Don't say...'Good luck', 'Congratulations' and 'I'm Sorry..' | Alternative English Expressions

hi and welcome back to Love English i'm Leila  and in today's lesson it's a bit of a double or   triple whammy, today i want to share with you  35 expressions that are alternatives to saying   good luck congratulations and oh i'm really sorry  basically these expressions are going to help you   with congratulating someone or wishes someone  luck whether they are taking an exam going for   a job interview or indeed playing a football game  or maybe even watching a football game so whether   you wonder what it means when someone says break a  leg fingers crossed good on ya or tough luck these   expressions are going to help you broaden your  vocabulary and yes sound a little more natural and   native now of course i can't continue with this  lesson without mentioning the fact that england   and italy are about to or in fact have depending  on when you watch this lesson played each other   in the euro cup finals now as an english woman  married to an italian i can tell you that there   is a little bit of conflict in my home and given  the fact that i have a two-month-old son yes it's   a question of who do we support in this household  well if you'd like to learn more about who i might   be supporting or my son who's half english half  italian then check out our instagram page or   indeed tik tok love english dot uk you can learn  lots more english with us on our social media   there and of course just get to know us a bit  better so without further ado let's get on with   the lesson 35 expressions alternatives to saying  good luck congratulations and i'm really sorry   so starting with good luck now when it comes  to wishing someone good luck in a performance   perhaps it is playing a game or indeed when it  comes to acting in the theater this is originally   where this expression comes from if you tell  someone to break a leg you're not actually telling   them to go and break their leg and fall over  no you're doing this because it was considered   bad luck or is still considered bad luck to wish  someone good luck when they're going to act out in   a play basically so it comes from the theater and  it is still used today to wish someone bad luck   in the case of giving them bad luck and saying  break a leg you're essentially negating the kind   of jinx or the the bad luck that there  would be if you wish someone good luck   does that make sense it's seen as bad luck to  wish someone good luck so telling them to break   a leg is making sense to you now no it doesn't  really make much sense but that's what we do guys   you don't say good luck to somebody you say  break a leg particularly when it comes to perhaps   performing music or in the theater to negate  the bad luck that you would be giving them if   you wish them good luck don't worry number one is  probably the weirdest out of the lot here that's   why i'm leading with it it's also very commonly  used so do try wishing someone not wishing but   telling them break a leg to try as an alternative  to good luck have a go an english native speaker   will definitely understand what you're talking  about and they'll probably very much appreciate   the positive motivation you're giving them now as  a very simple alternative to good luck you can say   best of luck best of luck okay so it's very nice  very colloquial and a more simple alternative to   saying good luck best of luck best of luck with  the interview i'm sure you'll do great number   three wish you the best wishing you the best  this again is another alternative to good luck   and one that we would often use at the end of  emails letters and actually even birthday cards   yes a very simple alternative to good luck wishing  you the best basically you're wishing them good   things you wish them the best with whatever they  are doing often actually you'll see this in a   card we send a lot of cards in the uk birthday  cards anniversary cards uh sympathy cards if   someone dies we have a card for everything but  when someone leaves a job you often give them a   sorry you're leaving card and saying wishing you  the best is saying good luck good luck in your new   ventures good luck in your new job so wish you the  best or wishing you the best you don't need to say   i or i am at the beginning we omit those to make  it sound a little bit more natural and colloquial   likewise number four all the best all the best  exactly the same and used in a similar way   often in written form but you can also say it all  the best with the match i hope you guys win number   five a bit more enthusiastic a bit more passionate  blow them away blow them away now you can also say   i was blown away i was amazed surprised but when  you tell someone blow them away using it as a   verb you're telling them to basically perform in  a way that's going to amaze so you would probably   say this to someone going for a job interview good  luck with the job interview you'll blow them away   or indeed back to the example we're using today  a match i think england are gonna blow them   away they're gonna be amazing they're gonna play  brilliantly so comment below