Common English Phrases That Sound More Natural Than Textbook English

Hi there!

Reaching an advanced level can also mean reaching a “strange” stage, where your English is correct. Your grammar is good. You have plenty of vocabulary. Yet… your English still sounds different from what you hear from native speakers. 

A possible reason could be the way you phrase your sentences. Textbook English tends to elongate sentences more: “I do not understand”, “I will contact you later” or “I would like to ask you a question”. There’s nothing wrong with these, but in everyday life people often choose shorter and more conversational versions. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that textbook English, but sometimes you need to ask yourself what sounds appropriate in a particular situation.

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“Correct” English vs natural English

“I don't understand” → “I'm not sure I follow”

“I don’t understand” is completely correct. However, phrasing it that way can sometimes come across as quite direct. Some more conversational alternatives could be:

• I’m not sure I follow

• I’m not quite following

• I’m not sure I see what you mean

• I’m a bit lost

• Sorry, I’m not quite with you

  
  

I like to look at “I don’t understand” vs any of the above alternatives as:

• I don’t understand = I don’t understand the information

• I don’t see what you mean = I don’t understand your point or reasoning

“I don't know” → “I'm not sure”

Once again, there is nothing wrong with saying “I don’t know”, but native speakers often soften uncertainty with alternatives like:

• I’m not sure

• I’m not entirely sure

• I’m not certain

• I’m not sure, actually

• I’m not really sure about that

This doesn’t mean that you don’t hear “I don’t know” commonly in natural English. But depending on the context and tone, there could be a difference.

“I would like…” → “I'd like…” / “I'd love…”

This is a very interesting point, because rather than giving you alternatives to “I would like…”, I actually want to draw your attention to contractions and natural conversational rhythm, which you’ll hear a lot. Native speakers often don’t use the longer form of a sentence unless they want to sound particularly deliberate or formal.

• I would like to ask you something → I’d like to ask you something OR Can I ask you something?

• I would like to know whether you have any availability next week → I was wondering if you had anything available next week? OR Do you have anything available next week?

“I want to…” → “I'd like to…” / “I'm hoping to…” / “I'm looking to…”

Native speakers tend to choose different structures depending on how direct they want to sound. For example, “I want to change jobs” sounds very direct, whereas “I’d like to change jobs” comes across as softer or more neutral. Then you’ve got “I’m hoping to change jobs” which focuses more on what you hope will happen, and “I’m looking to make a change” is much more direct and also more professional.

Here are some more examples:

• I’m looking to move somewhere a bit quieter

• We’re hoping to expand into the European market

• I’d like to spend a bit more time in Spain

• I’m thinking about changing direction

• I’m considering moving abroad

This is an interesting part of this newsletter, as learners tend to overuse “I want…” simply because it’s grammatically easy, but depending on the context, it might not be a native speaker’s first choice. 

“Please wait” → “Just give me a second”

This is probably one of the best examples of how textbook English differs from conversational English. It’s totally okay for you to say “Please wait”. However, you will oftentimes hear people say things like:

• Just give me a second

• Give me a minute

• Hang on a second

• Bear with me

• Just a moment

“Hang on” specifically is quite conversational, and “bear with me” is very useful when you’re asking someone to be patient with you while you deal with something. 

“It is very expensive” → “It's not exactly cheap”

Now we’re stepping more into British English territory, particularly their indirectness. British native speakers have the habit of avoiding making a statement sound unnecessarily absolute. So, if someone were to be asked: “What did you think of the hotel?”, rather than saying “it was expensive”, you might hear something along the lines of:

• It wasn’t exactly cheap

• It was on the pricier side

• It was quite a bit more expensive than I expected

• It wasn’t the cheapest option 

“I am busy” → “I've got a lot on”

Speaking of British English, I just had to throw this one in as well. Here are some natural alternatives for “I am busy”:

• I’ve got a lot on this week

• I’ve got quite a lot on at the moment

• Things are pretty hectic at work

• I’ve got a few things to sort out

• I’m tied up this afternoon

• I’m a bit snowed under at the moment

These expressions are particularly useful because they allow you to be specific about the type of “busy” you mean.

The real lesson: natural doesn't always mean shorter

At this point, I’d like to add a caveat, as I really don’t want you to leave thinking: shorter English = better English. As you’ve seen in the examples above, sometimes the natural alternative is actually longer, particularly phrases like:

• I’m not sure I follow

• I’m not entirely convinced

• I was wondering if…

• I’m not really up for…

The difference is often that native speakers use a familiar conversational structure, as they don’t have to translate directly from another language. 

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All of the alternatives and tips I gave you above are in no way a sign for you to throw away your textbook English! Instead, you could try to learn when it fits and then add more conversational alternatives to expand your toolkit. Remember, the goal is not to stop “speaking textbook English”, but to have more than one way of saying something, and also to know which version fits the situation. 

Thank you for taking the time to read today’s newsletter, and if you have any questions regarding our English classes, feel free to reply to this email!

Until next time!

Camila