How to Express Worry in English

Well, hello and welcome to this English lesson

where I'm going to teach you a number of phrases

you can use if you're worried about something.

Recently I was pretty worried about something.

I was in a classroom a few days ago with someone

who later tested positive for COVID.

Just so you know, it's been a number of days.

I have gotten a test. I don't have COVID.

But while I was waiting to get my tests done,

and while I was waiting for the results,

I thought, "I should make an English lesson

"about how to talk about being worried,"

because there were a number of English phrases

that I thought about while I was in self isolation.

So in this English lesson, I will teach you

a number of English phrases you can use

when you're worried about something

and when you to express that.

(gentle flowing music)

The first phrase that I wanted to teach you

is to be worried sick.

When you are worried, when you are really worried,

and if you want to emphasize how worried you are,

sometimes you'll say, "I was worried sick."

Sometimes you're actually feeling sick when you're worried,

but we use this phrase, whether you're feeling sick or not.

We simply use this phrase to express

that we were extremely worried,

that we were really, really worried.

When I got the phone call last week, I was worried sick.

Two more English phrases that I thought about last week

while I was worried are these two.

I couldn't stop thinking about it and it was on my mind.

In English, when we use these two phrases,

when we say, "I couldn't stop thinking about it,"

or, "It was on my mind," it means that I was so worried

I had trouble thinking about other things.

I actually had trouble planning the video

that I wanted to make.

I had trouble getting work done because I couldn't

stop thinking about the fact that I might have COVID.

It was definitely on my mind.

So those are two phrases that you will hear a lot

when people are talking in English about being worried.

Another phrase I would use to describe

a time when I was worried would be to say this.

"It was weighing me down."

Sometimes when you're really worried about something,

it's like you're carrying a heavy load in life.

It's like you have a whole bunch

of really heavy things that you have to carry.

And the English phrase we would use to describe that

is to say it was weighing me down.

It's like a burden in life.

I'm not sure if you know that English word.

A burden is something that you carry. It's something heavy.

And sometimes when you're worried

it can be like carrying something really heavy.

It was weighing me down.

The other expression I thought of

when I was a little bit worried

is the expression nerve-wracking.

This was certainly a nerve-wracking experience for me.

When something is nerve-wracking

it means it's very, very stressful.

It means that I was quite worried.

Maybe you have an English test coming up.

It can be a little bit nerve-wracking

when know you have a test coming up in the future.

You can be quite stressed and worried about it.

And then the other phrase I wanted to teach you

is the phrase to pull your hair out.

I certainly wasn't pulling my hair out last week,

but when someone it was pulling their hair out,

first of all, they're not actually pulling their hair out.

It's just an expression.

But if you say someone was pulling their hair out

it means that they were very, very worried

and very, very stressed about something.

When you're worried about something

you might have trouble sleeping.

And there's a few ways to express this in English.

We sometimes use the expression sleepless nights.

I certainly had one or two sleepless nights last week.

Those were nights where I was trying to sleep,

but because I was so worried, I had trouble sleeping.

You could also use the phrase I was up all night

or I was awake all night.

Both of those mean exactly the same thing.

They don't mean necessarily that you didn't sleep at all.

But if I said to Jen, "Oh, I was up all night,"

it means that I was probably awake more than I was sleeping.

And usually when you're up all night

you're talking about something that you were worried about.

I thought I should also teach you a few phrases

about how I felt when I was self isolating.

When I was self isolating I had a little bit of cabin fever.

In English when we say that someone has cabin fever,

it means that they're stuck in a very small place,

usually an apartment or a house,

and they would just want to get out.

I was stuck in a room.

I was stuck in one room

and I certainly had a lot of cabin fever.

I just wanted to get outside.

I certainly wasn't climbing the walls though.

In English when we say that someone is climbing the walls,

it means that they're going a little bit crazy

because they're stuck inside somewhere.

So I wasn't climbing the walls,

but I was certainly feeling a little bit of cabin fever.

Because I was stuck at home, I had to work from home,

but I wasn't too put out by it.

In English, when you are put out by something

it means that it's annoying.

I wasn't actually too put out by working from home.

Working from home for me is something I've done

a few times during this pandemic.

So I wasn't too put out by it.

And I eventually got used to it.

I think you're familiar with this expression in English.

Eventually when you get used to something,

it means that it's just normal

and it's not hard to do at all.

So eventually I got used to it. I wasn't too put out.

I'm glad I wasn't climbing the walls,

but I did have a little bit of cabin fever.

When you're worried about something,

hopefully eventually that worry ends.

And for me, that ended a couple of days ago

when I got my test results saying that I didn't have COVID.

So the same way that having something that worries you

can weigh on you, you can also use the expression

it was a weight off my shoulders.

And you can also say it was a load off my mind.

When you say it is a weight off my shoulders

or it's a load off my mind,

it means that you were worried about something

and now you've probably found out

that you don't need to worry about it anymore.

Certainly it was a time

where I could breathe a sigh of relief.

In English, when you breathe a sigh of relief,

it means that you were worried about something

and now you've gotten the news

that you don't have to worry about it anymore.

So when I got my test results and they were negative,

certainly it was a time where I was able

to breathe a sigh of relief.

I was relieved.

And that's gonna be the last phrase.

When you say I'm relieved, it means you are no longer

worried about something.

I'm relieved.

It was so nice to get negative test results

and find out that I do not have COVID.

I still have to stay in my room for another day,

but by the time you see this video, I will be free.

I can't go back to work.

I have to wait a few more days for that, but I'm relieved.

I'm very, very happy to be negative.

Anyways, thank you so much

for watching this little English lesson

about how to describe worry in English.

I hope it helped you learn just a few more English phrases.

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and give me a thumbs up if this video helped you learn

just a little bit more English.

And if you have some time,

why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson.