30+ Better Ways To Say I DON'T KNOW (Sound Like A Native Speaker)

Would you like to learn some different ways to  say I don't know to help you sound more fluent  

natural and professional in English. Let's get  started. First, let's talk about some everyday  

ways that you can say. I don't know you can use  these and more casual situations and professional  

situations. So let's say your friend or  co-worker asks you a random question like  

how far away way is the Sun and you don't know  the answer. How can you reply? The most popular  

answer would be I have no idea and this is really  to stress the fact that you have no knowledge on

the

topic. Remember, the question is, how  far away is the sun? I have no idea. Now,  

we can also shorten this and simply say, no idea.

I have no idea, no idea, another  common answer is, I'm not sure,  

I'm not sure. Now you can expand on this  and you can say I'm not too sure. I'm not  

too sure. I'm not too sure about that.  That meaning the question I'm not too

sure

about how far away the sun is sure about that. Not  

sure about what a fun one  is simply to say who knows

Who no seriously. Who knows.  Do you know, who knows?

You could say, your guess is as good as mine.  It's implying that you also don't know the  

answer. Your guess is as good as mine. Well,  your guess is as good as mine. I created a free  

lesson PDF that summarizes all the different  ways to say. I don't know, you can look in  

the description or the comment section for the  link. Now, another one with the word guess is,

If I had to guess, I'd say so you're letting  the person know that your answer could be  

completely wrong. So how far away is the sun  if I had to guess I'd say 100 million miles?  

I don't know. Am I right? You let me know in  the comments if I'm right. You could say. I  

wish I knew that's an interesting  piece of knowledge. I wish I know.

No, but I don't, I wish I knew, I wish  I could help you. I wish I could help  

you with that. I wish I could answer  that for you, but I can't. I wish,  

I knew Robin. I wish I knew you can also say  I can help you with that one. I can't help  

you with that question. You could say that's an  interesting question, but and then use any of the

Russians. We just learned. That's an interesting  question but I have no idea. You could also just  

say I've never thought about that before,  which is probably true a common way to  

answer that question now is simply to take  out your phone and say, hey Siri how far

away

is the sun? Hey, I was actually pretty close.  It was 149 million miles away and I said,

Jared million miles and I completely guest.  I'm pretty proud of that. So that's a great  

way to answer. Just ask Siri, or  Alexa, or whoever else. There are

two very common idioms that you can use. The first  idiom is Beats me that beats me, but we commonly

get

rid of that. And simply say, beats me,  

and that's the same as saying. I have  no idea beats me. The other idiom

is

I haven't the slightest idea and the  slightest is this much, the smallest amount

possible,

but you're saying, you don't even have that.  So it's another way of saying I have no idea,  

I haven't the slightest idea. Now, instead of

slightest,

you could say foggiest or faintest,  

and it means the exact same thing.  Or you can say I haven't, uh,

A clue which also means the same  thing. So they're just slight

changes to the

same idiom and they're very commonly used

because I haven't the foggiest

idea why? I mean, look at me. Now, let's talk  about some more professional Expressions that  

you can use when you're asked a  question, but you don't know that

answer. So let's say your boss asks,  you how many units of a specific

product were sold last month?

You can reply back and say, when do you need to  know by and your boss will likely say an hour,  

two hours tomorrow next week and tell  you when they need the information. Now,  

if they say right now, I need it right  now then you can reply back and say let  

me get that for you, get that that being the  answer the information or you could say let me

We find out, let me look into this instead  of let me, you could also say, I will,  

as a contraction, all I'll find out.  I'll look into this. I'll let you know,  

I'll get back to you. Another way to reply, is  to say, I need to check something and then I'll  

get back to you. So you're letting the person know  that you just need to do something first instead.

You could say, I need to confirm something.  I need to verify something. I need to look  

into something and get back to you. You  can also specify a specific time or date  

when you'll have the information. Let  me look into this and I'll get back  

to you by 2:00 by the end of the day  by tomorrow by next week and let the

The person? No, let me look into it  now. If you do want to admit that,  

you don't know the answer. Now, you could say  something like, I'm not sure offhand. So offhand  

is just an expression we use to mean right now.  I'm not sure offhand, let me look into this and  

I'll get back to you by 2:00. Does that work for  you? And you can add, does that work for you too?

Clarify that getting back to them with  the information by 2:00 is acceptable.  

Your boss will likely say, sure, no  problem, or they might say, no, no,  

no, I have a meeting in ten minutes and I need  this information. Well, then, of course you say,  

no problem. I'll find out right now and get  back to you in a few minutes. Well, of course,  

by the deadline, your boss just told you now  instead of saying, I'm not sure offhand, which

Again, is just an expression. I'm not sure  offhand, you could say, I'm not sure off the  

top of my head. So again, this is another way of  just saying right now, off the top of my head,  

I'm not sure. Let me find out and I'll email you  the information in 10 minutes, so you could also  

use in and a Time reference in 10 minutes,  in an hour in 20 minutes or you could simply

Lycée ASAP. I'm not sure off the top of my  head. Let me check and I'll get back to you  

ASAP. That means as soon as possible you can  also say ASAP there's two different ways to  

say it ASAP or ASAP. They're both acceptable. I  think ASAP is more common though. I'll get back  

to you ASAP. Look into it, get back to you  ASAP. Now you have all the Expressions, you

You need to say, I don't know, what was your  favorite expression? Share that in the comments  

below and you can keep expanding your vocabulary  with this lesson and make sure you download this  

free speaking guide where I share six tips on  how to speak English fluently and confidently,  

you can get it from my website right here. So  get started with your next lesson right now.