BE 432: Is This Grammar Useful? We Think So!
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 432. Is this grammar useful? We think so.

Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business. For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Aubrey and Michelle, coming to you from Arizona and New York City, USA.

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Hey, Michelle, how's it going? Good. How are you, Aubrey? Excellent. So fun to record with you again. Lindsay's out this week. So Michelle and I have a very fun episode for you guys. We sure do. So are you going to do anything fun this weekend?

think so. We have plans to have friends over to swim. So that'll be fun. Pool day is always a good time. That's good. Well, yeah, because it's going to be, guys, we're recording this a little bit early. It's going to be Memorial Day weekend. So we have a long weekend. Yeah, we usually will do like barbecue, swim party. Pool volleyball is my new favorite thing. We have a pool that works well for pool volleyball. We put the net between. That's so fun. That is

That is fun. So, guys, we are excited for this episode. This is part two of a series. So, Aubrey, what was part one? Part one was details about how to avoid a common mistake with the adjective 'so' when you're stacking adjectives.

So you want to make sure you didn't miss that. It was on Allers English. Stay to the end and we'll tell you which episode that was in case you missed it. You can listen to these out of order, but be sure to hit follow on Allers English as well as right here on the Business English podcast. We often will do series where we'll talk about something in everyday conversations there and then talk about it more how we use it at work here. So be sure to follow both podcasts.

Definitely. Love it. All right. So do we have a Spotify poll to share results? We love these Spotify polls. We love that you answer them. It's so fun to find out what you guys think about things. We asked which of the following describes your goals. This was in episode 412 of Business English. Are your business goals ambitious? So the options were ambitious,

which was 68%. Love to hear it. Sounds like you guys have some very ambitious goals. And then moderate was 31.8%. So yeah, and unchallenging, zero. Yeah, that's great to hear, right? We don't want to be setting unchallenging goals. We want to be pushing ourselves for sure. So it sounds like you guys are...

right on target there with your ambitious goals. Moderate's okay too. We need these daily tasks, these goals that are easier to complete. But I loved the zero on unchallenging there. Awesome. Yeah, that's good. That's our listeners, right? I'm not surprised.

So today we are sharing two other ways to use so that are common in business English. What's the first one, Aubrey? Yeah, the first is as a conjunction for a result or decision. So so is used to introduce a clause that explains the result of a previous statement, right, of the decision taken. It's a little tricky. Let's see a couple examples here.

Okay, so we can't afford any delays. So I'll talk to the vendor and set a hard deadline. Yeah, you see how this works. So so is saying I've said something. And as a result of that, based on a decision, so I'm now going to say what we're going to do about it.

Mm hmm. Another example is they are severely in need of funds. So I think they will accept what the investor offers. Same thing, right? We have some kind of statement or decision and then we use so as a conjunction and then what we're going to do based on that fact.

Yep, exactly. Yeah, so it basically has the same meaning as hence or therefore or thus, but these are quite a bit more formal, right? So in spoken English, the so is much more commonly used even at work and reserve the other ones for the formal writing. And I just want to point out here, I always remember sometimes I get confused about commas, but guys, when you have so like this,

Right. There's always going to be a comment, something, something, something. So. Right. Yes, exactly. Good point. And this is interesting to think about. Advice that we often give students is to combine simple sentences to make those compound and complex sentences, both in your speaking and writing. It makes what you're saying or writing flow more smoothly. So you don't want those choppy sentences. Right.

So is one of those conjunctions. You can use them. But it is interesting to think about. Sometimes we will hear students use hence, therefore, consequently in spoken English. And these are very formal. Yeah. Sometimes that'll work in a meeting or a presentation when you're really trying to be more formal. But even in those instances, we usually will opt for so.

Yeah, I agree. I completely agree. So...

The second way is to express agreement or confirmation. So tell us more about that, Aubrey. Yeah. So so can be used at the end of a sentence when we're wanting to share that we agree or we're confirming something is true. For example, we might say, I think so. And that means I think the thing that was just mentioned is true, right? We have these shortened ways of saying that.

Or I guess so, meaning I think that's probably true. So these have a slightly different meaning. And it's interesting, depending on the intonation, it might also change, right? If we say like, I guess so, we're adding that out. Like, I'm not really sure, but I'll take your word for it.

Right, right, right. But somebody might even say, oh, I guess so. I guess that's it, right? Right. And that intonation when you're punching so harder, that sounds like you really do agree, right? I guess so. Yep. Yep, exactly. So let's talk about agreement and let's do some quick role plays. Yeah, because this is usually to respond in agreement. So let's see how this will look. I might say, I want to check out that lunch spot around the corner. So do I. Let's go tomorrow.

