So can you tell me how to create a mixed conditional
what's the distance from the earth to the moon? how many plays did Shakespeare
write? what's your mother's birthday? if your
answer to any of these questions is' I don't know' then this lesson
might just be the thing you need so today i'm going to share
30 yes 30 creative intelligent but honest expressions
as an alternative to saying i don't know now why do we want to avoid saying i
don't know well yes number one we don't want to use the same vocabulary
over and over again it gets boring but also in this case saying i don't
know can sometimes make you feel a little bit
stupid like you should know but you don't know
particularly when it comes to a work environment formal situations you
don't want to feel like you're lacking knowledge so some of these expressions
i'm going to give you you'll be able to use in the workplace
or at university to show that although you
don't know you are in the process of finding out
and to start with i am of course gonna look at more
informal colloquial and yes a few slang expressions
that we would use in natural native spoken
english and then move on to the more formal
as always it is so important that you understand
that these are not simply synonyms all of these expressions will have slightly
different connotations or meanings but actually
you need to use them in specific situations in fact some of them could be
rather rude if used incorrectly and actually
some of them are rude you want to be rude
so listen carefully pay attention and remember to note down my examples
what context do i give you how informal are they could you use them with friends
with colleagues with your grandmother make sure you
choose the right expression for the right situation so
let's get started 30 wonderful creative intelligent
and some very formal expressions to say i don't know
right let's get started number one and yes it is
informal i haven't got a clue i haven't got a clue listen carefully
though when i speak fast it is informal it is colloquial english
that t actually becomes rather much like a d
it's much softer i haven't got a clue i haven't
got a clue so i haven't got a clue meaning
i don't know have you seen your sister did she go out last night
i haven't got a clue quite informal and really does
cut things quite dead you don't know and it does sound like you're really not
interested in finding out why where or how you're not interested
in learning more number two i haven't got the foggiest
i haven't got the foggiest idea often we would say but you can cut it down to i
haven't got the foggiest fog is actually a type of
weather it's when the cloud is very low and you
can't see clearly so i haven't got the foggiest
connected to the fact that you can't see through something but yes it's a
common expression i haven't got the foggiest idea
do you know if we need milk at the supermarket really i haven't got the
foggiest idea in the same way you can simply say i
have no idea i have no idea quite simple often used
and really does express that you just don't know
something and again you're really cutting that quite short so you'll
notice with a lot of these more informal expressions that you're
just saying i don't know and it's that simple
i'm gonna move on to express saying that you don't know something but you're
going to find out soon keep watching these informal ones
first number four search me search me this
does sound quite dismissive you might hear it from
perhaps a younger person maybe a teenager
if that's not stereotyping too much but search me
means well i don't have the information i don't know
search me do you know when the exam results are coming out
search me number five it's beyond me it's beyond me now what this is
actually saying is it's beyond your ability to
know something so for example do you know why they broke up have you
heard anything really it's beyond me so you're saying
that you don't know something and you really don't have the ability to
actually gain that knowledge it's beyond me to be beyond something
is to be uh past it you can't connect to something
so you're saying that it's just not information that you can come by
you don't know number six a little bit like
the foggiest idea i don't have the foggiest idea
i don't have the faintest idea faint means very weak light for example
the ink on the paper was very faint you could hardly see it
so i haven't got the faintest idea means you haven't even got a
small amount of knowledge you really don't know
i haven't got the faintest idea you could probably say
i haven't got the faintest number seven again
be careful with this it is slang and it does sound a little bit dismissive
beats me a little bit like search me beats me
meaning i don't know and i just i've got no idea so who won
at football last night beats me i didn't watch the match
number eight be careful this one definitely could sound
a little bit rude if used in the wrong context and actually
usually is used in the wrong context how should i know how should i know
when someone's asking you something but you're thinking well
why should i have that information why are you asking me
did your mother come home yet how should i know dad
so again be careful generally speaking i would avoid that one it does sound a
little bit dismissive it's saying i don't know and
why do you think i would know number nine if only i knew if
only i knew this could again come across as being sarcastic
but essentially what you're saying is i don't know
but i wish i did i haven't got that knowledge
any idea why she's so grumpy in her bedroom today
she hasn't been out of that room at all if only i knew number 10 i wish
i knew i wish i knew to use i wish with i knew you're referring to the
present not the past and it is saying you wish
you did know you want to know but you don't i
wish i knew what are the lottery numbers going to be
tonight oh i wish i knew but i don't number 11 a lovely
expression and yes very natural very native i couldn't
tell you for the life of me i couldn't tell you for the life of me
do you remember when they got married what's their anniversary i'm sure it's
coming up i couldn't tell you for the life of me
so really i have no idea number 12 when
someone doesn't know something and they ask you if you know something
you could say your guess is as good as mine
your guess is as good as mine meaning you don't know
i don't know we can guess but really neither of us have a clue so your guess
is as good as mine so do you think she's going to pass
the exam really your guess is as good as mine
number 13 to make sense of something now obviously
if you use this in the affirmative it means you know
i managed to make sense of that crazy map
and i got there in the end but if you say
i couldn't make sense of it i couldn't make sense of it i can't
make sense of it then you're saying i can't understand and i don't