tell me what happens   in the future did england blow them away are you  were you blown away by the football performance   tonight let me know number six knocking dead i  would say we don't use this expression so much   when it comes to sports performing i would say  it's more commonly used when we're referring to   an individual rather than a team so again back  to that idea of a job interview knock on debt   you'll do great or indeed perhaps a performance in  terms of theater or musical performances knock em   dead you're gonna do amazing you're gonna  play brilliantly you'll do a great job so   pay attention to the pronunciation there you'll  hear that i don't say knock them dead knock um   um i omit those two letters and instead i say um  knock him dead knock him dead you're not actually   gonna knock anyone dead everyone's still alive  so don't stress there number seven again trying   to give someone the confidence to build their  confidence to say you know you can do this i   believe in you you can say you've got this you've  got this okay or we've got this or they've got   this so you can change the pronoun in this case  i'm going to say that england they've got this   they're going to do it they're going to achieve it  so you're saying good luck but in a way that shows   that you are confident in their ability to achieve  something number eight go get em go get em okay   again um not them but again it is saying i believe  in you giving someone the motivation so great   when it comes to playing any kind of sports game  participating in a competition go get em you can   do this i believe in you so good luck but not good  luck it shows that you actually have more faith   than needing to wish them luck it shows that you  believe in their abilities now number nine and ten   number ten is my alternative to number nine number  nine i'm sure you all know fingers crossed okay   so in english and particularly british english and  i suppose american we often say fingers crossed   to wish someone good luck okay like oh fingers  crossed the interview goes well fingers crossed   and going to win the match okay now what i do is  when i am really keen to kind of be positive and   and wish for good luck i will say fingers eyes and  i'm not going to show you my toes but fingers eyes   and toes crossed because obviously you can cross  your eyes okay not very attractive but funny um   and you can't really cross your toes obviously but  the kind of concept the idea of it is funny so i   often say if someone says to me fingers crossed  fingers crossed everything goes well then i will   respond with fingers eyes and toes crossed so  it's a nice alternative fingers crossed is so   commonly used you can write it there's even  the emoji you can find that or when you text   someone when you what's up someone and yes  my alternative fingers eyes and toes crossed   probably less commonly known but certainly very  easily understood as an alternative to fingers   crossed so those 10 were all alternatives  to wishing someone or people good luck   now moving on to congratulations and i'm  particularly lazy when it comes to texting   people when i hear good news when i get good  news via a text so what often i will text back is   congrats congrats okay you can of course  say this but make sure when you do use this   congrats it's in a more informal context with  friends when it's something like wishing someone   congratulations on their wedding and you don't  know them very well saying congrats could sound   a little bit more too rather informal so when it's  in a text between you and friends someone you're   familiar with you know well congrats being a bit  lazy with your texting is perfectly acceptable   now ironically in english we have stolen a very  italian word bravo bravo now i would say this   sounds a little bit posh upper class it sounds  a bit like you're trying to sound sophisticated   speaking a bit of italian but the truth is um  yeah probably the english aren't now in italian   obviously you say bravo for a male brava for a  female but in british english we would say bravo   no matter whether they are a girl or a boy so  bravo but again it sounds a bit pompous a bit   like stuck up so you might not want to use that  when it comes to football now of course you can   just say well done well done but if you want to  emphasize that emphasize the fact that someone has   really achieved something done something well  you could say well done you well done you   so adding the you is an emphasis there  well done you you've worked so hard   to pass that exam you really deserve this so again  an alternative saying congratulations well done   you instead of saying congratulations there and  saying well done you again there's emphasis on   the fact that you have achieved something that the  person you're addressing has achieved something so   well done you for understanding this lesson  and improving your listening skills now 14 and   15. okay now listen very carefully and i would  say that with these as well intonation is quite   important particularly with number 15. good on you  good on you good on you very much an alternative   to congratulations and