Short fixed expressions
Our students often ask PS English to help them improve their English conversation skills by making sentences longer. This approach to spoken English will definitely improve your fluency and overall English level, but sometimes in conversation, shorter is better!
They often talk about the “catch-ball” difficulty of handling English conversation. Like in a game of tennis, they want to return the serve quickly, smoothly and efficiently. English has plenty of short fixed expressions to allow you to achieve your goals. You should definitely try to learn these short responses and practise using them with other English speakers. As a result, your English conversation ability will sound very natural and spontaneous, in response to whatever question or comment comes your way.
In this entry, we look at some common short, fixed expressions in English conversation.
Are you familiar with these fixed expressions? Would you know how to use them?
- I’ll get on to it right away
- Nice one!
- Nothing much
- Too bad
- Too right!
Let’s try to anser the following sentence using the short response from the list.
- I missed my train by a matter of seconds.
- It’s not much but I won £25 in the national lottery last week.
- Nurses and other frontline healthcare staff deserve better pay.
- This customer request has just come in and although we have a waiting list, this one must be prioritised.
- What did you do during the summer holidays?
Answers, with sample additional comments:
- I missed my train by a matter of seconds.
Too bad. Hope it didn’t affect your plans too much.
Too bad – is similar to that’s a shame – used to express sympathy for other people’s minor moments of inconvenience or disappointment
- It’s not much but I won £25 in the national lottery last week.
Nice one! Next time, let’s hope it’s the jackpot!
Nice one! – is used to show happiness for someone else’s good news. Usually a small piece of good news.
- Nurses and other frontline healthcare staff deserve better pay.
Too right! They are the unsung heroes.
Too right! – is used to show agreement that what was said was undoubtedly true, often with implied negative consequences for it not happening.
- This customer request has just come in and although we have a waiting list, this one must be prioritised.
I’ll get on to it right away. I’ll try to finish by tomorrow.
I’ll get on to it right away – an idiom meaning to start an activity without delaying any more. There is a sense of urgency to start.
- What did you do during the summer holidays?
Nothing much. We didn’t go away this year.
Nothing much – used to express the lack of anything special or interesting to report on.