What would you respond if someone asked you about your current mood? You will say happy, sad or angry.
But do you really think that it is enough to describe your mood? How would you describe an absolutely wonderful vacation? "happy"? But is that how you feel every time?
Describe How You Feel in some cases
You can use this lesson to express your status and fairness in expressing your feelings.
1. Describe how you feel when you are satisfied
Sometimes we think something terrible is going to happen and in the end it won't happen at all.
Here are phrases we use to show our relief:
- Phew!
- Thank God (for that)!
- What a relief!
- I'm so relieved to hear that.
- You had me worried (there / for a moment).
- That's a weight off my mind.
- You've no idea what a relief it is to hear.
- That's one less thing to worry about.
- What a stroke of luck!
- (Oh well.) All's well that ends well!
2. Describe how you feel when you are poor
- He's short of cash / hard-up.
- She's got cash-flow problems.
- They were destitute.
- He's on the bread line.
- She's in debt / bankrupt.
- He's doing a minimum-wage job.
- Low-income families.
- She's on the dole.
- Below the poverty line.
- Those less fortunate than ourselves.
3. Phrases to talk about old age
We have many expressions for the elderly:
- Old and wise.
- Over the hill.
- Past it.
- Pushing ninety.
- In her nineties.
- A pensioner / OAP / senior citizen.
- Getting a bit long in the tooth.
- In my twilight years / Second childhood.
- Losing her marbles / Going senile.
- An old codger / An old biddy.
4. Describe how you feel when you feel lucky
Sometimes a event or decision can make the difference between a happy ending and an absolute disaster.
For such cases, Here are some phrases:
- It's a good thing (that)..
- It's just as well...
- Fortunately, / Luckily,
- As luck would have it...
- That was a stroke of luck.
- It's lucky...
- It's very/most fortunate (that)...
- That was a close thing.
- It must be your lucky day!
- You lucky thing! / You jammy bastard!
5. Describe how you feel when talking to bad people
Sometimes we just can't stand someone and want a neat little phrase that sums up how we feel about them.
Here are some vocabulary, be careful how you use them:
- A crook.
- A villain.
- An evil witch.
- A heartless bastard.
- A nasty piece of work.
- A psycho / psychopath.
- A totally ruthless (person).
- A creep.
- A two-faced cow.
6. Describe how you feel when you avoid giving information
Sometimes someone asks you a question and you don't want to give the answer, if you know the answer but don't want them to know, you can use one of these phrases:
- No comment.
- I'm not at liberty to say.
- Wait and see.
- Let me get back to you.
- I'm sorry, that's confidential.
- (Sorry) That's personal.
- I'd rather not talk about it.
- Mind your own business.
- Never you mind.
- I'll tell you when you're older.
7. Describe how you feel when planning for the future
There are some things in your life that you know will happen someday.
Here are some of the phrases we use to show how we feel (positive or negative) about these future events:
- I'm (really / so) looking forward to..
- I can't wait until...
- I'm counting the days till...
- Roll on...
- I've set my heart on...
- I'm saving up to...
- Sooner or later I'll get round to...
- One day, I'm going to have to...
- I'm trying to put off... as long as I can
- I'm (really) dreading...
8. Describe how you feel when asking for someone's opinion
It's a good idea to ask someone else's opinions before you tell them your opinion out loud and forcefully, as they might totally disagree with you.
Here are ways to ask:
- What do you think of...?
- What do you think about...?
- How d'you feel (about...)?
- What d'you reckon (about...)?
- What's your opinion of...?
- (What do think about) that?
- What are your views on...?
- Where do you stand (on...)?
- What would you say to... / if we...?
- Are you aware of.....?
9. Describe how you feel when asking people to wait
Here are ways to ask:
- Hang on a moment.
- Give us a second.
- Half a moment.
- I'll be right with you.
- Sorry, I'm a bit tied up right now.
- Wait and see.
- You'll just have to be patient.
- Give me a chance.
- Don't be so impatient.
- We wish to apologize for the delay to...
10. Describe how you feel when you ask for help
We all need help sometimes with English, and it's not polite to ask directly for help.
So there are many phrases we can say before asking:
- Can you give me a hand with this?
- Could you help me for a second?
- Can I ask a favour?
- I wonder if you could help me with this?
- I could do with some help, please.
- I can't manage. Can you help?
- Give me a hand with this, will you?
- Lend me a hand with this, will you?
- I need some help, please.
11. Describe how you feel when asking for approval
Sometimes we are not sure if doing something is a good idea. So we need useful expressions to ask if other people agree with an idea or an intentional action.
Here are some useful expressions:
- Do you think it's all right to do it?
- What do you think about (me doing that)?
- Do you think / reckon I ought to (do it)?
- What would you say if I (did it)?
- Would you approve of (doing something)?
- What is your attitude to the idea of...
- Are you in favour of (me doing something)?
- You are in favour of ... aren't you?
- Do you think anyone would mind if I...
- Would it be really awful if I...
12. Describe how you feel about future plans
With friends we often ask what they plan to do at some point in the future.
Here are phrases that English speakers use most often to ask other people about their plans:
- What are you doing tomorrow?
- Got any plans for tomorrow?
- What's your plan for tomorrow?
- Are you doing anything tomorrow?
- What's on the cards for tomorrow?
- Busy tomorrow?
- Have you got anything on tomorrow?
- Have you got anything planned for tomorrow.
- What's happening tomorrow?
- How's tomorrow looking?
13. Describe how you feel when you apologize
Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes, when that happens, we need a phrase to tell the other person how sad we are and prevent them from getting angry.
Here are some sentences:
- Sorry.
- I'm (so / very / terribly) sorry.
- Ever so sorry.
- How stupid / careless / thoughtless of me.
- Pardon (me).
- That's my fault.
- Sorry. It was all my fault.
- Please excuse my (ignorance).
- Please don't be mad at me.
- Please accept our (sincerest) apologies.
14. Describe how you feel when you agree with people
When you enter into a conversation with others, it helps to have a number of formal and informal phrases that you can use to show agreement with what someone else has said.
Here some sentences:
- I'm with you on that one.
- I couldn't agree more.
- Yes, absolutely.
- I'd go along with that.
- You've got a point there.
- I think so too.
- You took the words right out of my mouth.
- Great minds think alike.
15. Describe how you feel about the advice and suggestions
Sometimes other people don't know what to do, and they ask us for some advice.
Here are phrases you can use when making suggestions:
- I reckon you should stop now.
- Why don't you stop now?
- How about stopping now?
- If I were you, I'd stop now.
- I suggest you stop now.
- You'd (really) better stop right now.
- I would strongly advise you to stop.
- My advice would be to stop now.
- It might be a good idea to stop.
- You might try stopping.
16. Describe how you feel about the accepted facts
Often when we discuss with other people, or write academic articles, we want to present ideas that we know others will agree on.
Here are some phrases:
- It has been scientifically proven that...
- It is generally assumed that...
- I think we can all accept / agree that ...
- It's no secret that...
- Few people would deny that ...
- It's a well-established fact that …
- Everybody knows that...
- Anyone will tell you ...
- It's a fact (that) …
- Its common knowledge that...