again saying i'm happy  for you for what you've achieved good anya   passing your driving test first time brilliant  now good for you good for you again you could say   that good for you well done good for you but if  you say good for you or good for you oh good for   you yes if you say it with the wrong intonation  it actually sounds a little bit more sarcastic   ironic essentially that you are not genuine in  feeling that way you don't actually think good   for you congratulations so for example if italy  win i might say to my husband oh good for you   so basically i'm not happy i didn't want isla to  win i wanted england to win there you go 16 and   17 again so simple slight variations in the two  alternatives nice one nice job nice one nice job   or good one good job good one good job there we go  so very very similar essentially you can use those   you can alternate which ones you choose to use  but yes an alternative to saying congratulations   you got the job nice one now of course you  could use a positive adjective great brilliant   amazing news simple okay you're pregnant that's  amazing news great news wonderful news so you   can choose an adjective you could also use awesome  awesome news i would say that in british english   we are less likely to use awesome i certainly  don't i'm more likely to use fantastic amazing   yeah that's it fantastic amazing or brilliant  those are the adjectives i would use hats off to   him they played brilliantly hats off to him hats  off to you okay now i say um or yeah because again   these expressions are more colloquial they're  spoken and when we speak fast more naturally   we often contract those sounds so instead of  you you hear ya instead of them you hear um   so hats off hats off to them okay take your hat  off show respect basically for their achievement   and say well done congratulations hats off to him  for winning the game now this is an expression   we might use particularly with maybe children um  in a situation where and be careful not to sound   patronizing too but in a situation where someone  has worked particularly hard and been successful   so you can say pat on the back okay you could say  to somebody give yourself a pat on the back for   that okay you've done a great job okay so a pat  on the back is if you imagine someone giving you   a pat on the back you know they're encouraging you  they're saying they appreciate what you've done   and well done congratulations so you might even  say you know what i'm going to give myself a pat   on the back for that you don't literally have to  do that it looks a bit strange but a pat on the   back because i worked really hard and i deserve  to pass the exam with an a pat on the back for me   give yourself a pat on the back guys you are  working hard to study english and learn pat on   the back you're doing a great job now if someone  is in the middle of or during the period that   they're working hard to achieve something you  could tell them that either they are on a roll   on a roll you're on a roll here i can't believe  how many sales you've made or you could say more   enthusiastically you're on fire what a brilliant  job you are doing so basically you're saying that   someone is continuing to be successful they're  repeating this level of success that they're   having you might refer to maybe uh again a team  or a music band as being on fire they are having   number ones after number ones they are winning  every game they play they are on fire or they're   on a roll i think i would more commonly use that  on fire it sounds a bit more enthusiastic exciting   now next a couple of swear words well it's really  as much swearing as you want i would often use   bloody brilliant now bloody as most of you know is  a very english swear word okay it's not too strong   but certainly bloody brilliant or bloody fantastic  is so british so someone comes to me and they say   you know what i've got a place at university  i got the place i wanted i would say bloody   fantastic you've worked hard bloody brilliant  bloody amazing okay so a nice alternative and   really shows a bit of enthusiasm now the next  alternative i will let you fill in the blank   okay basically it's splitting congratulations  and saying congratulations okay very enthusiastic   congratulations of course you could also use  stronger swear words congratulations you get the   idea but i don't encourage using anything stronger  than bloody swearing might be one of the first   things you learn when you learn a language but  it doesn't mean you should be using those swear   words at least not too often and certainly not  in more formal situations right now depending on   who loses the match tonight you might want to  use some of these alternative expressions to say   oh sorry about that oh i'm so sorry for you okay  that can sound often a little bit patronizing   so as an alternative you could say more formally  my commiserations my commiserations i'm sorry   that this happened to you so this is very much  more formal you probably wouldn't say it to   someone who's a supporter of a football team my  commiserations you're more likely to use it when   it comes to perhaps