How to exit a Group Conversation / Discussion politely without being RUDE? Learn Polite English Phrases

How to exit a Group Conversation / Discussion politely without being RUDE? Learn Polite English Phrases #letstalk #englishlessonplan #rude

You have already watched English training video on How to start a conversation or a group discussion, today you will learn, how to exit a conversation without being rude or offending someone. In today’s English lesson learn Polite English Phrases (to speak politely) that you could use to look more polished and not be rude when you have to suddenly leave a conversation. This English lesson is part of our English unplugged series. Jack is native English Teacher from the beautiful Auckland, New Zealand. Jack follows British English and this lesson would be a good practice for listening English and understanding the British Accent. For our English speaking courses and Join our spoken English classes visit our website http://www.letstalkpodcast.com. Also, do watch our other videos covering topics such as Grammar, Vocabulary, Accent Training, American English, Communication skills to speak English fluently and confidently without any fear and hesitation.

Complete Lesson Transcript:-

Hi! Jack here with another Let’s Talk video. Today I want to help you escape some awkward situations. Situations we have to exit or leave a group but maybe you’re unsure how to do so, you don’t want to seem rude. Imagine you’re surrounded by all English speakers and all of a sudden you decide, it’s time to go, maybe you have somewhere to be, you have to get home or maybe you’re on your lunch break and you need to get back to work. What do you do? Do you just sit there or do abruptly say, “Goodbye! I’ve got to go.” But the or yeah or you sit up and you stick around and you end up being late. You don’t wanna be rude, so you just wait it out. It’s not good. It’s awkward. So in today’s lesson, I’ll give you some tips to get you out of a casual group conversation politely and quickly. So stick around while we cover some of these exit strategies. You’ll be able to them in everyday, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

All right, the first one I’ve got for you is, ‘sorry, I have to run’. Now don’t be frightened. To use this, it doesn’t mean that you’ve suddenly announcing that you’re gonna go for a run. Now that’d be a bit strange to say it at least. What this means, ‘sorry, I’ve got to run’, it’s a very casual way of informing people that you have to leave. It’s not impolite, however it is informal. It’s best to be used in a casual environment. Maybe, you know the people well. For example, your classmates, colleagues or even your boss. You can also use an alternative phrase such as, ‘sorry, I’ve got to jet’ or ‘sorry, I’ve got to scoot’ both these expressions have the same meaning. I tried to finish work yesterday early to pick up my car. So as I was leaving, I got called into a casual meeting and I had to say, “Sorry, I have to run, can we pick this up in the morning?” It was fine.

All right, next one we’ve got is, ‘I’ve got to get going’ or ‘I’ve gotta get going’. This phrase, again it’s pretty casual, so best to be used around familiar people, people you know. The phrase itself, ‘got to get going’ is considered slang. So it’s probably not very well advised to use it in a formal situation. ‘Gotta’ is another way of saying, ‘I have to’ or ‘I have got to’, ‘gotta’. You might hear gotta, a lot more around, like then I have to. It’s just a easier, faster way of saying things. So you would use it with close friends or in casual situations. Maybe around the office even. Maybe you’re in the park with some friends and you’ve remembered, “Oh! I meant to be cooking dinner tonight.” You’d simply say, “I’ve got a go.” That’s how you’d use it. “I’ve got to go.”

Alright the next one I’ve got is, ‘I’m going to take off’ or ‘I’m gonna take off’. Now I know what you’re thinking, usually take off is when you’re you know on an airplane you’re at the airport and it’s about to depart, you’re about to take off. But I guess in a sense it means the same thing but rather than being on an airplane at an airport that is about to depart this is quite a casual expression that simply means that you’re going to move on. So instead of the airplane and the airport it’s just you taking off to a different area. So pretty much you use it when you just need to leave maybe you’re at a friend’s house and you’ve decided you’ve been there long enough so you’d say, “Alright Bob, thanks for having me but I’m take off.”

Right next one is, ‘I’m off’. Now this is a very common way to say that you’re leaving. It’s very similar to the last phrase however you’d use it perhaps and more of a, enthusiastic or exciting meaning. So pretty much we’ll better cover this first we’re not saying you’re off, like maybe food goes off or fruit goes off, what you’re actually saying is that you are leaving for a duration. So you might be going, I don’t know you might be going on a trip, a holiday or an adventure. So you might be at work and go, “Right guys, I’m off to Thailand, see everyone next month.”

