15 Must-Know English Phrases for Conversational English with the Word TIME (Collocations and Idioms)

- Hello, this is Jack from ToFluency.com.

Now in this lesson, you're going to learn

idioms and collocations related

to time.

So all of these collocations and idioms,

they use the word 'time',

and a lot of these are used

all the time in everyday English.

Now I talked about the importance

of learning collocations

in one of my recent videos

so be sure to watch that to get excited

about learning these collocations.

And then also go to my website

because I'm going to list all the examples

that we use in this video

so that you can learn them and internalize them.

So here are the collocations.

I'm going to give you a few examples, too.

Let's get started with number one.

The first one is 'it's time to',

or 'it's nearly time to'.

Now this means that we need to do something

or it's the right time to do something

at the moment.

The most common example of this

is simply 'it's time to go'.

Come on, it's time to go.

So you might be at a party

and your children don't want to leave

or your children are acting up a little bit,

which means they're behaving in a bad way,

and you say, "Come on, it's time to go."

The party is nearly finished.

It's time to go.

You can also say things like,

"It's time I started exercising."

Okay, it's time I started exercising.

Which means I need to start exercising

and I'm going to do that right now.

And you can also use it for advice

in a more direct way.

For example, it's time you stopped smoking.

Come on, it's time you stopped smoking.

Now the next one is quite similar

but it has a different meaning.

And this one is 'it's about time'.

And it's used with that intonation as well.

Here's an example.

How did the game go?

We won two-one.

It's about time.

You haven't won for ages!

So what you're saying here,

when you say it's about time,

is you're saying

it should have happened sooner.

Another example is this.

Guess what, we're getting married.

It's about time.

The next one is 'on time'.

To be on time.

Which means that you're not late.

Now I always try my best to be on time

for meetings or when I'm just simply meeting friends.

So I always try to be on time.

Now I might not always be there when you call

but I am always on time.

Here are two more examples.

Be sure that you're on time for that interview.

So be sure you're on time for that interview.

And the next one.

Trains in the UK are hardly ever on time.

Another one that's similar is 'right on time'.

So this means to be on time but just.

An example is, I was rushing to that interview

but I got there right on time.

Another one is, I think we'll be there

right on time.

Don't panic.

I think we'll be there right on time.

The next one is 'to take time',

or 'to take your time'.

And this means don't rush.

There's no need to rush.

Take your time.

I often say writing is a great skill

to practice your output

because you can take your time.

There's no need to rush.

But when you are having a conversation with someone,

you need to be able to react and speak

to that person straight away.

So when leaving comments below

take your time to ensure

that you get your sentences correct.

Now one that is similar

but it means something different

is 'take time off'.

To take time off.

And this means to not go to work.

So I can say, for example,

I'm gonna take a little bit of time off

next week so don't expect me

to reply to the email straight away.

Okay.

I'm gonna take a little bit of time off work next week.

Or you can say to somebody,

I think you need to take a little bit of time off

because you seem very stressed at the moment.

I think you need to take a little bit of time off.

The next one is 'to make time for',

and this means to dedicate time

to someone or something.

For example, that new project

is taking over everything right now.

You need to make a little bit of time for me as well.

You need to make a little bit of time for me as well.

Or I need to make some time for studying this week.

I need to make some time for studying this week.

Maybe I'll take some time off work on Friday.

The next one is 'free time' or 'spare time'.

And this is the time you have

outside of work or school.

So the time you have to dedicate

to hobbies or interests.

A question you probably learned

in your first ever English lesson is,

what do you like to do in your free time?

What do you like to do in your free time?

In fact, answer that below.

So leave a comment, tell me

what you like to do in your free time,

and take your time with this.

There's no need to rush.

Another example is,

I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment,

that's why I'm not exercising enough.

I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment.

The next one is 'to have time'

and many English learners use this

because they say I don't have enough time

to study right now.

I don't have enough time to study.

Or I don't have enough time

to get speaking practice.

So we use 'have time' when we're talking

about dedicating time to a specific thing.

Another example is, I don't have a lot of time

this week but I have lots of time next week

so I'll be able to help you then.

This next one is used all the time,

'have a good or great time'.

Have a good time!

Have a great time!

This simply means to enjoy yourself,

to make the most out of what you're going to do

with your time.

For example, I'm just setting off

for a wedding right now

and can we meet up next week?

Yeah sure, have a great time!

Another example is, have a great time tonight.

I hope you have fun.

Have a great time tonight.

The next one is 'to save time',

and this means to be more efficient

with what you do.

For example, a boss might say,

"Let's cut down on meetings

"to save some time."

So the meetings aren't necessary,

let's cut down on them,

which means let's reduce them,

to save time.

And in my life, my new robot vacuum cleaner

has saved me a lot of time

because I don't have to vacuum as much anymore.

So my new robot vacuum cleaner

has saved me a lot of time.

The opposite of 'save time' is 'to waste time',

and this means to spend your time

in an unproductive manner.

We all do it, we all waste time doing things.

For example, I waste a lot of time

watching stupid videos on YouTube.

Now some people say that playing computer games

is a waste of time.

Do you agree?

Do you think that playing computer games

is a waste of time?

Let me know in the comment section below.

The next one is really common

and it's 'to spend time'.

To spend time doing something.

And this just means what you do with your time.

Here's an example.

He spends a lot of time working out.

He spends a lot of time working out.

I spend too much time worrying about stupid things.

I spend too much time worrying about stupid things.

And here's a question.

How much time do you spend

listening to podcasts?

So how much time do you spend

listening to podcasts?

Every week.

Let's move on to some idioms now

and the first one is 'to buy time'.

So you can buy time.

And this simply means to delay something

because maybe you're in a bad situation.

Let's say you owe some money to somebody

and you can say to your partner,

"Let's try and buy some time."

So give a reason why you can't pay

that money back right now

so you have extra time to pay it back later.

So you can say, "We need to buy some time."

We need to buy some time.

The next one is 'to be in the right place

'at the right time'.

And this is used a lot in sports.

I know this from football.

So strikers have to be in the right place

at the right time in order to score a goal.

But it could just mean anything in life as well.

So it's important to be in the right place

at the right time

and a lot of this comes down to luck.

The next one is 'time flies'.

Time flies when you are having fun.

Which means that time goes by quickly

when you are having a good time.

So time flies when you are having fun.

And the last one is 'time is money'.

Time is money.

This is a common idiom that people use

when we are talking about

how to spend your time and not wasting time.

So if someone says this to you

what they're saying is time is a valuable resource

and they don't want to waste it.

So time is money.

Okay, so those are the collocations

and idioms related to time.

Again, go to my website,

I'll leave a link in the description,

so that you can read all the examples

and to get some extra explanations as well.

And then if you haven't seen my video

on why you should learn collocations,

then go watch that now.

I'll leave the link to that on the screen

somewhere around here or here.

Now if you've found this video useful,

then please like and share it with your friends.

Okay, thank you for watching.

Speak to you soon.

Bye-bye!

(upbeat music)