i don't know maybe uh people  getting divorced my commiserations i've heard   about your divorce uh my commiserations i'm sorry  to hear that you didn't get the promotion at work   okay so more formal i would say not commonly used  but i wanted to teach you that word commiserations   my commiserations to commiserate the verb now be  careful with these next ones because it really   does depend on your intonation okay um if you  want to be genuine you can say oh better luck   next time and you might add something like you  you worked really hard you played really well   to show that you appreciate they did a good  job but they just didn't achieve what they   wanted to but if you're a bit more sarcastic  ironic you might say huh better luck next time   then you're showing you're not very genuine you  don't really care that they didn't achieve what   they wanted to 27 there's always next time again  this is not necessarily used in a sarcastic way it   could be used really well in the case of a driving  test if someone doesn't pass the first time   you can say there's always next time there's  always next time you'll have another chance   basically 28 good effort good effort you  know you're saying don't worry you did make   a good effort and then you might add to that good  effort but there's always next time so you could   always combine some of these together good effort  there's always next time don't worry oh bad luck   oh bad luck bad luck okay so again intonation  is everything with these expressions   depending on the tone of your voice shows whether  you are genuine whether you feel sorry for them   or whether you couldn't really give to craps  and you're not bothered that they didn't succeed   number 30 oh never mind never mind there'll be  other jobs that you can apply for there'll be   other football matches you can win i'll never  mind meaning don't worry so try never mind   never mind better luck next time these expressions  work really well together actually many of them   are used commonly together 31 you tried your best  you tried or you've tried your best or they tried   their best okay so it shows again an emphasis  that you understand how hard someone has worked   but they didn't win they didn't achieve what they  wanted to they didn't succeed 32 i feel for you or   i really feel for you i know how much you wanted  to pass first time i really feel for you it shows   empathy understanding you might even refer to a  time where you didn't achieve what you wanted to   but then did when you tried again so i really feel  for you i passed second time on my driving test so   don't worry okay the last three a few sarcastic  ones and if england lose i know i'm gonna get   plenty of comments tough luck tough luck can be  used in both a genuine and perhaps less sincere   way tough luck england really tried their best  tough luck he didn't win ha ha and similarly   too bad too bad you didn't pass the exam oh too  bad so again listen to the intonation are you   choosing to be genuine or are you perhaps a little  bit insincere and really you're happy because your   team won and finally a very creative expression  when you say that you feel sorry for somebody but   you don't you're being very sarcastic when you use  this expression my heart bleeds for you my heart   bleeds for you okay it's overly emphasized it's  exaggerated because it's not true oh my heart   bleeds for you you didn't win the lottery  oh tough luck oh my heart bleeds for you   your team didn't win the match mine did you get  the idea guys be very careful i don't recommend   using those expressions immediately after whoever  loses but certainly you can use these expressions   in your day-to-day english again use those perhaps  less genuine in sincere expressions with friends   as a joke trying to annoy them or the phrasal verb  wind them up okay because you will wind people up   when you say oh my heart bleeds for you i'm so  sorry for you you're going to annoy them you're   going to irritate them showing that you really  think they're being silly or you don't care at   all so there we are 35 expressions very natural  simple native expressions we use on a daily basis   do comment below there should be lots of comments  on this video okay um so comment below try using   these expressions try using them in a context  try using them when you speak it's the only way   you are going to remember them and of course we  want you to use them to broaden your vocabulary   so whichever football team you support however  many exams you have whatever job interview   you go for next fingers eyes and toes  crossed wishing you all the best bye

Channel: Love English with Leila & Sabrah

Views: 18,611

Keywords: Love English with Leila & Sabrah, Love English with Leila & Sabrah YouTube, YouTube Love English with Leila & Sabrah, learn English, love English, English, English with Leila, English with Sabrah, British English, English expressions, don't say, avoid saying, stop saying, good luck, congratulations, sorry, alternative English expressions, how to say, daily expressions

Id: bcPdWdqr1Wo

Length: 23min 14sec (1394 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 11 2021