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Speaker 1: Sometimes you need to tell someone whether you're free or not.

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And when I say free, I'm talking about time, not cost.

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Maybe a coworker wants to set up a meeting, maybe

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a friend wants to grab dinner. Maybe someone asks are

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you available tomorrow. In situations like these, you don't need

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to say yes or no. In every day English, we

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have a few short, natural phrases that clearly show whether

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we are available or not. And that's what this podcast

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English Lesson is all about.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast Episode nine eighty eight,

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talking about schedules and availability in English. Today we're going

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to look at six very natural phrases. Three you can

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use when you're available and three you can use when

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you're not. Let's start with when you are available. The

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first one is I'm free. We use i'm free in

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casual situations to say that we don't have plans at

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a certain time, like if a friend texts you and says,

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are you doing anything Friday? Night, you might reply no,

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I'm free, or if a coworker asks can you meet

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at three, you could say, yeah, I'm free at three.

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I'm free is simple, friendly, in a very common way

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to say you're available in everyday English. Next is I'm

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open or I'm wide open. I'm open is often used

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in work situations or when talking about your schedule more generally.

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For example, if someone asks when are you available next week,

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you might say, well, I'm open on Tuesday afternoon. That

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means your schedule is clear. Sometimes you'll hear i'm wide open,

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which is a stronger version, like if someone says, are

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you busy tomorrow? You could respond no, I'm wide open.

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That means you have nothing scheduled at all. I'm open

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sounds slightly more professional than I'm free, but both are

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very natural. The third phrase is I'm available. I'm available

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is a bit more formal and often used in professional

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or service situations. For example, a consultant might say I'm

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available for meetings between ten and two, or if your

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manager asks can you help with this project next week,

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you might say yes, I'm available. And if you try

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to make an appointment with the doctor or the dentist,

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the conversation may go like this, does doctor Gerber have

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any openings tomorrow? Yes, he's available at three fifteen tomorrow.

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I'm available sounds clear and professional and works very well

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in professional situations in English. Now let's move into phrases

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you can use when you're not available. First is I'm

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tied up. We use i'm tied up when we are

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busy at this time. It usually means we have something

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scheduled and can't change it easily. For example, if someone says,

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can you talk at one, you might respond I'm tied

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up at one, but I'm free at two. Or if

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a friend asks want to grab coffee this morning, you

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could say I'm tied up this morning, maybe later. I'm

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tied up sounds polite and temporary. It doesn't sound like

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a big problem. Next, I'm booked or I'm booked up.

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We use i'm booked when our schedule is full. For example,

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if a client asks can we schedule something this week,

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you might say I'm booked this week, but I have

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time next Monday. You can also say I'm booked up,

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which emphasizes that there is no space left. For example,

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I'm completely booked up on Thursday. This phrase is very

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common in work and appointment situations, and you'll often hear

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the word book as a verb when scheduling, like I

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booked a tennis lesson on Saturday, or one of my

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students booked a set of lessons with me. Yeah, I

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teach one to one English lessons too. Finally, we use

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the phrase have something going on. We tend to use

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I have something going on when we don't want to

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or can't give details about why we're not available. It

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sounds a little vague but still polite, sounding like if

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someone asks can you come to dinner on Saturday, you

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might say, oh, I can't. I have something going on

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that night. Or at work, if someone suggests the last

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minute meeting, you could say, I actually have something going

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on at that time. This phrase is useful when you

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want to say no without explaining everything. So let's put

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these together. When you're available, you can say I'm free,

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I'm open, or I'm wide open or i'm available. And

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when you're not you can say, ah, sorry, I'm tied up,

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or I'm booked or i'm booked up or I have

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something going on. All of these phrases help you talk

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about your schedule in a natural, polite way. And it's

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also possible to combine these phrases like I'm tied up

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in the morning, but I'm free in the afternoon, or

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I'm all booked up this week, but I'm free at

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the beginning of next week. Mixing them like this makes

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your English sound even more natural. So try using these

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phrases the next time someone asks about your schedule. That's

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how you build real conversational fluency. And keep in mind

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the best way to remember English like this and any

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other word or phrase in English, is to take that

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word or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true

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for you or true in your world, and then memorize

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your sentences. Hey, thanks for listening, and remember learning another

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language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm

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here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy

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English by leaving us a review. Get English get happy.

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