6 Better Ways to Say ‘I don't know’!

and what do you think of the impact of inflation on GDB well yeah of course it's uh yeah it's uh I don't know oh dear let's find out some other ways of saying I don't know [Music] of course if you really don't know what to say you can say I don't know in fact right many kids when they hit their teenage years when they become a teenager they're very good at saying I don't know or as we say in English duno what do you want for dinner don't know what film would you like to see to know right but there are other ways of saying don't know and when you listen to English I think it's really important to be able to understand them and of course you can start practicing practicing them too so by the way my name is Keith from English speaking success and the website for IELTS students the Keith speaking Academy in this video today I will show you six other ways of saying I don't know um I'll tell you how you can use them when you can use them and stick around to the end of the video because I will tell you how to handle those tricky questions in an interview or an exam where you really don't know what to say I'll tell you a really good way to handle it and I'll give you a clue it's not I don't know that's not a good answer so stick around at the end for that right now let's get into the first alternative to you to know right number one is I'm not sure notice with not it becomes not the it's it's a glottal stop it's a glottal what a glottal stop it's what we call it where the air you stop the air in your throat just before the consonant so the knot becomes not not not I'm not sure that's it now we use this when we're tentative about something and I mean you've got some information but you're not confident it's right for example somebody says do you think it's going to rain today and you say well I'm not sure um actually I mean the forecast says it might but you never know it's true do you think it's going to rain today number two I've no idea no idea we add a sound because it's two vowels no idea can you see the what oh no idea I've no idea nice and this is really when you've got no information at all about something for example a colleague says Boy Keith what time is the meeting today well I have no idea actually I mean you should ask Tom he organized it good old Tom I've no idea what I've no idea can also be used that idea of when you're bewildered oh that's a nice word bewildered means confused right when you're a bit confused for example somebody says um you know Keith what time is the meeting today well don't ask me I've no idea I didn't organize it Go and ask Tom he organized it and he hasn't sent out any reminders laughs next I haven't got a clue I haven't got a clue you may hear sometimes people say I haven't got a clue got uh do you remember the glottal stop right got a go ah I haven't got a clue you don't need to say that of course you can just say I haven't got a clue and this is used when you have complete ignorance I mean you don't have any information about something I mean if somebody asked me I don't know Keith how do you say tomato in Vietnamese I haven't got a clue I don't speak Vietnamese really I think you need to ask somebody from Vietnam or maybe somebody watching this video mm-hmm hello tomato in Vietnamese anyone next another very similar expression meaning complete ignorance no knowledge or ability is I'm clueless so you could ask me I don't know what's the capital of Kazakhstan I'm sorry I'm clueless I'm really no good at geography so as well as having no information it can also mean that you've got no ability in something so often we say oh he's clueless right don't ask him to fix your computer don't ask Keith to fix your computer he's clueless about computers he has no skill or knowledge or ability oy it's probably true though next and the next one is who knows who knows this is often used when you're a bit frustrated with somebody or something do you remember Tom and that meeting right so somebody says what time does the does that meeting start oh who knows I mean ask Tom I mean Tom's clueless right he's not set up the meeting properly he's not sent out a reminder who knows that little feeling of frustration nice expression let's move on to the next one the next one is quite informal um not really slang but informal and it's it beats me or we just say beats me if it beats me it means it's better than me it wins but here it's idiomatic and just means I I don't know or I don't understand right for example somebody says who is going to win the Oscar this year for best actor beats me I'm not really interested in films really okay beats me or somebody might say how did Tom yeah the one who can't organize meetings how did Tom get that promotion beats me I mean he can't organize people to save his life there we go beats it there you have it six interesting ways to say I don't know so finally imagine you're there in the interview room you're having an interview maybe for a job maybe for IELTS or an English exam and suddenly the interviewer asks you that difficult question and what do you think of the impact of inflation on GDB and you really don't know what to say what you cannot do is say don't know you're not going to get the job and that's not going to help if it's an IELTS test right so there are two things you can do the first one is you ask this question what do you mean exactly and this is not saying you don't understand but it's asking the X The Examiner or the interviewer to rephrase the question or to explain a little bit so the examiner or interviewer may say well how does you know inflation the rise in prices affect the economy in your country and what this does is it gives you a second bite at the Apple it gives you a second chance because it's the same question but rephrased it also gives you time to think which can be really helpful right and then you can start speaking if you still have nothing to say because you're clueless about economics second thing you do is you are honest and tell them why you don't know right maybe first of all first of all because if it's an English exam The Examiner is hungry for language don't just say I don't know oh the candidate can say I don't know no they're hungry to hear anything so just start talking and if it's a if it's an interview for a job at least then you're getting the interaction and the communication going right so you might say something like well to be honest um I don't know a great deal about economics and I'm not sure really how inflation is affecting the economy over all I'm sure it does have a big impact and to be honest it's something that I'm interested in and I think after this interview I'm gonna go and find out exactly how it does impact all of that language The Examiner in IELTS can now evaluate even though you're not answering the question you're giving them great language if it's a job interview you're showing you're proactive you're interested you're a communicator and you know how to think on your feet how to react quickly these are great skills you need to be showing off so never never just say I don't know right that's it listen I hope that you have liked the video found it useful if you have give me a like subscribe turn on notifications and uh leave me a comment let me know which phrase is your favorite way of saying I don't know or any other tips and ideas you can suggest for everybody watching and I will see you in the next video thanks for watching take care my friend bye bye [Music]

Channel: English Speaking Success

Views: 71,204

Keywords: ielts speaking, ielts speaking success, ielts keith, keith speaking academy, how to say i dont know, ways to say i dont know in english, ways to say i dont know, how to say i dont know in english, ielts speaking vocabulary, native speaker, speak english, english vocabulary, improve english vocabulary and speaking, improve english vocabulary, improve english vocabulary advanced, improve english vocabulary skills

Id: bTdQR-W5Z9o

Length: 11min 12sec (672 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 04 2023