I use these words every day: English Vocabulary Lesson

190,795 views ・ 2024-10-11

Speak English With Vanessa


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Speaker 1: We need to make a game plan. If I said  
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this to you, would your heart start to beat really  fast because you have no idea what to say? Well,  
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don't worry. Today I'm going to help you level up  your English vocabulary. You are going to learn 10  
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important English expressions that I use every  day, and you should too. Hi, I'm Vanessa from  
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speakenglishwithvanessa.com. And like always,  I have created a free PDF worksheet with all of  
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today's 10 important phrases, definitions, sample  sentences. And at the bottom of the worksheet,  
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you can answer Vanessa's challenge question  so that you never forget what you've learned.  
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You can click on the link in the description to  download that free PDF worksheet today. It is my  
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gift to you. Let's get started with the first  phrase that I use every day, and you should  
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too. I'm going to tell you the phrase to get  done and then I'll tell you a sample sentence.
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I want you to guess what you think it  means. This is kind of like a little test,  
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but it's also really useful because in the  real world you're going to hear expressions  
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and phrases used in conversations. And you're  not going to have a teacher unfortunately,  
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in your ear telling you that's what this  means. So I want you to use the English  
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that you already have, your powers of deduction,  of guessing what you think it means in order to  
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figure out what it actually means. And I think  you'll be surprised that you actually know more  
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English than you think you do. So our first  expression is to get done. Let me give you  
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a sample sentence. I have so much to get done  today. Well, what do you think this means? It  
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simply means that I have a lot I need to finish  today. But this is a lovely expression that can  
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help you to level up your vocabulary because  you could say, I have a lot to finish today.
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It's okay, we understand what you're  saying. But if you want to level  
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it up, you can use this phrase, I have a lot to  get done today. Let me give you another sentence.  
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I think I can get it done before I leave for  work today. Did you notice that I split this  
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expression with the word it? I think I can get  it done before I leave for work today. Here it  
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is the project that I'm working on, I think I  can get it done. We could say, I think I can  
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finish it before I leave for work today. But  you know what? You're here to level up your  
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vocabulary. Use this phrase and say, I think I  can get it done before I leave for work today.  
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Phrase number two that I use and you should too  is a pretty fun one, to get my ducks in a row.
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Well, if you have been following my channel  for a while, you know that I have chickens  
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right now. I think we have 15 chickens in my  backyard, but do I have ducks? Do I need to  
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get my ducks in a row? Actual ducks? No. Take a  look at this sentence and try to guess what you  
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think this means a figurative sense. I need  to get my ducks in a row before I start my  
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day. Do I need to go out to the farm and line up  those ducks before I start my day? No. Instead,  
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we can use this in a more figurative sense to  mean you're organizing the tasks before you get  
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started, because most busy days or big tasks need  a lot of prep work. Prep work means preparation,  
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so you can't just jump in otherwise you  might waste your time and not be efficient.
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So you need to get your ducks in a row before you  get started. Let me give you another example. If  
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you want to move to the US, you are going to need  to get your ducks in a row before you apply for  
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a visa. If you've applied for a visa to the US  or another country, you know it's an extremely  
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complicated process. You're going to need the  right paperwork. It has to be notarized, it has to  
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be translated. It's a hassle. So before you walk  into the visa office, you need to get your ducks  
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in a row. You need everything to be organized  before you get started. Expression number  
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three that I use every day is a game plan. Is it  because I love playing games all day? No, I wish.  
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That would be great. Take a look at this sample  sentence and see if you can guess what it means.
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My game plan is to start with the most important  tasks that need to get done. Well, we used a great  
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expression, to get done. But here, my game plan  is, you can get the sense that this is my plan  
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for the day. I have a lot of things that I need  to get done. I need to get my ducks in a row, so  
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I need to have a plan. But you don't want to just  say plan. It's okay, but it's not great. You're  
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here to level up your English vocabulary, so you  can say game plan. My game plan is to get the most  
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important things done first. You can use this also  in the workplace. If your team is having a meeting  
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about how to accomplish a certain project, you  might ask, "All right, what's the game plan?"  
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And you're asking the manager or whoever's in  charge, what are the steps that need to get done?
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What is the overall plan? What's the game plan?  Or maybe you're the manager that needs to tell  
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everyone else the game plan, you can use this  great expression. You can just say, "All right,  
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this is the game plan, first we're going to do  this, then this." Lovely expression. So after  
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you've created a game plan, now you need to  use this expression to deal with. Take a look  
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at this. I need to deal with this bill that I got  in the mail and I'm probably going to be on the  
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phone for a long time. No one likes to do this.  Let's take a look at how this was used, I need  
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to deal with this bill that I got in the mail. Do  you think I'm looking forward to talking on the  
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phone and figuring out what the problem with this  bill is? Absolutely not. This is my nightmare.
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I do not want to have to deal with this bill,  but unfortunately we have to do some things  
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that we don't want to do. So I have to deal  with the bill. This means I have to solve a  
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problem and figure out why did I get this bill?  I shouldn't have gotten this bill. I have to deal  
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with it. Usually the nuance with this expression  is that it's something that I don't want to do,  
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so you might even use it like this. At  my old job, I had to deal with a lot of  
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angry customers. Unfortunately, for some jobs,  especially in customer support you are hearing  
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from customers who are unsatisfied.  So you have to deal with, you have to  
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figure out how to help angry customers. It's  a difficult job, but someone's got to do it.
