use these phrases when you agree strongly with someone and want to show it:

Absolutely!

Exactly!

I quite agree!

I totally agree with you.

I’m in complete agreement with you.

I couldn’t agree more!

Disagreeing

Use these phrases when you disagree with what someone has said:

Note: In a work meeting, people often disagree in an indirect way. They usually avoid very strong, definite phrases, such as ‘I completely disagree,’ as these can sound rude.

I’m afraid I don’t / can’t agree with you there.

I’m sorry, I don’t agree with you there.

I have to say, I disagree with you there.

I’m not sure I agree with you.

I’m not sure about that.

I’m not sure that’s true.

I take a (slightly) different view on this.

I don’t know. I tend to think that the opposite is true.

Examples:

A: Money spent on training is always sa good investment.

B: I’m not sure about that. I think it depends on the quality of the training.

A: In my experience, customers are looking for quality in a product and they’ll pay extra for it.

B: I take a different view on this. I think the lower price is mainly what sells the product.

Disagreeing strongly

Use this phrase when you disagree strongly with what someone has said:

I’m sorry but…

Note that if you say ‘I’m sorry but…’ at the beginning of a sentence, it does not really mean that you are sorry. In fact it is a way of emphasizing that you are going to disagree with what someone has said.

Examples:

I’m sorry but I can’t agree with you.

I’m sorry but I just don’t think it’s a good use of our time.

I’m sorry but the point you make simply doesn’t apply to our department.

Listening

Listening to someone’s opinion

Use these phrases when you understand what someone has said but still disagree:

I see / get your point but…

I see / get what you mean but…

I see / get what you’re saying but…

I see / get where you’re coming from

but…

Note that ‘get’ is often used in these phrases instead of ‘see’ but sounds more informal than ‘see’.

Examples:

I see your point – it is a lot of money – but I still think it’s an investment worth making.

I get what you’re saying – she’s not the easiest person to work with – but I don’t think we have any choice here.

Responding to an interesting remark

Use these phrases when someone has said something interesting that you had not thought of:

(Yes,) that’s true.

That’s very true.

That’s a point!

Good point!

Example:

That’s very true – I hadn’t thought of that.

Repeating and explaining

Repeating

Use these phrases when you want to talk again about something that was said before:

If I could just go back to something Julia said / mentioned earlier…

Going back to what Julia said/mentioned earlier…

Thinking about what Julia said /mentioned earlier…

As Julia said earlier…

Examples:

Going back to what Julia said earlier, perhaps it would be better to keep some of this money back for training purposes.

As Julia said earlier, we can’t get the staff because we don’t pay enough.

Not hearing

Use these phrases when you did not hear what someone said:

(Sorry,) I missed that.

(Sorry,) I didn’t catch that.

(I’m sorry,) could you repeat that, please?

(I’m sorry,) could you say that again, please?

Not understanding

Use these phrases when you you did not understand what someone said:

I’m sorry, could you explain that again, please?

I’m not sure I understand what you mean (by) …

Could you run that by me again, please?

I’m afraid I don’t follow you.

I’m sorry, you’ve lost me.

Examples:

I’m not sure I understand what you mean by ‘type A projects.’ Would you mind explaining that, please?

Could you run that by me again, please? I mean the figures part.

Asking for more information

Use these phrases when you want someone to tell you more about something:

Angela, could you say a little bit more about…?

Angela, could you explain…in a bit more detail?

Examples:

I’m afraid I don’t know much about the new system – could you say a little more about it, Peter?

Making sure that you understand

Use these phrases when you think you understand something but want to make sure:

So, what you’re saying, Paul, is that… Is that right?

Just to recap (= repeat the main points), you would like to… ? Is that right?

So, Paul, just to make sure I’ve understood this / got this right…

So, am I right, Paul, in saying that you want to…?

Examples:

So, Paul, what you are saying is that we need more money in the training budget. Is that right?

So, Paul, just to recap, we need a bigger training budget but we could probably reduce the marketing spend?