Improve Your English - Stop Saying "I Don't Know"

as your English teacher I'm always trying to think of new ways to help you

to increase your vocabulary and improve your English one very effective little

trick is to find new ways of saying things that you say regularly and

language learners often have moments of uncertainty and will regularly say I

don't know so I'm going to give you 10 alternatives to the phrase I don't know

let's go number one I'm not sure now you can use this as part of a sentence I'm

not sure where my father is I'm not sure where my purse is I'm not sure what I've

done with my phone or you could use it as a phrase all by itself I'm not sure

as an answer to a question where's your father I'm not sure when did you last

see your phone I'm not sure you could also use the phrase I'm unsure but this

would usually make up a sentence so I'm sure about how to pronounce certain

words in English I'm unsure about my tenses or CC learning a new skill takes

time and practice something I know a lot about here's me after two and a half

years of practicing my gymnastic skills and learning a language is no different

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number one number two is I'm not 100% sure to be honest it's quite a long

phrase and this can be broken down you could say I'm not 100% sure or I'm not

100% it means that you might know a little but you're not certain so if I

ask you as my classmate have I done this exercise correctly is that right it's a

I'm not a hundred percent to be honest I'm not sure to be honest you better ask

the teacher if you absolutely don't know then you could use phrase number three

I've got no idea or this could be shortened to no idea bear in mind that

the contraction always stands so you won't hear someone say I have got no

idea it seems a little unnatural we will always shorten it to I've got I've got

no idea whatsoever simulator I've got no idea you could use number four I haven't

got a clue I haven't got a clue this again can be shortened to not a clue not

a clue sometimes you'll hear someone saying not a Scoob

and this is cockney rhyming slang the character scooby-doo do rhymes with blue

and therefore if you haven't got a Scooby you haven't got a scooby-doo clue

you haven't got a clue I don't know it's very confusing just stick with haven't

got a clue number five I haven't got the faintest idea I haven't got the faintest

idea no little idea it's coming into my mind

whatsoever not even a faint idea I haven't got the faintest idea the next

phrase is a little bit odd but very common it is number six I haven't the

foggiest I haven't the foggiest I don't know where that phrase came from if you

know about it then please do put it down in the comment section below because I'd

love to know but it simply means I don't know so if you don't know and you're not

sure if anybody else knows then you might say who knows who knows by saying

who knows you're saying I don't have a clue and I don't know who else has a

clue either who knows ask somebody else because I have no idea I haven't the

foggiest number eight is a nice little saying it's beyond me it's beyond me

this means that the knowledge is not within your reach it's beyond you is

beyond me I can't find that knowledge I don't know it's beyond me number nine

you could simply say I'm not the best person to ask I'm not the best person to

ask go and ask somebody else and number ten and nice little phrase to wrap this

up with is your guess is as good as mine your guess is as good as mine if you

don't know I don't know your guess is as good as mine and an additional little

tip it is you could expand on I don't know with I don't know

the top of my head if you don't know something off the top of your head it

means without referencing from somewhere without getting reassurance from a book

from the internet from someone who definitely knows without that you can't

be certain so without double-checking you're not certain but it means that you

have an idea so as an English teacher I'm regularly asked questions that I

don't instantly know for certain the answer to so I often say in my life

lessons I don't know off the top of my head I'll have to double check so there

you go now you know more ways to say I don't know and that rhymes hit that

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it's a bit cold now definitely need a fresh one