How To Encourage Someone In English (Phrases You Need To Know!)

Hang in there man.  Huh? Hang in where? Hang in there? Huh? What’s that mean? Let’s find out. 

 

What’s up guys?  My name is shane and today we are talking about phrases you can use to encourage people in English. Encourage means to make someone feel better, to make them feel more confident in themselves, to make them want to do something.

 

In English we have many phrases that we can use to encourage people. But we are going to learn them in steps, in stages.

 

First, we are going to learn some phrases that we can use to encourage someone before they have started something. 

 

Then, we are going to learn how to encourage someone after they have already started.

 

And finally, we are going to learn to encourage someone when they are having problems or when they are having troubles. 

 

And make sure you watch until the end of the video because I have a bonus phrase for you that you can use when you want to inspire someone to do something. Okay, let’s get started!

 

Before someone has started

Let’s pretend your friend wants to learn English. He wants to learn English because he wants to watch movies in English. He wants to read books in English. And he wants to search the internet.

 

But, at the moment he feels a bit nervous. He feels a bit shy, he is scared that if he learns English, he will make mistakes. People will laugh at him.   People won’t want to talk to him.

 

What phrase can we use to encourage him? To make him feel better? 

 

The first phrase is: What do you have to lose?   What do you have to lose?

 

This means: if you start to learn English, you can’t lose anything.  You will not lose anything.

 

You won’t die.  You won’t get sick. Nothing bad will happen to you. Only good things can happen to you.   Like you will learn something new. You will make new friends.  You will learn new skills. You aren’t going to lose anything.   You’re not going to lose your house. You’re not going to lose your car.

 

That’s why we say: you have got nothing to lose. So you could say to your friend something like: What do you have to lose? Nothing bad will happen to you.   The only thing that can happen is that you get better.  Your life will get better.

 

Another phrase you can use is: Go for it. Go for it. Go for it just means try. Try it. See what happens. 

 

So you could say to your friend: Go for it!  Start learning English! Only good things can happen.  You could get a new job, make new friends and learn new things.

 

And the third phrase we can use is: It’s worth a shot.  It’s worth a shot.

 

A shot means a try.

 

Worth means it has value.

 

There are good things that can happen if you try. So worth a shot means if you try, many good things can happen.   There is value in trying.

 

So you could say to your friend: start learning English! It’s worth a shot! Nothing bad can happen. Only good things can happen. 

 

After someone has started

Now, let’s pretend your friend has been learning English for about 6 months and he is doing well. He can speak basic English.  He can have basic conversations. He understands basic grammar.

 

But then one day he comes to you and he says, oh, I am so bored of learning English now.  What can you say to encourage him? To make him feel better? 

 

The first phrase we can use is: I’m proud of you. You’re doing well.  I’m proud of you. You’re doing well. 

 

Proud means you feel good that somebody else has done something.

 

So your friend he has spent a lot of time a lot of energy in learning English so you feel really good for him. You feel good that he is using that time to make himself better.

 

So you can say I am really proud of you. And doing well just means doing good. He is getting better, he is learning more.

 

So you could say to your friend: I am proud of you, you are doing really well. Don’t stop now. 

 

And the second phrase you can use is: keep it up, you can do it. Keep it up, you can do it.

 

Keep it up means don’t stop because you are doing well.  It means to continue doing something. 

 

So you could say to your friend keep it up, you can do it, you’re doing really well.  Don’t stop now because you’ve come so far.

 

And the third phrase is: you’re doing a good job.  This means what you’re doing is really really good.  So you are learning English and this is a good thing. You are getting better and better and better.

 

So you could say to your friend: you’re doing a really good job, don’t stop now, keep learning because you’re getting better and better and better. 

 

Having problems

Now, let’s pretend your friend has been learning English for a year. He’s doing really well. He’s getting better and better and better. 

 

But one day, he is talking to his friend who is a native speaker.  And your friend he keeps saying words wrong.  He keeps making mistakes and this makes your friend feel really upset.

 

And one day your friend comes to you and says ‘I quit, I’m not learning English anymore, it’s too hard, I am going to stop learning.’

 

What could you say to him to encourage him? To make him feel better? To make him want to learn English again?

 

One phrase you could use is: hang in there. This just means don’t stop.  Don’t stop what you are doing. You are doing well.

 

I know learning languages is hard but we all have good days and we all have bad days.  So keep learning, hang in there.

 

So you could say to your friend something like: just hang in there, don’t stop now.  Just have a day off, have a rest for a little bit and come back and start learning more tomorrow.

 

Another phrase you could use is don’t give up. Don’t give up.

 

Don’t give up means do not stop trying.  Keep learning. Don’t stop what you are doing.

 

So you could say to your friend something like don’t give up now. You have come so far. Before, you couldn’t speak English but now you can.  Don’t give up, keep trying!

 

Another phrase you could use is: don’t stop! Keep going! 

 

Keep going means continue to do something that you started in the past. Because you friend started learning English in the past and it’s not finished yet so you can say keep going. This means continue to do what you are doing.

 

So you could say to your friend: don’t stop now, keep going! I know it’s hard but just have a rest today and come back tomorrow.

 

Bonus phrase

Okay and they are the 9 phrases for today.  But like I promised, there is a bonus phrase you can use to inspire someone.

 

Inspire means to make someone want to do something. To make them feel like they can do it.

 

So that phrase is: believe in yourself and dream big.  Believe in yourself and dream big. 

 

Believe in yourself means believe that you can do it.  Think that you can do it. Think that you are good enough.

 

And dream big means have big goals.  Have crazy goals. Have goals for yourself that nobody has ever thought of before.

 

So if you want to inspire someone, try this phrase and see what the other person’s reaction is.

 

Okay and that is the end of the lesson today.  Make sure you try these phrases if you want to encourage your friends in English. If you’re interested in learning more English phrases, check out this video right here. And if you haven’t subscribed already, subscribe right now so you don’t miss any video that can help you understand English like a native speaker. If you have any questions, please comment down below. If you learned something today, please hit that like button and share this with your friends so they can learn 9 new phrases to encourage people in English. And for daily quizzes and weekly posts and lessons, make sure you are following me on Instagram. And I will see you in the next video.  This means if you start to.  car.