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Expression number five that I use often and  you should too, is to get it over with. Make  
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sure all of the words are included in this  expression, to get it over with. Take a  
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look at this sample sentence. I hate having to  wait on hold to talk to someone on the phone,  
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but I just have to get it over with. It's not  something I'm looking forward to, so what is my  
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mental approach? Well, I just need to do it,  but instead of saying, I just need to do it,  
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you can use this lovely expression. I just need  to get it over with. The phrasal verb to get it  
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over with means that there is an unpleasant task  that you just need to do, and that's part of life.
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Expression number six that I use often and you  should too, is to put off doing something. It's  
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so true. Take a look at this sentence. I put  off calling the company for a whole week and  
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it only took five minutes. Has that ever happened  to you? You're dreading doing a task all week or  
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for a long time, and then when you finally do  it it just takes a few minutes. What a relief,  
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that has happened to me so many times when I  am calling a company about a bill or a problem,  
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I don't want to be on hold. I don't want to  explain the problem. And then when I do it  
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just takes a few minutes and it's done. It's like  a weight has been lifted from my shoulders and  
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that is what this phrase means, to put off  something. It means you're delaying something,  
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but usually it has to do with  procrastination. It's not a  
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good thing to put off doing something.  Let's take a look at another example.
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I put off scheduling a dentist appointment  for myself and now it's too late because I  
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have a cavity. If I had gone the dentist  earlier, maybe they would've cleaned my  
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teeth or warned me that a cavity was starting to  form. But because I put off going to the dentist,  
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now I have a problem. Sometimes we just  put off things though. It's the way it  
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is. Expression number seven that I  use every day and you should too,  
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is to call around. Take a look at this sample  sentence. I need to call around and find  
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someone who can fix our washing machine.  Another task that I always put off. Here,  
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I am needing to call multiple companies usually  to see are they available, what are their prices  
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and are they a good fit for the problem? Can they  actually fix the problem? You're not just calling  
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one company to see if they'll fix the problem.  You're calling multiple companies. You're calling  
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around to see who can actually fix the problem,  at the right time at the price that you want.
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You can also use this with your friends. You  could say, I called around to all my friends  
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to see if anyone was available this afternoon  to hang out. You're just calling your friends,  
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multiple friends, maybe sending them texts  like we do these days and you're seeing if  
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they're available to hang out. Very casual.  Great. All right, let's go to the next phrase,  
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phrase number eight that I absolutely use all the  time and you should too, is to head out. Head out,  
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what? I love these figurative type phrasal verbs.  Take a look at this sentence. I need to head out  
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to run some errands, like go to the bank and  the post office. I need to head out and this  
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simply means to leave. You are going somewhere.  I need to head out to the bank. I need to head  
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out to the post office. You can also use this  in daily life just as a way to say goodbye.
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You might say, "I'm heading out. See you later." I  use this all the time and it just means I want to  
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let you know that I'm leaving the house, so if  you call for me, "Vanessa, where are you?" You  
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know that I'm not here. I'm heading out. See you  later. Great. Phrase number nine that I use every  
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day and you can too, is to pick up. I'm not  talking about physically lifting something,  
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instead, take a look at this sentence. I'm  going to pick up some groceries before I pick  
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up my kids from school. Here we're talking  about bringing something home. I'm bringing  
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groceries home and I'm bringing my children home.  It doesn't matter if you buy them like groceries  
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or if they're just people and you're putting  them in your car, here we are talking about  
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bringing something home. You can use this to talk  about meals too, so if you're getting pick up,  
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which is a noun, I'm getting pick. You might  also say, I'm picking up dinner on my way home.
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I'm picking up dinner, that means that you're  going to get the dinner from the restaurant and  
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bring it to your house. I'm picking up dinner on  my way home. Great. Phrase number 10, our final  
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expression for today that I use every day and  you can too, has to do with an ear, to play it  
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by ear. Are we playing with our ears? No. Take a  look at the sample sentence. I was going to meet  
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my friends at the park today, but it looks like it  might rain so we're going to just play it by ear.  
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This really has nothing to do with ears. Can you  guess what this means? It means we're just going  
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to see how it goes. It might rain and then we'll  cancel. It might not rain, and then we'll go.
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We need to be flexible, let's just play it by  ear. I use this all the time whenever I meet up  
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with my friends who have children. When you have  children, things change all the time and you need  
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to be flexible. So if your child wakes up and  they're feeling a little bit sick, you message  
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your friend and say, "I don't know if we can  meet up later today. Let's just play it by ear,  
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and I'll let you know how he's feeling later  today." This is so common. I use this all the  
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time, and you should too. Well, congratulations  on learning these 10 phrases that I use every day,  
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and you can too now. Don't forget to download the  free PDF worksheet with all 10 of these phrases,  
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definitions and sample sentences. Plus, you  can answer Vanessa's challenge question at  
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the bottom of the worksheet so that  you never forget what you've learned.
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You can click on the link in the description  to download that free PDF worksheet today. It  
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is my gift to you. Well, thanks so much  for learning English with me. And I'll  
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see you again next Friday for a new lesson  here on my YouTube channel. Bye. But wait,  
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do you want more? I recommend watching this  video next where you will learn some more  
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phrases that I use every day, including  a sarcastic phrase. It's too bad that,  
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would you like to use this in English? Well, I'll  see you in that video to find out how you can.
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