You probably know the common ways to make suggestions or give advice. Check out this page for a refresher on how to use “If I were you”, “You should”, “You ought to”, etc. But native-English speakers use many more phrases for suggestions. Here are seven advanced phrases for you to try. There’s also a section… Read More

When someone offers you something (like an invitation to a party, or more food, or even a great “deal” in a shop, you might want to say “no”. There are many ways to refuse an offer in English, but you must be polite! You can say “No thank you” but there are more advanced ways… Read More

English prepositions can be difficult to use correctly. First of all, there are lots of them (see this page for the 45 most common ones and their meanings), but also, we have lots of collocations with prepositions. We also have some informal phrases with prepositions that you’ll hear a lot in spoken English. Read on… Read More

There are lots of ways for giving directions in English. Make sure you know the basic ways first, then check out these native expressions and phrasal verbs. They’re a little more advanced, but you’re likely to hear them in real-life conversations. The section on different roads also includes useful vocabulary. Phrases For Giving Directions Your… Read More

We use the adverb “just” a lot in English, especially in spoken English. We can use it to mean different things (like “only”, “exactly” and “absolutely”) and we also use it in time expressions and to be polite. Get the most common meanings of “just”, with more than 50 everyday expressions using “just”. “Just” In… Read More

How can you address people in English when you meet them? What are the different greetings when you meet men, women or VIPs? What titles should you use? In British English, the greetings are different in formal and informal situations, and whether you’re greeting one person or a group. Here’s a list of greetings that… Read More

Do you only say “Bye” or “See you later” when you leave people? In fact there are many other ways that British English speakers say “goodbye”. Here are five common phrases that we use with family and friends in different situations. These aren’t formal phrases, and we use them instead of “goodbye”. My tip: start… Read More

You can say “I don’t understand” when someone tries to explain a process to you, or when you’re commenting on a situation. But there are also other common native English expressions you can use. Here are five new expressions for you. Practise one at a time until you feel confident, then move on to the… Read More

When you talk about your holiday, sound more natural by using phrasal verbs. They make you sound less formal and more like a native speaker. Here are 15 very common phrasal verbs to talk about travel. Make sure you can understand and use them in your conversations. Holiday Travel check in (to a hotel /… Read More

We don’t just use “never” to mean “at no time”. There are many more native English phrases with “never” which you can use to sound more natural when you speak English. Here are ten to get you started. Learning tip: choose one that you like and start using it in conversation. When you’ve mastered one,… Read More