know i can't make sense of this recipe at all
do you know how to make this i don't know i don't
understand now number 14 we are moving on to perhaps
more formal expressions and certainly avoiding saying i don't know and clearly
i'm not going to try and find out instead we're going to use i don't know
but what i want you to do is add a very simple
three-letter word to the end i don't know
but i don't know but and this is what i think is so important
very often certainly in academic situations in a
business environment you might not have knowledge you could
be new to a job you could be in your first year of
university and if someone asks you do you know where we should hand in our
assignments you could say i don't know but i can certainly look
into it i can certainly look into it meaning
research to find out to discover or
i don't know but i might know someone who does
i think sarah handed in an assessment last week i don't know but
i'll try and find out i'll try and find out i don't know but i just need to
double check meaning you might ask someone you might
read up on it you might google it i don't know but i just need to double
check to be sure of something now with those phrases you'll obviously want to
say that you're going to find the information
and then relay it give it back to the person who asked
whether that is a colleague your boss or of course maybe a fellow student at
university by adding to those phrases and i'll get
back to you and i'll get back to you i don't know
but i don't know but i can certainly look
into it and i'll get back to you so there we're combining these phrases
to really make a good impression you're
acknowledging that you don't know something but you're showing that you
have the incentive the motivation and the initiative to actually go and
find out to discover the information that you need i don't
know but i might know someone who does and i'll
let you know and i'll let you know i don't know but
i'll try to find out and i'll update you so those are some
great expressions that we can combine together to show that although you don't
know something you do take the initiative and you are willing
to find out that you don't just accept you don't know something
you're always open and continuing to learn
these are some more formal expressions these certainly do sound
a little bit more polite sophisticated and certainly more professional for the
workplace i'm not sure i'm not sure or i'm
unsure i'm not sure or i'm unsure so this really suggests that you don't
know completely and you want to find out to be sure so it's simply a synonym of i
don't know i'm not sure i'm unsure but it does
sound a little better remember earlier i spoke
about connotations i don't know can imply just complete
lack of knowledge and understanding but i'm unsure suggests that you might
know something a little bit but you're not
confident in that knowledge so it is a little bit different and
therefore it can sound better so do you know what
time we meant to meet tonight really i'm a little bit unsure but i'll
try and find out number 24 this is so important that you
do give yourself a break if you don't know
something don't stress about it too much plenty of my students during their
speaking exams freak out they get so stressed
if they think they don't know the answer a great filler and it gives you time to
think about the answer is simply let me have think about it
let me have a think about it yes yes i think i do know where she's from
hmm yeah london that's it so giving yourself just that little bit of time
sometimes you might know the answer and all you need to say is
i need to think about it or let me think about
it now number 25 i can't recall or i can't remember
off the top of my head so again i don't know
off the top of my head is a great idiomatic expression
it means to think of something on the spot spontaneously
so i can't recall more formal of i can't remember
you choose i can't recall i can't remember off the top of my head
so i can't think of it right at this moment i don't know
right now give me a minute and i might remember i can't recall when her
birthday is off the top of my head give me a moment and i'll check it in
the system number 26 and 27 are very very similar essentially you're
saying you don't know it's not some knowledge that you have
but perhaps somebody else does so not to my knowledge
not to my knowledge or not as far as i know
not as far as i know meaning i don't know
i don't think this is true i don't think this is the case
but it could be so i don't know maybe somebody else does
not to my knowledge not as far as i know number 28 very honest very open
i don't want to give you the wrong answer so i don't want to give you the
wrong answer so let me just double check
you see how some of those phrases i gave you earlier can still be used with some
of these they work really nicely together again
showing that you've got the initiative the ability
to actually take time and find out something to do
your research and get the information and learn what you need
to know can you make a mixed conditional with first conditional
i don't want to give you the wrong answer so let me have a look in my
grammar book and i'll get back to you 29. you could
simply say that's a good question that's
a good question yes it's a good question but it doesn't mean i know the answer
when you use this expression you're saying
i really don't know that's a good question
yes i'll definitely look into it so that's a good question when someone asks
you something and you really don't know you can simply say that's a good
question i will look into it i will try and find out
and i'll get back to you number 30 finally
i'm not sure i'm the best person to ask i'm not sure i'm the best person
to ask for example if someone says to me do you know which is the best gym around
here really i'm not sure i'm the best person
to ask but i might know someone who does know
the answer i'll ask her and get back to you so when
you say you're not the best person to ask
you're saying that you don't have perhaps knowledge or expertise in that
area but of course you can try and find out
i'm not sure i'm the best person to ask about
gyms really haven't got a clue and there we have it
plenty of expressions there that you could use as an alternative to i don't
know and of course you can use i don't know just have the initiative have the
motivation to say however i'll look into it
and i'll get back to you show particularly in a work environment that
you have got the initiative the motivation
to actually find out information for yourself that
you don't rely on other people to tell you everything
that you can be independent and find the information you need
don't forget what our friend albert said wisdom is not a product of schooling
but the lifelong attempt to acquire it thank you so much for watching and don't