I use these words every day: 40-minute English Vocabulary Lesson

be careful that you don't say that say what well in today's lesson I would like to help you use that expression be careful that you don't and also 40 more Expressions that I use in my daily life and you can too hi I'm Vanessa from speak englishwith vanessa. comom and like always I have created a free pdf worksheet this one is a big one it includes all 40 daily life Expressions definitions sample sentences and at the bottom of the worksheet you can answer Vanessa's challenge question so that you never forget what you've learned you can click on the link in the description to download that free pdf worksheet today it is my gift to you let's get started with the first set of 10 Expressions that I use every day in my morning routine let's go all right let's get started at the beginning of the day and go through these 10 Expressions that you can use every day just just like I do expression number one is to whip up something to eat this phrasal verb to whip up implies a fast action when I whip up something to eat that means that I'm doing it pretty quickly and why am I doing it quickly well in the morning I don't leave myself much time to do all the things that I need to do so when my kids say Mom can you come look at this Mom can you go over here I say sorry kids I have to to whip up something to eat first I need to quickly toast some bread make some eggs I need to whip up something to eat expression number two come on let's go I say this every day maybe you do too in your own language when we need to get somewhere in the morning school or work well if you have to gather other people whether it's your husband or your kids you probably say come on let's go especially if you're the one who's ready first if you're the one who takes a long time you might hear someone else say this to you come on let's go are you ready the third expression that I use every day is we don't want to be late or sometimes I say I don't want to be late because usually it's just me who cares about this the kids don't always care about it but this is giving a reason for why you need to come on let's go we don't want to be late it's kind of rude to be late isn't it at least in American culture it's rude to be late so it's a good motivator daily life expression number four is one that you can use as you're driving your kids to school or if you're on your way to work you can say I'm stuck in traffic but I'm on my way this is letting the other person know maybe your child's teacher maybe your boss that you have an excuse I'm stuck in traffic but don't worry I'm not still at home lying in bed I'm on my way with family members is sometimes when we text we say OMW and this means on my way this is a common abbreviated expression that if I'm at the store and I'm coming home I might text my husband OMW that means on my way daily life expression that I use almost every day is I'm going to run some errands to run some errands is a great fixed phrase that you can add to your vocabulary and it means doing necessary things like going to the grocery store going to the post office going to the bank I'm going to run some errands and then I need to pick up my kids from school daily life expression number six is I better run is this talking about having some physical activity and running no this is talking about leaving I better run I'm going to be late so if you're chatting with a friend maybe you're having some coffee together and you realize it's almost 3:00 I need to pick up my kids at 3:00 you might say I better run and the word better here is not talking about a comparison this is better than this instead this is a substitute for the word need I need to run I need to go I better run I better go great expression that I use all the time and you can too daily life expression number seven you can ask how was everyone's day this is something you can ask your kids you can ask your partner you can ask how was everyone's day and our next eighth expression is kind of a followup to that you might ask what did you do today what did you do today if you ask kids this after school what did you do today they might just say h nothing it's often good to ask a pointed question so if you know something specific about your child's day it's better to ask that for example U my son who's in first grade his first grade teacher gives each student a job for the day so his job might be what they call energy saver and that means it's the person who turns off the lights when they leave the classroom so I might ask him how was your day as energy saver did you turn off the lights today and he might say yeah and then I did and then it kind of continues the conversation a bit instead of asking what did you do today you can ask a more pointed question the ninth expression that I use every day is talking about dinner when my husband and I come together at the end of the day and we say what are we going to eat well maybe one of us will have a suggestion I might say well I was thinking about making spaghetti what do you think here I'm asking him what's your opinion what do you think and if he says Nah you know what I think I'm going to make a roast chicken I might say cool great go for it you can ask someone's opinion by saying what do you think and the 10th expression that I use every day is to start winding down here we have the phrasal verb to wind down there is the opposite to wind up which we'll talk about in just a moment but when you wind down you're calming down you're trying to prepare for bed prepare for the end of the day and try to just calm your mind so what I often say to my kids is all right everyone dinner's finished it's time to start winding down we're going to take a bath I'm I'm going to read you some stories and then you're going to go to bed we're trying to whine down but sometimes