Yes. Right. So you respond with this. So do I. You're agreeing you want to do it too. You would not want to say like, I would also like to check out that lunch spot. That's very formal. It's very wordy. Instead, it would be like me too. Or so do I. Yep. Yep. Exactly. Or let's look at another one. I might say they were worried the deal wouldn't go through. So were we really glad it all worked out. Exactly. So we do have options. You could say we were too.

And then we'll also say this. So were we. We use so to have this short, easy agreement phrase. Yeah, definitely. This message is brought to you by Abercrombie & Fitch. I've been ready for summer for a while, and now it's finally time for summer outfits. With the trip coming up, the A&F Vacation Shop has me covered.

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Alright, let's dive into a role play here. Michelle and I are co-workers in the middle of a meeting here, or at the beginning of a meeting. Want to start us off? Sure! Okay, it looks like everyone is here, so we can begin the meeting. The client moved the launch date up by two weeks, so we need to speed up the final phase of the project. Ooh, that's a tight schedule. We're still waiting on the final content from the marketing team, so we'll need to follow up with them immediately.

I can ask Mark to do that. He's meeting with them tomorrow, right? I think so.

All right. This is really interesting. And it's funny. Sometimes I'll plug things in to have AI generate a role play. And this, I had said, I want this to be a spoken role play, things that would being said. And AI added a lot of like, hence, therefore, consequently, I'm like, no, we don't speak like that. So this is, you can't always trust AI. And no, you know, we really speak at work. Because if we imagine if you were like,

You know that we need this from the marketing team. Hence, we'll need to follow up with them immediately. You would get a couple eye rolls probably. Right. Because you're being so formal and it just if you're speaking them out loud, we just rarely use those conjunctions unless we're writing. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

- All right, so should we go through it? - Yeah, let's do it. - All right, so I said, it looks like everyone is here so we can begin the meeting. - Yeah, so this is where you're using it as a conjunction to combine these two simple sentences, right? We now have a compound sentence, more impressive grammar and your speaking and writing is going to flow more smoothly. So here we have the first thing like because everyone is here, then we use so. Now we're gonna say what is going to happen

Because of that. And then I said, the client moved the launch date up by two weeks. So that means they made it two weeks earlier than it had been initially. So we need to speed up the final phase of the project. So again, using it as a conjunction here, we've stated something that's happened, something that's changed. So we're using that as a conjunction to say what needs to change because of that.

Yep. And then I said, we're still waiting on the final content from the marketing team. So we'll need to follow up with them immediately. So same idea here. Yeah. Same thing, right? We've got this statement. What needs to happen because of that? And this is interesting because sometimes, often you've heard from us, you can't repeat vocabulary. You need variety. Don't say so. And then so not the case with this one. If you were thinking like, oh, I've already said so a couple of times. So maybe now I should use hence.

or consequently or therefore. No, right? We say so all the time. Very good point. It's a different, it's an exception to that rule. Like for all three of these, we would just say so again and we would reserve those more formal linking phrases for writing.

Yeah, absolutely. Very good. Important point, Aubrey. Don't be scared of so. Exactly, right? We say it all the time. And then you ended with, you know, I'm saying I can ask Mark to do that. He's meeting with them tomorrow, right? And you just have that agreement. I think so, right? Affirming, confirming. It's a quick, easy way to agree. Yeah, I think so. Yep, exactly.

Right. Wow. We have a few more points of business to discuss before we leave. Yeah, we're going to do a poll here. Be sure to come and answer our Spotify poll. Which do you say more often? I think so or I guess so. And it might this might be tricky. You might say both pretty equally. Right. But there is no you both option. You have to choose one or the other. I kind of love that about these fun Spotify polls.

That's right. And also, guys, we told you that we were going to tell you which was part one of this little mini series. So, guys, that was on Saturday, June 28th over on the All Ears English podcast and was called Avoid This Mistake with Stacked Adjectives.

Yeah, that's where we were teaching about so as an intensifier. And there is a common mistake because very, really, extremely, they're used a little bit differently than so. So check that out for that grammar so you can avoid that mistake. I loved that throughout this episode, we find ourselves saying so to start a sentence. So we also use it that way to just transition to the next thing we're saying, right? It's hard not to say it.

Yeah. And it comes, that's going to happen a lot in meetings. You're good. That's the way you're going to move to the next thing. All right. So we're done with that. Let's, let's move on to this.

Yeah, exactly. Aubrey, we use so, so many different ways in English. So the tips in this series are going to help you use it three different ways. You're going to have confidence and you're going to be able to avoid a common mistake. So definitely listen, make sure you are listening to both of these episodes. Yes, exactly. So follow Allers English and the Business English Podcast so you don't miss any of our amazing episodes.

This was really fun, Michelle. Thanks for joining us. I had so much fun. So much fun. All right. So I think it's time to go. Nice. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye.

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