Okay what’s the next one, let’s have a think, ‘I’m going to head’ or ‘I’m gonna head’ or ‘I’m heading out’. The verb ‘to head’ somewhere implies that you want to make a move in a specific direction. I’m giving you the direction I’m going. I’m giving you the implication, “I am going home.” So if someone says to, “I’m heading to work.” It lets everyone know you know where you’re going, they know where you’re going. You are heading somewhere if you have to be somewhere else and times getting on this is a great one to use as you’re providing a location you’ve given them information about where you need to be. So what it does it makes it understandable to a group or whoever you’re with that you need to be somewhere else. “Look everyone I’ve got to head out, I’ve told Mum, I’ll pick her up from the airport and her plane is arriving soon.” “I’m heading out to pick her up.” I hope that makes sense, ‘heading out’.

Now the next one I’ve got for you guys is, ‘I better get going’. Now this expression has a bit of urgency to it. What you’re saying is maybe that there are more pressing matters at hand. It sort of conveys the message that maybe you’re running late or you’ve got a deadline, it’s um, it definitely puts a bit more emphasis on the matter. So when you say, “I better get going”, it gives the effect that maybe there’s something else required of you. Maybe you need yourself to be somewhere else. Maybe there’s someone else involved or there’s another plan. So I was at the office party the other, other week and I had to let the group know that I had to head off and the reason for this being was I played football in the morning. So what I did was I said to the group, “Right guys, I’d better get going, I have to wake up early in the morning.” And this gave the indication that I had something on in the morning and therefore it was acceptable for me to leave. I hope you know what I mean when I say, ‘I better get going’.

Alright the next one I got is a bit of a fun one it’s, ‘I am out of here’ or ‘I’m out of here’. Now this one might sound a bit disrespectful so please be careful about the tone in your voice. You would say it like this, “I’m out of here.” You would not say it like this, “Ah! I’m out of here.” The way you present this shows what you mean so you do not want to indicate that maybe your board or your uninterested and you just want to leave, but it is definitely one to only use around friends. You might hear sort of the younger people, maybe teenagers using this one a lot. So again I would recommend keeping it for casual conversation, not to be used around the office or workplace. Right, let me give you an example with this one let’s say it’s, its Friday you finished work and you’ve gone down to the bar with some friends. Now they’re looking at having some fun maybe staying out a bit later, but you’ve got family over, so you would say, “Right guys, you know it’s been great but, I’m out of here, I got family at home, things to do, I’ll see you guys next week.” You see the way I said it was very casual, calm, not insulting but they got the message, ‘I’m out of here’.

Right the next one I’ve got for you is, ‘I’m gonna have to call it a day’. Now this is used to imply that you’ve pretty tired or you’ve been working very hard or you had enough excitement for a day. It can be used sort of both formally and casually and there’s no real sort of set rules about it I mean I often use it at the end of my workday, I’ll jump up and say to the boss, “Right Tony, I’ve had enough, I’m calling it a day.” Now this is interesting though, Alternatively if maybe I was spending some time with some friends maybe at a friend’s house for a barbecue with dinner and it was time for me to head home I would say, “I’m gonna call it a night.” You see what I did there I changed up day and night. So this is important if it’s during the day you would say, “Right I’m gonna call it a day.” At nighttime, you change it to night, so you would say, “Right, thank you very much, I’m gonna call it a night.” I hope you get what I mean me of calling something a day or night.

Alright the next one I’ve got for you guys is it’s quite a polite one actually it is, “I hate to leave but, I have somewhere I need to be.” Say it with me, “I hate to leave but, I have somewhere I need to be. This certain expression in fact shows that you don’t want to go however, you do have other plans or arrangements and you need to be there or part of that. You would use this if you want to sound polite. A nice way to use this is also to express that perhaps maybe you would like to meet again or an extend an invitation so maybe you’re out for coffee with friends and you’d say, “I hate to leave but I have to be somewhere, I have a doctor’s appointment, maybe we could catch up again for coffee next week.”

Alright guys we’re gonna wrap it up there. What I’ve given you now is ten phrases you can use to exit a group situation. Please get out there and use them. Don’t be afraid and I tell you what if there are any other topics that you’d like me to cover please comment below and while you’re at it why don’t you give me a like, maybe subscribe and tick that little bell icon so you get constant updates when I have new videos out. Look enjoy the rest of your day, I’ve enjoyed talking to you, I’ll see you next time, Jack… thanks a lot.