Improve Your English Speaking Fluency | How to Change, Postpone, or Cancel Plans

I'm learning basic phrases in Spanish like, I'm sorry, can we meet earlier? I realize my advanced English learners need to go beyond basic apologies and requests but may not feel confident doing so. In this lesson, I'll help you build vocabulary and confidence changing, postponing, and canceling plans. Just listen and repeat so that the phrases roll off your tongue. Let's go! First, let's imagine you need to change the time of a meeting. What can you ask? Listen and repeat. Would it be okay if we met a little earlier in the day? Any chance you have time later today? I know we're on for two today, but can we meet an hour later? Could we push our meeting back a bit? Do you mind if we meet at 1.30 instead of 1? Remember to apologize and give an explanation if you can. Try saying something like, Sorry, I'm really swamped today. I'm sorry to ask, but it's really hectic today. I'm so sorry, but something rather urgent came up. Add on how much you appreciate their flexibility. Say, thanks so much, I owe you one. Thanks, I appreciate it. Thank you, that really helps me out. Thank you, you're a lifesaver. You can use those expressions in different combinations. Let's try a couple. Sorry, I'm really swamped today. Could we push our meeting back a bit? Thanks so much, I owe you one. I know we're on for two today, but can we meet an hour later? I'm sorry to ask, but it's really hectic today. Thank you, that really helps me out. Now let's think of how we'd adjust our language for a more professional and polite tone. First, you can ask, Would it be all right to meet later in the day? Do you think it might be possible to meet a bit earlier? Would it still work for you if we met at four instead? Or you could say, Would it still be convenient for you if we met at four instead? Your apologies need to change as well. I apologize for asking, but I have an urgent matter to attend to. I'm sorry to ask this of you. How can you thank someone politely for being flexible? Thank you so much. I truly appreciate your flexibility. Thank you for being so flexible. I appreciate it. If you're enjoying the listen-repeat practice, please like, subscribe, and turn on notifications. Let's continue. Sometimes you're forced to postpone or even cancel a meeting. Let's start with casual ways I'm really sorry. I can't meet today. Any chance we can reschedule? Sorry to cancel on you, but I won't be able to make it today. What does next week look like for you? I'm going to have to cancel for today. Sorry about that. Let's try for next week, okay? Something just came up, and I won't be able to meet today. Sorry. Let's reconnect soon. I'll call you later. I'm running behind, and I don't think I can make it today. I'm sorry. Can you text me some possible days and times for next week? Can you think of slightly more formal ways to ask the same thing? Try these. I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to postpone our meeting. I apologize, but something urgent has come up, and I won't be able to meet today. I apologize for the short notice. Unfortunately, I need to reschedule our meeting. Would you be available to meet at a later time? Thank you. I appreciate your flexibility. I'm so very sorry for the inconvenience, but at this time I need to cancel. I promise to follow up soon to reschedule. Thank you for your understanding. If you're on the receiving end of such a request, try to be flexible. Informally, you can say, Sure. No problem at all. We can meet at another time. Just let me know. More formally, you can say, Certainly. I understand. I'd be happy to meet at a later time. Did you pick up some new phrases? Have you heard others? Note that there are even more formal ways to postpone or cancel a meeting, but we don't use that kind of language all that often, especially in spoken American English. But how would it sound? I might suggest something like this. I deeply regret that I must cancel our meeting today. I genuinely apologize for the inconvenience. Might we reschedule for next week? Honestly, I can't think of a situation right now in my life where I'd use that level of formality in spoken communication. You may have heard about taking or asking for a rain check. That's about agreeing to postpone something. You can use it, but it's more for declining an invitation at the present moment. It could be a polite way to say no now and leave the future date very open, possibly because you don't really want to agree. You might say, Oh, thanks for the invitation. Can I take a rain check on that? More sincerely, Thank you. I'd love to. I can't right now, but can I take a rain check? Let me know if you stick to your plans or if you change them often. Tell me in the comments. If you'd like more interaction and feedback, then join the English with Jennifer community on Patreon, where we practice all skills for confident, effective communication. The link is in the video description. Thanks for watching and happy studies!