LESSON NOTES

All About S2 #13

British English - Top Five Phrases
Your English Teacher Will Never
Teach You

CONTENTS
2

Grammar

13

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GRAMMAR
The Focus of this Lesson is English Phrases You Won't Hear in a Classroom

In this lesson we will explain a few English phrases and words that you won't be taught in the
classroom. They are popular phrases in everyday conversation so you may hear them
frequently when you listen to native speakers.
Phrase 1: "dunno"
This simply means "I don't know." Native speakers in casual conversations will run "don't" and
"know" into one word until it becomes "dunno." Often, the subject is dropped too so the entire
sentence can simply be "dunno." It's usually accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders and
said in a low tone. It's very casual and should be avoided in formal situations.
Phrase 2: "gonna"
This is similar to the first phrase as it is a longer phrase that has become one word. "Gonna" is a
shortened and slang form of "going to." Instead of saying "I'm going to go," in casual
situations people may say "I'm gonna go." It's pronounced with more of a "u" sound than an
"o" sound and sounds more like "gunna." Again, it should be avoided in formal situations but
is very common in casual speech.
Phrase 3: "telly"
In the UK, people often call the television the "telly." It's a cute and relaxed term that is still in
popular use. We would say "turn on the telly" instead of "turn on the television" or "turn on the
TV." Also, the BBC is often referred to as "the Beeb" or is given the friendly name of "Auntie."
To combine these phrases we could say "turn on the telly and switch to the Beeb."
Phrase 4: "quid"
The currency in the UK is the pound but it is also known as "quid," in the same way that
"dollars" are sometimes called "bucks." Unlike pound, it doesn't have a plural form. We would
say "can I borrow twenty pounds," with the plural "-s" on pounds, but also "can I borrow twenty
quid," with no plural. The phrase "quids in" is very popular too, which means that something
will be successful and generate money. Other slang money terms include calling a five
pound note a "fiver" and a ten pound note a "tenner."
Phrase 5: "brilliant"
There are many ways of describing something as being good in English and a popular British
English adjective is "brilliant." "The movie was brilliant" means that the movie was very, very
good. Other words you can use that mean the same high level of enjoyment include
"excellent" or "fantastic."

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ALL ABOUT S2 #13 - BRITISH ENGLISH - TOP FIVE PHRASES YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER WILL NEVER TEACH YOU