ENGLISH FOR BROWSERS
Want some English tips?
On this page, I plan to do some mini lessons in general usage English. What is the “correct” English way to say something? But what do we really say?
Most of the tips here will be North American English expressions. Although I can speak “British English,” I live in Canada, which is, of course, heavily influenced by the United States, for better or for worse, so the expressions here will reflect that.
WHEN WE MEET
Do we really say, “Hi. Nice to meet you.” Yes we do. Although it sounds like “Nice to meechyu.”
We say that the first time we are introduced to someone, but not after that. If we see them often, say at work, we just say “Hi, how’re you today” when we meet again. If it’s someone we don’t see often, we might say “Hi, nice to see you again.”
Note: We always say “How’re you?” Even if it’s a friend and we’re answering the phone to the same person every day. We could also say very informally, “How ya doin?” This is very informal though and used with people we feel very comfortable with and who feel comfortable with us. A variation used with friends could be, “How’s it goin?”
Note: When speaking informally, we nearly always leave the final ‘g’ off the ‘-ing’ form of the verb.
AGREEING AND DISAGREEING
If we agree with someone’s suggestion or idea, we can easily say, “I agree with you/that.” However a more usual way in everyday NA English is to say, “That sounds like a great idea,” or “I’ll go with that.”
Language used in a business setting might be slightly different. Someone who likes an idea or suggestion might say, “I’m on board with that.” Being “on board” with an idea is an idiom related to boarding a ship, plane, or train.
Suggestions
When in a business meeting with native English speakers, listen to the idioms and colloquialisms they use, and note when they are used. Then you can follow the unique culture of the organization you are working with.
Note: You may have a specific situation you need an answer for. You can leave a question in the comments area here and I will answer.
DISAGREEING
How do North Americans disagree politely? There are so many ways.
The direct way: “I don’t think I can agree with you about that.” or “I don’t agree.”
The indirect way: “Do you think so?”
“Do you think that’s true?”
“That’s an interesting point of view. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
In some cultures, it’s not polite to disagree at all, in which case you can say something like “That’s an interesting idea. It’s something to think about.”
