STOP saying "I DON'T KNOW": Advanced English Vocabulary

Hi.

I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.

I don't know.

Let's talk about it.

I don't know.

Do you know?

There's a famous quote by Aristotle, well, maybe by Aristotle, that goes, "The more you

know, the more you know you don't know."

Of course there are things that you don't know.

If you think you know everything, you're probably a know-it-all.

Not a popular character trait.

So if you don't want to directly say I don't know, what can you say instead?

Of course there are times when you need to say I don't know, but there are plenty of

other creative ways to tell someone that you don't have the knowledge that they're seeking.

Today, you're going to learn 20 ways to say I don't know.

First we'll look at some polite expressions that are great for business or professional

situations, and then we'll take a look at some expressions that you can use in casual,

daily, everyday life.

Let's start with the polite expressions.

First, there are five key tag expressions that you can add to any of these I don't know,

phrases, and it's going to help you to sound more professional and more polite.

They are, but I'll try to find out, but I'll double check, but I'll look into that, and

I'll get back to you, and I'll let you know.

Can you guess why these tag expressions are so important?

If you just tell someone, "I don't know," well, you're not really showing that you care

an awful lot.

But when you use these key tag expressions, you're showing I care, I'm going to do some

more research, and I'll let you know what I find out.

So we're going to be adding these tag expressions onto all of the I don't know sentences that

we're about to talk about so that you can remember them and use them yourself.

If someone asks you, "Is the meeting at 4:00 PM?" you could say, "I'm not sure, but I'll

try to find out.

The expression I'm not sure is much softer and kinder than I don't know.

So this is really polite to use.

If somebody comes up to you and says, "We're having a big company dinner next week.

Can you come?" you could say, "Let me think about it, and I'll get back to you."

If you said just the sentence let me think about it, it kind of sounds like, no, I'm

definitely not going to come.

But if you add and I'll get back to you, it feels a little bit more tender, a little bit

more thoughtful and polite.

If someone asks you, "Did the marketing team send you their numbers?" you might say, "I

can't remember off the top of my head, but I'll look into it and let you know."

This is a great idiom.

I don't remember off the top of my head.

That means I don't remember immediately.

I don't remember right now, but I'll look into it and let you know.

You can see how these tag expressions can be combined to be even more polite and give

more information.

I'll look into it and let you know.

With that same question, did the marketing team send you their numbers, you could say,

"Not as far as I know, but I'll look into it and get back to you."

This expression, not as far as I know, means that you think the answer is no, but you're

not 100% sure.

So here you're just telling them I'm not 100% sure, but I'm going to look into it and I'll

get back to you.

Not as far as I know.

What were the marketing team's numbers from their report?

Well, I don't want to give you the wrong answer, so I'll double check and get back to you.

I'll double check.

That means that maybe you have some kind of idea about the numbers, but you don't have

them right now.

So you could say, "I don't want to give you the wrong answer, so I'll double check and

get back to you."

Very polite.

Do you know if the marketing team has started their report?

Sorry, marketing team.

I'm kind of ragging on you a little bit today.

Do you know if the marketing team has started their report?

You could say, "That's a good question, so I'll try to find out."

That means I don't know, but I think that your question is valid.

That's a good question, so I'll try to find out.

Do you know if the marketing team has started their report?

I'm not sure if I'm the best person to answer that, but John, the marketing manager, probably

knows.

Would you like me to ask him and get back to you?

In this situation, I'm not the best person to have that information, but you can direct

them towards someone who does probably have that information, the marketing manager.

You might notice that at the end of this tag question I said, "Would you like me to ask

him?"

I'm just kind of offering this out of kindness.

Maybe the other person will say, "Oh, no.

I can ask him.

That's fine."

But if you want to just have an extra added polite layer, you can offer.

Would you like me to ask him, and I'll get back to you?

Now let's take a look at some casual daily life ways to say I don't know.

These expressions all have slightly different implications or feelings, so let's talk about

each one in detail.

