Name: 5 Very Common English Phrases and Expressions
Uploaded: 2021-07-30T07:43:03.000Z
Duration: 10 min 29 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

To-infinitive

Hi guys, welcome back to English with Max. In this video we're going to look at five

very common English expressions. These expressions are universal. They're not

typically American or typically British. They are used in all English-speaking

countries. These aren't slang expressions, but we

use them in spoken language and informal writing, so don't write them in

your academic essays. If you'd like to watch this video with subtitles, remember

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Okay, the first expression is: fair enough. Fair enough.

We say this when we think something is reasonable or to show that we understand

something, whether or not we actually agree with it. Normally we say it in

response to something someone has said. For example: I'll cook dinner and you can

wash up. Fair enough. In this case person B is agreeing, so

they're basically saying: Sure, that's fine.

Another example... Person A says: I'm going to stop dating that girl because she

never returns my phone calls. Person B says: Fair enough.

In that case, person B isn't really agreeing or disagreeing. They are just saying:

That's reasonable. I understand. Here's another example.

Person A: I think we should fire Frank. Person B: If you don't like him,

fair enough, but you can't say that he's bad at his job.

In that case, person B is basically saying: I understand why you think that,

but I don't think we should fire him. In other words, I understand, but I disagree.

And finally... I won't be able to finish the report by Friday because I've had a cold.

Fair enough, but you had the same excuse last week. In that case, person B

is saying: Well, I kind of understand you, but it sounds like you're just making excuses.

The next expression is: it's up to you. It's up to you. In French this is

similar to: comme tu veux. And in Spanish it's a bit like: como quieras.

This simply means, it's your decision, or you decide. For example:

Do you want to eat in or eat out this evening? It's up to you. In other words,

I don't care. You decide. Which movie do you want to see later? It's up to you.

When we're speaking, we often leave off the "it's". So we just say: up to you. Up to you.

You can also replace "you" with other nouns or pronouns. For example: It's not

my decision. It's up to them. Will you get a promotion? I don't know. It's up to my boss.

In those last examples, we wouldn't leave off "it's". We only leave off "it's" if

"you" is in the sentence. So you can say: "It's up to you" or "up to you". The next

phrase is: I don't mind. "I don't mind" is a slightly more polite way of saying

"I don't care". "I don't care" isn't necessarily rude. If you use a pleasant

tone of voice when you say it, normally it's fine. For example: What do you want

for lunch? Oh, I don't care. But you need to be careful with it, because sometimes

it's used to express annoyance or indifference. For example, someone might say:

Fine! I don't care. Anyway, "I don't mind" is very polite. You might have

noticed that I didn't really pronounce the T. I didn't say: I don'T mind. When we

speak, we normally swallow it, so we say: I don't mind. I don't mind. You can often

use it instead of "up to you". For example: Do you want to eat in or eat out this evening?

I don't mind. Which movie do you want to see? I don't mind. But there are some

instances where those expressions aren't interchangeable. For example: Can I share

a table with you? Sure, I don't mind. In that case, we wouldn't say:

Sure, it's up to you. Another example: Do you mind giving me a

lift home later? No, I don't mind. Again, in that case we wouldn't say: No, it's up to you.

Now guys, if you're a French or a Spanish speaker, be careful. Instead of

saying "I don't mind" or "it's up to you", a lot of French and Spanish speakers will say:

As you want. Or: As you like. While that's not grammatically incorrect,

native speakers wouldn't say it. You will sometimes hear native speakers say:

As you wish. I think that phrase was made popular by The Princess Bride - a great movie -

but we don't really use it instead of "I don't mind" or "it's up to you".

We normally use it in response to a command or request, but it's quite formal and

old-fashioned so I don't recommend that you use it.

This expression is: it rings a bell. It rings a bell. In French, it's like:

ça me dit quelque chose. And in Spanish the translation would be: me suena.

We say this when something sounds familiar to us, but we don't know

Have you heard of the movie The Princess Bride?

It rings a bell, but I don't know what it's about.

That rings a bell, but I don't know what it's about.

We also often say: the name or his or her name rings a bell.

For example: Have you heard of this movie?

I've never met him, but his name rings a bell.

You can also use it in a question. For example: Does that name ring a bell?

The final expression is: Here you go. Here you go. When we speak, the "you"

becomes a "ye". Here ye go. Here ye go. This is a very simple expression, but I

decided to include it, because when you think about it, it's a bit strange.

Here you go? You go where? It actually has nothing to do with going anywhere.

It's just a common thing that we say when we give something to someone, particularly

something that they're expecting. Let's see some examples.

Can you pass me the salt, please? Here you go.

I just collected the mail and there are some letters for you. Here you go.

We also sometimes use it in emails. For example, if someone asks

you to send them a document, you could send them an email with the document

attached and just write: Here you go. But remember that it's colloquial, so we

would only do that with someone who we knew relatively well. A very similar

expression is: Here you are. It means the same thing. So you can use "here you are"

if you'd like to practise using any of these expressions, write a few sentences

in the comments and I'll try to correct them for you. See you next time.