what happens is the opposite after my kids take a bath they just get this burst of energy I don't know if this has ever happened to you or to your kids in your house where they just get wound up this is the past irregular tense here they get wound up they get so much energy after a bath and they're running around like crazy so I say hey hey hey guys guys we're going to start winding down let's start calming down your mind and your bodies and get ready for bed it's time to start winding down great work learning those 10 Expressions that I use every day let's go on to 10 more expression number one is to look forward to something this is a great phrasal verb and I often say I'm really looking forward to this weekend because my whole family will be together and we can can just enjoy a calm family time together in reality it's not always a calm time but it's usually a nice time when we're all together this expression to look forward to something is talking about something that you're excited about what are you looking forward to maybe it's finishing an exam so that you don't have to study anymore or maybe you're looking forward to seeing your cousin who you haven't seen for a long time or maybe you're looking forward to studying English with Vanessa let me know in the comments what you're looking forward to and let's go on to expression number two that I use every day expression number two that I use every day is kind of two parts it's I'm thinking about what do you think when you live with other people you're probably going to use this expression a lot so for example I often say I'm thinking about going to the gym tonight what do you think when I ask my husband this I'm not asking for his permission can I please go to the gym I need your permission no instead I'm asking him hey while I go to the gym can you watch the kids can you make dinner can you put them to bed there's a lot going on in our house so when one adult has to do something away from the home we need to talk about it so here I'm using this great expression I'm thinking about hm what do you think we're trying to make sure that we're on the same page so that our home ideally can be a peaceful place expression number three is one that I say maybe too many times and it is be careful that you don't something so for example I often say to my kids be careful that you don't drop that be careful that you don't and here I'm warning them I'm worried about something because I foresee a problem when my child is carrying a plate full of food and they're carrying it around the table down the stairs I might say be careful that you don't drop that plate of food please because this has happened before I want to warn them to be careful if you are a parent I'm sure that you have used this before and if you are not app parent you can also warn other people be careful that you don't drive too fast because it's snowing outside there's a lot of warnings that you can give to other people and use this great phrase expression number four is one that I use at the beginning of this lesson and that is thanks to thanks to you I can teach English online here I am telling you thank you but I'm using the expression thanks to thanks to my students I can teach English online thanks to modern technology I can teach English online thanks to here is something that you are grateful for so that you can do something you want but just a little note this can also to be used sarcastically to talk about something bad sometimes I use this because it's a little bit funny it's a little bit silly and when you're having a hard time sometimes humor is the best medicine so you might say thanks to my neighbor's dog barking all night I couldn't sleep I'm not really thanking my neighbor's dog I'm pretty annoyed that my neighbor's dog barked all night and I couldn't sleep but I'm using this expression with a little bit of a sarcastic tone so listen to the tone of my voice when I say it thanks to my neighbor's dog who was barking all night I couldn't sleep my face is not happy not excited thank you dog no I'm not saying it like that thanks to my neighbor's dog so here if there's something negative that's affecting your life you can also use this expression just make sure your tone of voice reflects that expression number five is a fun one as far as I know so in our house we have a lot of things going on there's five five people who live in our house two adults and three children so we have a lot of different moving parts so when my husband says hey do we have anything planned for Friday afternoon I might say uh no not as far as I know or as far as I know I don't think so this means I'm not exactly certain I don't have a perfect calendar in my head but for me and maybe some of you have also said this to your husbands as far as I know we don't but check the calendar I think this is a very stereotypical situation that the wife tells the husband I don't know check the calendar it's on the calendar and husbands are notorious for not checking the calendar and asking their wife first so I would probably say uh not as far as I know but check the calendar expression number seven is speaking of so let me give you a little example my husband is a science teacher for elementary school students and his project this week was to destroy and break apart appliances with the students so all of the students had a screwdriver and they were taking apart broken radios broken hair dryers they loved this project so when my husband came home and he was telling me about breaking things with the students I said speaking of breaking things uh we broke three bowls today because the kids were running around the house so here I am kind of making a connection between one topic breaking things with the students in the classroom and a similar thing that happened at home so if you are reminded of a topic and