I use these words every day: English Vocabulary Lesson

Vanessa: "Come on." "Let's  

go." "We don't want to be late." These are  phrases that I say every day of my life,  

and maybe you do too, but do you know how to  say them in English? Well, today in this lesson,  

you are going to learn 10 phrases that I  say every day, and you probably can too. 

Hi, I'm Vanessa from speakenglishwithvanessa.com,  and like always, I have created a free PDF  

worksheet with all of today's vocabulary  expressions, definitions, sample sentences.  

And at the bottom of the worksheet, you  can answer Vanessa's challenge question,  

so that you never forget what you've learned.  You can click on the link in the description  

to download this free PDF worksheet today. All right, let's get started at the beginning  

of the day and go through these 10 expressions  that you can use every day, just like I do. 

Expression number one is "To whip up something to  eat." This phrasal verb, "to whip up" implies a  

fast action. When I whip up something to eat,  that means that I'm doing it pretty quickly.  

And why am I doing it quickly? Well, in the  morning, I don't leave myself much time to  

do all the things that I need to do. So when my  kids say, "Mom, can you come look at this? Mom,  

can you go over here?" I say, "Sorry, kids.  I have to whip up something to eat first." I  

need to quickly toast some bread, make some  eggs. I need to whip up something to eat. 

Expression number two. "Come on, let's  go." I say this every day. Maybe you  

do too in your own language. When we need to  get somewhere in the morning, school or work,  

well, if you have to gather other people, whether  it's your husband or your kids, you probably say,  

"Come on, let's go." Especially if you're the  one who's ready first. If you're the one who  

takes a long time, you might hear someone else say  this to you. "Come on, let's go. Are you ready?" 

The third expression that I use every day is  "We don't want to be late." Or sometimes I say,  

"I don't want to be late," because usually  it's just me who cares about this. The kids  

don't always care about it. But this is giving a  reason for why you need to, "Come on. Let's go.  

We don't want to be late." It's kind of rude to  be late, isn't it? At least in American culture,  

it's rude to be late. So it's a good motivator. Daily life expression number four is one that you  

can use as you're driving your kids to school  or if you're on your way to work. You can say,  

"I'm stuck in traffic, but I'm on my way." This  is letting the other person know, maybe your  

child's teacher, maybe your boss, that you have  an excuse. I'm stuck in traffic, but don't worry,  

I'm not still at home lying in bed. I'm on my  way. With family members, sometimes when we text,  

we say "OMW," and this means on my way. This  is a common abbreviated expression that if I  

am at the store and I'm coming home, I might  text my husband "OMW." That means on my way. 

Daily life expression that I use almost every  day is "I'm gonna run some errands." To run  

some errands is a great fixed phrase  that you can add to your vocabulary,  

and it means doing necessary things like going  to the grocery store, going to the post office,  

going to the bank. "I'm gonna run some errands  and then I need to pick up my kids from school." 

Daily life expression number six is "I better  run." Is this talking about having some physical  

activity and running? No, this is talking  about leaving. "I better run. I'm gonna be  

late." So if you're chatting with a friend,  maybe you're having some coffee together and  

you realize it's almost three o'clock, I need to  pick up my kids at three o'clock, you might say,  

"I better run." And the word better here is not  talking about a comparison, this is better than  

this. Instead, this is a substitute for the  word need. "I need to run." "I need to go." "I  

better run." "I better go." Great expression  that I use all the time, and you can too. 

Daily life expression number seven, you can ask,  "How was everyone's day?" This is something you  

can ask your kids, you can ask your partner, you  can ask, "How was everyone's day?" And our next  

eighth expression is kind of a follow-up to  that. You might ask, "What did you do today?  

What did you do today?" If you ask kids this after  school, "What did you do today?" they might just  

say "Oh nothing." It's often good to ask a pointed  question. So if you know something specific about  

your child's day, it's better to ask that. For  example, my son who's in first grade, his first  

grade teacher gives each student a job for the  day. So his job might be what they call energy  

saver, and that means it's the person who turns  off the lights when they leave the classroom. So  

I might ask him, "How was Your day as energy  saver? Did you turn off the Lights today?"  

And he might say, "Yeah, and then I did ..."  and then it kind of continues the conversation  

a bit. Instead of asking, "What did you do  today?" you can ask a more pointed question. 

The ninth expression that I use every day is  talking about dinner. When my husband and I  

come together at the end of the day and we say,  "What are we going to eat?" well, maybe one of  

us will have a suggestion. I might say, "Well, I  was thinking about making spaghetti. What do you  

think ?" Here I'm asking him what's your opinion?  What do you think? And if he says, "Nah, you know  

what? I think I'm going to make a roast chicken,"  I might say, "Cool, great, go for it." You can ask  

someone's opinion by saying, "What do you think?" And the 10th expression that I use every day is  

"To start winding down." Here we have the phrasal  verb to wind down. There is the opposite to wind  

up, which we'll talk about in just a moment.  But when you wind down, you're calming down.  

You're trying to prepare for bed, prepare for  the end of the day, and try to just calm your  

mind. So what I often say to my kids is "All  right everyone. Dinner's finished. It's time to  

start winding down. We're going to take a bath.  I'm going to read you some stories, and then  

you're going to go to bed." We're trying to wind  down, but sometimes what happens is the opposite. 

After my kids take a bath, they just get this  burst of energy. I don't know if this has ever  

happened to you or to your kids in your house,  where they just get wound up. This is the past  

irregular tense. Here they get wound up. They get  so much energy after a bath, and they're running  

around like crazy. So I say," Hey, hey, hey guys.  We're going to start winding down. Let's start  

calming down your mind and your bodies and get  ready for bed. It's time to start winding down." 

Well, congratulations on leveling up your  vocabulary with these 10 expressions that  

I use every day. And now I hope you can too.  Let me know in the comments, what time do you  

start winding down? Do you start winding down  around 8:00 PM or maybe it's at midnight that  

you start to wind down and go to bed? Well, don't forget to download the free  

PDF worksheet for today's lesson  with all of these 10 expressions,  

definitions and several sample sentences so  that you can use them in your daily life too.  

You can click on the link in the description to  download that free PDF worksheet today. Well,  

thank you so much for learning English with  me, and I'll see you again next Friday for  

a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. But wait, do you want more? I recommend watching  

this video next, where you will learn to think  and speak in English about your daily routine,  

including why you should never say "I put  him to sleep," and instead, you should say,  

"I put him to bed." Why is that? Well,  I'll see you in that video to find out.