Why didn't Sarah come to the party last night?

No clue.

Not a clue.

You don't need to add the tag expressions onto the end of these casual phrases because

you don't really need to go out of your way to say, "Oh, well, I'll find out and get back

to you."

No, you just simply don't have the information.

Notice also the body language that goes with these casual expressions.

No clue.

Not a clue.

You probably shrug your shoulders.

That means you raise your shoulders up and down a little bit.

No clue.

You might even put your hands up like this.

Not a clue.

You might even kind of wave your hands away to say, "Nope, not a clue."

Why didn't Sarah come to the party last night?

Sorry if your name's Sarah.

I'm going to be using your name a lot.

You might say, "I don't have the faintest idea."

This means it kind of implies that you don't know, but also you don't really care.

The word faint means that something is difficult to see.

So if your pen doesn't have much ink in it, the writing will be faint.

The words on the page will be faint.

So in this situation, you're saying, "I don't have the faintest idea."

That means my ideas about where Sarah was are very faint.

I don't see them.

I have no idea.

Why didn't Sarah come to the party last night?

I haven't the foggiest idea.

It's the same idea as faintest idea.

We're using the root word fog or foggy.

Sometimes in the morning there's a fog outside and it's tough to see.

It's difficult to see because of the fog.

In the US, this expression feels a little bit British, like something that Sherlock

Holmes might say, so we usually say it with a little smile.

And you'll also see people drop the final word and say simply, "I haven't the foggiest."

But you need to say it with a little humor.

I haven't the foggiest.

Kind of with a silly little tone in your voice because it doesn't feel exactly serious.

It feels a little bit funny.

Interestingly enough, even though we say I haven't the foggiest idea or I haven't the

foggiest, we don't drop that final word with the previous expression.

I don't have the faintest idea.

We never say I don't have the faintest.

I don't know why.

Sometimes English is a little weird.

Who knows?

Who cares?

Which is an expression we'll talk about in just a minute.

Why didn't Sarah come to the party last night?

How should I know?

This expression, how should I know, is a little defensive.

Maybe Sarah is your ex-girlfriend and your friend expects you to know where she is, but

you don't know where she is.

So you could say, "How should I know?"

It's a little defensive, so make sure that you use it in the right situations.

If your car breaks down and you're sitting in the lobby of the mechanic shop and your

husband calls you and says, "How long do you think the mechanic is going to take?" you

might say, "Beats me."

This is really casual, but it's perfect for this situation because you have absolutely

no idea when the mechanic's going to be done.

You're kind of a little annoyed too because no one wants to sit in the mechanic's lobby

for hours and hours.

So you might just say, "Beats me."

With that same question, how long do you think the mechanic is going to take, you might say,

"I wish I knew."

Do you see that tone in my voice?

Kind of sad.

Kind of wistful.

You might add a sigh.

I wish I knew.

How long do you think the mechanic is going to take?

Who knows.

Do you hear that tone in my voice?

It's a little bit upset.

Maybe a little bit angry.

You might even roll your eyes a little bit.

Who knows.

Probably forever.

How long do you think the mechanic is going to take?

I have no idea.

Okay, maybe you have some idea, not three minutes, not three days, but you don't have

a specific amount of time that he's going to take so you could say, "I have no idea."

Whew.

Great work expanding your vocabulary.

I hope now that you'll be able to use some of these I don't know phrases, and also you'll

be able to better understand when native speakers use them because there are some slight differences

in each of them, so I want you to accurately understand the context.

And now I have a question for you.

In the comments, I want you to answer this question.

Is Dan coming to dinner next week?

This could be a professional question or it could be a casual question.

You choose based on your answer.

Let me know in the comments.

And thank you so much for learning English with me.

I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.

Bye.

The next step is to download my free e-book, 5 Steps to Becoming a Confident English Speaker.

You'll learn what you need to do to speak confidently and fluently.

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more free lessons.

Thanks so much.

Bye.