you want to connect those topics together this is the perfect expression you could say oh yes speaking of food what are we going to to eat for dinner speaking of plus the topic it's a great way to connect things that you're talking about expression number eight has two options it's we may as well or we might as well they both mean the same thing it's just your personal preference we often use this when there is some kind of change of plans that you have to make that you can't avoid so for example my oldest son got invited to a birthday party of one of his friends but but when my son woke up he was not feeling well and I thought you know what maybe he'll feel better throughout the day and he can go to the party tonight no you know what we might as well cancel now this is talking about a change of plans that you can't avoid he's probably not going to feel better later today to go to that party so what's the conclusion well we may as well cancel our plans now or we might as well cancel our plans now there's kind of a reluctance like I don't really want to but I probably should I don't know 100% what's the right thing to do we may as well just do whatever it is cancel our plans this is a great expression to use because in life plans are always changing expression number nine that I use every day is a good followup to expression number eight it is this doesn't mean that it just just means that so let's take that example of my son missing his friend's birthday party because he wasn't feeling well well can you imagine when I told him sorry I don't think we're going to be able to go to her birthday party you just aren't feeling well how do you think he reacted to that do you think he said great yay no even though he wasn't feeling well he was really disappointed his reaction was not positive poor guy he felt really disappointed to miss that birthday party so I used this expression to help him feel better I wanted to explain a little bit sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't with children but this is a great expression to use I said this doesn't mean that we can never play with your friend it just means that we can't see her today okay sometimes we jump to the biggest conclusion I'll never play with my friends ever again oh no ah and we want to kind of tone it down a bit you can say this doesn't mean that you'll never see her again it just means that we won't see her today here we're trying to kind of make some realistic expectations to help us deal with disappointment you can even use this in the workplace let's say that you're really working on a big project and all of the team has to work overtime in order to finish the project well your manager might say something like this this doesn't mean that you'll always be working overtime it just means that for this project this week I'm going to need you to work a little bit extra so that we can finish great they're trying to make the expectations realistic help to deal with some disappointment and just set out the facts the final 10th expression is a great one for expressing your preferences it is I would rather than and we often make a contraction out of I would and say I i' I'd rather then I'd rather learn English with Vanessa online than drive 30 minutes to learn in a classroom we're talking about preferences and this is something that we do all the time just a little note there is a verb to prefer I prefer learning English online well you know what this is okay but in the US we don't really use the verb prefer that much instead we're more likely to say rather I'd rather learn English online because my life is just too busy I don't have time to go into the classroom I'd rather something than something else let me give you another example from my daily life every week my family has certain meals that we make a lot for example every Monday we make miso soup we call it miso Mondays and there's different types of miso soup that we make but this past monday it was just such a busy day and all of the steps for making miso soup felt really overwhelming so I told my family I know that you guys like to eat miso suit but I'd rather eat something quick and easy than spend a lot of time in the kitchen making miso soup this doesn't mean that we'll never eat miso soup it just means that we'll eat it tomorrow when we have a less busy day great way to use both of these Expressions so here I'm talking about my preference I'd rather eat something easy today let's just just toast some bread make some eggs cook a little vegetable or something and have an easy dinner because I'd rather have an easy dinner than a more complicated dinner today has already been too much this is a great way to just naturally express your preferences great work learning those 10 Expressions that I use every day let's go on to 10 more phrase number one is like clockwork take a look at this sentence and I want you to guess what you think this means every morning at 6:00 a.m. my baby wakes up like clockwork do you think that sometimes my baby wakes up at 6 sometimes 8 sometimes 9 nope every day without fail my baby wakes up at 6:00 a.m. I don't even need to look at the clock she is like a clock and here that's what that expression means like Clockwork it happens so regularly that I don't even need to look at the clock because she wakes up every day at 6 o00 vocabulary phrase number two that I use almost every day is slowly and surely notice the pronunciation of the word surely there's no sh surely but it sounds like that surely surely take a look at this sentence slowly and surely my two older boys will learn to help get themselves ready in the morning at the moment my six-year-old gets stressed usually by himself but my three-year-old needs a little bit more help especially putting on his shirt and you know what slowly and surely they will become more independent