Hey there! This is TOP episode 46: How to end a conversation? Vocabulary Booster.
My name’s Ola and I am your English teacher.
This podcast is for you if you’re an English learner who wants to speak English with more confidence and get rid of speaking barriers. It’s time you started speaking English fearlessly! Go to my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. Happy learning!
Hello again, thank you for being here. It’s really great to know you found some time for yourself, your English skills, your development and I promise you’ll learn something practical. Phrases that will help you end a conversation in a polite way.
Without feeling awkward, without dragging the meeting out. How to end a conversation gracefully. Please remember, your task for today is to listen carefully and repeat phrases out loud. Then practice saying them to yourself. Imagine you’re about to end a real chat and practice doing it. So that when in real life you have such a situation you’ll use the words you know very well. And you’ll use them confidently since they’ve been practised. Good? Ok. Let’s jump right into the phrases, shall we?
One effective way of ending a conversation is to say the reason, refer to the future right away, and then say bye. For example. Listen and repeat: Oh, look at the time! I’ll call you next week. Bye for now!
Have you noticed? First, we give the reason: Look at the time! which basically means, it’s getting late, I should be somewhere else now, and then we refer to the future. I’ll call you next week. Repeat again:
Oh, look at the time! I’ll call you next week. Bye for now!
One more example:
I’m afraid I have another appointment. I’ll be in touch. Bye for now!
See? The same thing. I have another appointment, and I promise I’ll be in touch. The sentence started with a phrase which comes in handy when you have some sort of bad news. And I’m talking about I’m afraid. It’s very polite, use it whenever you have bad news or simply want to say no. You can use it for both, formal and informal situations. Let’s repeat:
I’m afraid I have another appointment. I’ll be in touch. Bye for now!
Another polite way to exit a conversation is to focus on the person you’re talking to. That means, instead of talking about yourself, how busy you are, that you’re in a hurry, turn it around and divert the attention to the other person and say:
I won’t keep you any longer, you’re probably busy. I’ll call you next week. Bye for now.
What we did here is we put the attention on the other person (I won’t keep you any longer, you’re probably busy), then we referred to the future (I’ll call you next week) and actually said goodbye. Repeat again:
I won’t keep you any longer, you’re probably busy. I’ll call you next week. Bye for now.
Another example, shorter:
I’ll let you carry on.
Ok, now let’s imagine the situation when you’re in a conversation where the other person is talking talking talking and you don’t know how to stop them. What do you do? How do you stop them? Listen and repeat:
Listen, I hate to do this, but I have to run to work now.
Just like that. Interrupt, and just say it: I hate to do this, but I have an appointment in 10 minutes, I have to pick up my kid, I have to go shopping now, I have to take my dog for a walk, I have to catch a bus, I have to go back home, whatever your reason is. Just don’t lie. That’s just a little tip, be honest. Repeat one more time, I’m sure you’ll need this one day:
Listen, I hate to do this, but I have to run to work now.
Listen, so this word, this is your interruptor, the word you can use just to stop someone talking to you. There are other interruptors, there are many of them. Things like: Ok or mhm, yes, or well, or unfortunately or just hey. So, let’s practice even more. Interrupters are not easy,.Ok. Listen and repeat:
Well, I hate to do this but…
Hey, unfortunately, I have to run right now…
Ok, I’ve been enjoying this chat, but now…
Is it polite? Yes, it is. You’re not nasty, you’re not biting anyone’s head off. Just be assertive. Be kind, honest and that’s it.
Ok, but what’s next? Don’t stop here. Be polite and say something nice, for example:
It’s been great to see you. Let’s meet sometime next week. I gotta run. See you, bye.
Ok, I know it’s kinda long, so let’s break it down. The first sentence was:
It’s been great to see you.
Let’s meet sometime next week.
I gotta run, see you, bye.
I gotta run.
‘Gotta’ means have got to. Short and sweet. Repeat again:
I gotta run.
Another polite phrase:
It’s been really good catching up, let’s meet again soon.
And To catch up with someone means to hear the latest news from someone.
Let’s move on to another phrase. Actually, it’s not a phrase but rather a word. I use it to change the topic, to steer the conversation to a different direction, also to end a conversation. This mysterious word is: anyway.
Listen and repeat:
Anyway, I should be going now. So long!
Anyway, I’d love to keep chatting, but actually I have to go now. Later!
Alright then. Alright then can be used the same way. Or similar way.
Just: Alright then.
It’s a signal that it’s time to end this conversation. Focus on the intonation as well. Alright then.
A few more, very informal, use it with your close friends:
I’d better go now.
I’d better be off now.
I’d better head off.
There you have it! Great work. That was the last phrase today. Thank you for staying till the very end of this episode. You’re not done yet though. Go to teacherola.com/46 and download the worksheet. Translate 10 sentences into English.
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In the next episode, we’re going to learn English with some music.
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