10 Common English Expressions / 10 Expressions Anglaises Courantes

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Spice up your English vocabulary with these common expressions we use in everyday English. In the video I tell you what the expression means and how to use them.

Video Transcript:

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to English with Kathryn. It's great to see you here again. Now, today, I'm going to be going through some really sweet English expressions that you will be able to use straight away and integrate them into your everyday English. Let's get started.

Expression number one, "hang on a second". Hang on a second. There are actually two meanings for this expression. One. It means to wait:

Hang on a second. Don't leave! I'm coming!

And the second meaning is if you don't quite understand something you say, hang on a second.

For example, hang on a second. Did you just walk into that shop without a mask?

Second expression: "down the road", meaning in the future.

Down the road, I think I'll buy a house, but I'm not ready yet. I don't have enough money.

My boss told me that the work I'm doing will be very useful down the road.

The third expression is "to sound like a broken record". It means to repeat something over and over again:

I know I sound like a broken record, but will you please put the toilet seat down? I'm tired of saying it to you!

Number four is not really an expression. It's more of an adjective to describe someone down to earth. It means someone who's practical, pragmatic, easy to get on with and very natural.

My friend is just a very down to earth person.

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The fifth expression is to "give someone a hand". What does that mean? It means to help someone.

Can I give you a hand? Oh sure.

My friend gave me a hand moving yesterday.

Expression number six is "to be on your way". It's when you are going somewhere at that very moment.

I'm on my way to the shops. I can't talk now.

Hey, you coming to the party? Yeah. Yeah. I'm running late, but I'm on my way.

The seventh expression is "to make up your mind", which means to make a decision. Conversely, if you can't make up your mind means you can't decide between two things or you can decide between a choice that you have.

I can't make up my mind whether to buy the red or the green shoes.

Oh, come on, make up your mind. We have to go. We're late for lunch!

The eighth expression is a very Irish expression. At least, we say it a lot. It's "to play it by ear", which means to make a decision when the time comes or to kind of go with the flow.

So for example:

Are you planning a holiday this year? No. We're just going to play it by ear with the travel restrictions and all, we're not sure what's going to happen.

Are you going to the party tonight? I'm not sure ...I'm going to play it by ear. I dunno. Who's going yet.

The ninth expression is "that rings a bell". If something rings a bell, it means it reminds you of something. So if you hear a name, or you see a face that maybe you recognize?

Yeah. That name rings a bell. I think I know that person

Last one is "over my head". Now we often use it with the verb go. For example:

That maths lecture just went over my head

and we do the action as well (in the video kathryn does the action of swiping her hand over her head)

Another example:

Did you understand everything in that English lesson?

No. It all just went over my head.

So the next step is for you to practice and the best way is by making your own sentences sentences that are relevant to you. So write some sentences below with some of these expressions and I will read them and correct them if they're wrong or I will give you a thumbs up if they're correct. And I also have practice exercises on my website. There's a link in the description below.

Hi guys. Thanks again for joining me. And if you liked the lesson as always click like and subscribe and share with your friends. So if you want to see more of the same, just go to some more of my videos are go to my website to get in touch with me. Bye. See you next time.