and be able to get ready by themselves can you guess what you think this vocabulary phrase means well it means that something is not going to happen quickly it will take time and you know what as a mom of three young kids it can be really challenging sometimes to do all of the tasks but I want to appreciate how small and cute they are right now slowly and surely they will become more independent so right now I just need to enjoy them vocabulary phrase number three that I use almost every day is I've gotten into the habit of take a look at the sentence ever since my baby was born I've gotten into into the habit of getting ready right when I wake up what do you think this means do I usually wait until after eating breakfast to brush my hair do I usually wait until my children are dressed to put on my clothes for the day nope instead right when I wake up I get myself ready first so we use this phrase to talk about something that happens regularly I have gotten into the habit of getting myself ready it helps me to feel better about the day and I'm not neglecting myself and only taking care of my children instead I've gotten into the habit of getting myself ready first in the morning and then I'm ready to take care of everyone else vocabulary phrase number four is put it off put it off take a look at this sentence I have a list of things that I need to do but I have been putting them off for too long today is the day can you guess what this means well it means I have been procrastinating or delaying doing something I know we are all like this right I need to call the bank I need to make a cake for a friend's birthday I need to send a message to my students these things I have been delaying I have been putting them off but no longer today is the day that I will check them off off of my to-do list vocabulary phrase number five that I use almost every day is it's a hassle there are a lot of things that are a hassle in life but take a look at this sentence for me driving my son to preschool is such a hassle here I've added the word such to emphasize it this is a parenting Duty that I just don't like it's one of the things that I don't appreciate I have a hard time enjoying for me it's a hassle and that means it's frustrating or difficult or annoying it's a hassle to drive my son to preschool each morning but I know that it's important so I do it vocabulary phrase number six that I use almost every day is as it turns out as it turns out and I need something after that take a look at the sentence I tried to call the bank but as it turns out the bank is closed today so here we have the difference between what I thought would happen and the reality and these are situations that happen every day all the time I wanted to stop putting off calling the bank so I did it I called them and then guess what they were closed so I'll have to do it another day so as it turns out they were closed I'll just do it tomorrow vocabulary phrase number seven that I use almost every day is go with the flow take a look at this during the week I try to stay pretty organized but on the weekends I like to just go with the flow so when my husband asked me what do you want to do this weekend I can use this great expression because it means I don't know I have no plans I'm going to just be like a river and follow the water I'm going to go with the flow so I could respond to him and say I don't know let's just go with the flow if we feel like staying home that's fine if we feel like we want to go out I'm okay with that too let's just go with the flow vocabulary phrase number eight is that being said this is a good one to follow number seven so I just said I like to go with the flow on the weekends but that being said I do sometimes like to have plans for the weekends okay I sometimes like to organize what's going on on the weekends not every hour on the hour what we're doing but maybe we'll visit a friend or a family member or go on a hike that being said so here I'm saying the opposite I like to go with the flow well that being said so this is true it is true I like to go with the flow but I want to give an exception something that's the opposite that being said I do like to plan some things on the weekend vocabulary phrase number nine that I use almost every day is now that I think about it because in my life there is a lot going on I have quite a busy life you probably do too so whenever my husband says hey what are your plans for tomorrow I might say I don't know I'm just going to go with the flow and then I say oh now that I think about it I forgot that we have a birthday party to go to tomorrow now that I think about it so we can kind of assume that previously when I said let's just go with the flow I wasn't really thinking about it but now that I think about it oh yeah we do have something planned for tomorrow we're going to go to a birthday party so this is a great expression to use when you change your mind or when you realize something that you forgot about now that I think about it we actually do have plans vocabulary phrase number 10 and our final one for today's lesson is a fun one that's beside the point that's beside the point so here we have the point which is the purpose or the meaning of something and if something is beside the point what do you think that means take a look at this sentence when my husband asks me what do you want to do this weekend and I say oh how about uh going for a hike let's go for a hike and he says to me oh but you've been coughing and sick all week do you think you need to relax a bit I might say that is beside the point I just really want to go for a hike so he's presenting some kind of evidence that says you shouldn't go for a hike you should just rest and relax and I'm saying I don't care that I was sick last week I want to go for a hike that's beside the point that's not an