Speaker 1: Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation
and thought, hmm, okay, I need to leave now, but
how do I leave? Maybe you're at a party, maybe
you're on the phone, or maybe you're chatting with a
coworker and you actually have work to do. Well, we
usually end a conversation with soft, natural phrases to signal
that the conversation is ending, we ease out of it.
And that's what this podcast English Lesson is all about.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode not two, how
to end a conversation naturally without being rude. Today we're
going to look at some very natural phrases native speakers
use to wrap up a conversation smoothly, politely, and without awkwardness.
Let's start with a very common one, well, I should
get going. We use well I should get going when
we want to leave, but we want to sound soft
and less direct, Like if you're at a friend's house
and you've been talking for a while, you might say, well,
I should get going. I have an early morning tomorrow,
Or if you're on the phone and you realize it's
getting late, you might say, well, I should get going.
I still need to finish some work. It sounds natural
and polite, and it's a great way to signal that
the conversation is over and it's time to leave. A
slightly stronger version is i'd better get going, which is
usually pronounced like I better get going. Like if you're
meeting someone and you look at your watch, you might say, wow,
I better get going before traffic gets bad. Or at
a party, you might say, I better get going before
I miss the last train. I better get going sounds
a little more urgent than I should get going, but
it's still friendly. Next, here's an important little word in
spoken English, anyway. Listen to how I pronounce it when
I want to end a conversation anyway. The intonation is
like going down this stairs, like you're going somewhere anyway.
This intonation is important because when we say this word
like this anyway, it's a soft signal that the conversation
is wrapping up. For example, you might say anyway, I
should get going, or on the phone, anyway, it was
nice talking to you, or anyway, I won't keep you
anyway gently shifts the energy of the conversation. It tells
the listener that you're ready to wrap it up. And
speaking of I won't keep you, that's another great phrase
we use I won't keep you when we want to
show respect for the other person's time by ending the conversation.
For example, if you're talking to a coworker who looks busy,
you might say, I won't keep you. I just wanted
to ask you that one quick question. Or if you've
been chatting with someone at an event, you might end
the conversation with anyway, I won't keep you, it was
great catching up. These phrases sound thoughtful and polite. Next,
let's talk about something very important when ending a conversation,
and that is creating a future connection, and one very
common phrase we used to do that is let's catch up.
In this context, catch up means to talk with someone
after you haven't seen or spoken for a while and
share updates about your lives. So we use this phrase
to end a conversation while keeping the relationship warm. You
might say, let's catch up later, or let's catch up soon,
or even let's catch up this weekend. It shows that
this isn't goodbye, it's just see you later. For example,
at the end of a conversation with a friend, you
might say, anyway, let's catch up later this week, or
after running into someone unexpectedly, you could say I was
great seeing you, let's catch up soon. This keeps the
relationship warm. It doesn't feel like a hard stop. Another
similar simple phrase is i'll talk to you soon. You
can use this at the end of a phone call
like all right, I'll talk to you soon, or after
a quick conversation at work, I'll talk to you later.
It's friendly and neutral, So let's put it all together.
Native speakers usually end a conversation in three steps. First,
we signal the ending with words like anyway. Second, we
exit politely, like with I should get going or I
better get going. And third, we create future connection like
let's catch up later or I'll talk to you soon,
like this anyway, I better get going, I'll talk to
you soon. We use language like this to gently ease
out of the conversation without stopping suddenly. And one more
import important tip to remember is this tone matters. These
phrases work best when you say them in a relaxed,
friendly voice. The goal isn't just to end the conversation,
it's to do it smoothly. So the next time you're
in a conversation and you need to go, try using
one of these phrases. That's how you build natural, confident,
conversational English. Anyway, keep in mind the best way to
remember English like this and any other word or phrase
in English, is to take that word or phrase, write
it in a sentence that's true for you or true
in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Hey, thanks
for listening, and remember learning another language is not easy,
but it's not impossible. I'm here to help you on
your journey.
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Happy English.