important reason that's beside the point I just want to go for a hike so if you want to push away what someone has said dismiss what they've said this is a Great Expression For You Ah that's beside the point I want to do what I want to do great work learning those 10 Expressions that I use every day let's go on to 10 more I'm going to tell you the sample sentence and I want you to guess what you think this phrase means on a roll I'm on a roll today I got everything done on my to-do list and it's not even lunch yet what do you think this means this lovely phrase on a roll means that you are on a streak of success I have been productive all morning I got everything done on my to-do list I can't believe it I didn't get sidetracked I didn't procrastinate I'm on a roll if you like to watch sports you can also use this phrase you might say they scored three goals in a row they are on a roll yes success vocabulary phrase number two that I use every day is ahead of time take a look at the sentence I try to make my kids lunches ahead of time but I often just make them the mour of what do you think this means ahead of time this means that I try to complete their lunches before they actually need to be finished so this means I'm thinking ahead maybe I will pack their school lunches the night before but really the reality is that usually it happens in the morning before they go to school but I try to do things ahead of time expression number three is to get out of hand H are we talking about something escaping from my hand take a look at this sample sentence sometimes during the week dishes and laundry get out of hand because we're so busy what do you think this means well we could switch one word in this phrase and I think you'll be able to guess what if I said during the week dishes and laundry sometimes get out of control because we're so busy well you can get the idea that there are dishes on the in the sink dishes on the counter there's laundry in the basket maybe there's laundry even in the washer that hasn't been dried yet there's a little bit of chaos because things get busy during the week but we can use this great phrase Instead at least boost your vocabulary while you're talking about chaos you could say dishes and laundry get out of hand during the week we can also use this to talk about people or places where people are involved so take a look at this the kids ate the whole cake and the plate of cookies at the birthday party after that the party got out of hand you can imagine crazy children after that type of experience or you might use it as a warning I don't want the party to get out of hand so just eat one piece of cake please the next phrase that I use every day is it's too bad take a look at this it's too bad that we don't have a maid who can help to clean up our house at the end of the day so at the end of the day my family has cleaning time we have a couple cleaning songs that we play and everyone helps to clean up the toys or the dishes or whatever might be lying around making a mess in our house but often during this time I say it's too bad we don't have a maid who could help to clean up our house this phrase is just something used to express regret obviously when I'm talking about cleaning up I'm a little bit joking I'm saying this in a light-hearted way but we can also use this in more serious situations as well if your tone of voice is more serious you could say it's too bad that we elected someone else who is incompetent if you're unsatisfied with your country's politics you could use this phrase to talk about a serious situation which is politics in kind of a more light-hearted Way by using this phrase H it's too bad we elected someone else who is incompetent someone else who's not going to be able to do a good job what a regret the next phrase that I use every day is this one when the time comes or sometimes we add another word when the time comes for take a look at this sentence when the time comes for Matilda my baby to go to preschool our house is going to be very quiet so she is my last baby and often times during these times of transition I think about this when she goes to school it's going to be quite a different life well we can use this phrase when the time comes for Matilda to go to school well I'm not really talking about a specific date or Year we're talking about time in general when the time comes for her to go to school it's going to be different in our house you can also use this to talk about your English learning Journey I'm learning English so when the time comes for me to go to the US for vacation I am going to be prepared or I'm learning English so that when the time comes and we have some English-speaking clients at work I'm going to be able to talk to them with no problem you don't know exactly when that time will be but you will be prepared when the time comes the next phrase I use every day is some fresh air I've been stuck inside all morning I need to go outside and get some fresh air right now my kids are outside playing they are getting some fresh air do you know what this means it just means going outside usually it's kind of laced with the idea that you need some kind of relief when you get some fresh air it helps you to feel better maybe you feel less stressed you feel more energized you feel relaxed I need to go outside and get some fresh air talking about getting fresh air the next phrase goes along with it there's something about take a look at this there's something about about going outside and getting some fresh air that just makes me feel better do you think that I know exactly why fresh air helps me to feel better no I don't know exactly why there's something about fresh air that helps me feel better okay I'm talking about when something has the ability to influence me but I can't really describe it there's something about fresh air that just feels great you might even use it to talk about my English lessons there's something about Vanessa's English lessons that I just love maybe you don't know exactly why you keep watching my English lessons but it's hard to describe and it influences you there's something about Vanessa's lessons that's just makes me want to come back again and again and watch them I hope that's true the next phrase that I use every day is come to think of it come to think of it it what is it we'll take a look at this sentence come to think of it it is snack time let's go eat something maybe like your kids my kids are always asking for a snack but I try not to let them eat a snack all day all the time we have kind of snack times it's not extremely strict but if they ask me for a snack and it's around 10:00 in the morning that's generally snack time and they say mom I'm so hungry I'm so hungry I need a snack I might say well come to think of it it is snack time let's go eat something so here we're talking about something that just appeared in my mind in the middle of this conversation I wasn't thinking snack time is coming soon I'm going to prepare a snack no my kids asked me for a snack and I just remembered oh come to think of it oh look at that it is snack time let's go eat so it's something that just comes up in the comment conversation I want to give you another example for this last week my sister and I were talking about my grandparents and thinking about them and I said in the middle of our conversation come to think of it I haven't heard from my grandma in a while maybe I should give her a call okay we were having this conversation about our grandparents and I realized in the middle of that conversation that I hadn't heard from my grandma she hadn't called me for a while so I thought oh come to think of it I haven't heard from her for a while maybe I should call her it just came up in my mind in the middle of the conversation the next phrase that I use every day is to be spoiled take a look at this sentence we're so spoiled because our neighbors share good food with us have you ever had a neighbor bring you over some freshly made cookies or maybe some soup that they just made on a cold day ah it's such a beautiful feeling this is a way to truly show love I think so for me I have several neighbors that are constantly sharing food together I feel spoiled I'm spoiled that my neighbors share such good food with me what do you think this means to be spoiled this just means that I'm treated well maybe even above well I am pampered someone is taking care of me more than is even NE necessary I'm spoiled we do sometimes use this negatively for children so if your child always asks for toys and every time they ask for a toy you say yes anytime you're walking down the aisle in a store and they say I want to buy that you say okay and then they want to buy something else and you say okay okay okay okay well you know what your children are spoiled this is not a good thing it's not a good thing for us as a adults either but when someone is spoiling me by giving me food this is generally just kind of a a neutral or good thing but make sure that you try not to spoil your children too much we want them to be grateful for the things that they have the final phrase that I use every day that I want to share with you today is the fact that okay we need to add this grammatically correctly into a sentence so take a look at this I love the fact that my neighbors support each other okay yes we're talking about a fact something that is true but look how this is grammatically used I love I could just say I love that my neighbors take care of each other but instead I added the fact to kind of emphasize this is absolute truth I love the fact that my neighbors take care of each other and it's true we often look out for each other and bring each other things bring each other food check in on each other and make sure that each other are doing well I love the fact that my neighbors take care of each other let me give you one more sample sentence with this one of my friends is a vegetarian which means she does not eat meat and she told me this my family has finally accepted the fact that I don't eat meat well maybe before her family thought H this is just a phase it will pass if you're a vegetarian maybe your family said the same thing but she said that her family has accepted the fact that she doesn't eat meat and now whenever she goes over to their house they try to accommodate her in some way it's very kind they accept the fact that she doesn't eat meat well congratulations on learning 40 Expressions that I use every day in English and you can too now don't forget to download the free pdf worksheet that includes all 40 of these Expressions definitions sample sentences and at the bottom of the worksheet you can answer Vanessa's challenge question so that you never forget what you've learned you can click on the link in the description to download that free pdf worksheet today my gift to you well thank you so much for learning English with me and I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel bye but wait do you want more I recommend watching this video next where you will learn English around town with me including I will show show you one of the coolest houses in my town it is very exciting I'll see you in that video to find out

Channel: Speak English With Vanessa

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Keywords: learn english, english conversation, speak english, english pronunciation, speak english with vanessa, Speak English With Vanessa, english with vanessa, native english teacher, american english, phrasal verbs, fast english, how to speak english, real english conversation

Id: QUnV9mqGUsc

Length: 40min 35sec (2435 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 28 2024