Right Words, Right Time: The English of Encouragement

🌟 Episode Highlights

• general expressions of encouragement
• encourage someone when they’re doubting themselves
• inspire and motivate someone

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Transcript

Hello, hello! Welcome to English Extras! I’m Jean, and this is the podcast that takes you beyond textbook English. If you’re tired of boring grammar drills and dry vocabulary lists and you want to sound more natural, more you, then you’re in the right place. Every episode is packed with real-world English, cultural tips, and smart strategies to boost your fluency. So, are you ready? Let’s learn some English.

Everyone wants encouragement! It’s a very human thing to help someone feel better, stronger, more energized. You probably already know a few phrases of encouragement. Probably you know the phrase, “You can do it!” or maybe not, which is okay, too. We’re all here to learn. 

In today’s episode, I’m going to give you phrases that will level up your English: phrases of basic encouragement that you will see and hear everywhere, phrases that you can say when someone is doubting themselves, and expressions to motivate and inspire someone who is struggling.

Let’s start with the phrases of basic encouragement. 

Number one: “You got this!” “You got this” is a simple but powerful expression you can use almost anytime you want to encourage someone. “You got this” tells the other person that you have complete confidence in them. 

You might say this when a friend of yours is nervous about a job interview. You can say, “Don’t worry, you got this!” Or maybe you and a classmate are about to take a difficult exam. You can say, “We got this!” Or maybe a friend of yours is about to break up with their partner. That’s a difficult conversation, so you might say, with some pity: “You got this.”

This is a nice expression to use in general because it creates a sense of connection with the other person. It’s almost certain to bring out a smile.

Number two: “I believe in you.” “I believe in you” is a more personal version of “You got this.” “You got this” can be something you say to friends, family, acquaintances, or complete strangers. “I believe in you” is something you’d probably only say to friends and family because it implies a strong personal connection.

Another important difference between “You got this” and “I believe in you” is what other pronouns you can use. You can change “You got this” to “We got this” and that’s no problem; it doesn’t really change the meaning. However, if you change “I believe in you” to “I believe in us,” then there’s a big difference. “I believe in us” has a very strong romantic meaning; this is something you’d say to a romantic partner, not a casual friend. It’s possible you could say this in the context of a sports team, but in general, I hear it in movies and TV shows between romantic couples.

Number three: “That’s the spirit!” This is a phrase you would say typically when someone was doubtful before but has now shown a burst of determination. 

So, for example, let’s say someone is really disappointed and discouraged because of an exam result they received. They studied really hard, they tried their best, and they still got a low score. You try to make them feel better but nothing really works. Then, their mindset changes and they declare they are going to keep trying and never give up. In response to this burst of determination, you can say, “That’s the spirit!”

The tone here is important because this phrase is also often used sarcastically. Let’s say there’s a difficult situation and your friend is feeling really discouraged and is just struggling. Maybe you say, “You got this! You can do it!” and your friend responds negatively. Maybe they say, “This is too hard. I’m just going to quit my job.” You can say, “That’s the spirit.”

The tone here is sarcastic. Your friend is not being optimistic and is not responding well to your encouragement. So saying, “That’s the spirit” is sarcastic. You can see an example of this in the Disney movie Zootopia. In this movie, Judy is a very determined police officer who is struggling with a case. Another character, Nick, says to her, “You know, there’s no shame in calling it quits.” He means that you can give up and that’s okay. Judy replies, “Yes, there is.” She means that yes, for her, it is very shameful to quit something. Nick replies, “Boy, that’s the spirit.”

He says this because he says, “There’s no shame in calling it quits” and this is something you can say to someone who is struggling. It’s a way of telling them that they can give up and it won’t be a problem. But Judy doesn’t receive this statement in that way. So Nick replies, “That’s the spirit” sarcastically.

Now let’s move on to two expressions you can use when someone is doubting themselves.

Let’s say someone is saying something like: “I’m not good enough to do this.” I get it! We all feel that way sometimes. We think we’re not smart enough, rich enough, patient enough, disciplined enough, whatever. Well, when you hear someone say that, you can say, “Don’t sell yourself short.”

“Don’t sell yourself short” means “don’t underestimate yourself.” If someone underestimates themselves, it means they have a lower view or opinion of themselves and it likely isn’t accurate. I see this with my students a lot, for example. Students think their English level is very, very low, and sometimes that is true, but often it isn’t, and their level is actually higher than they think. In that case, we would use the word underestimate. Many of my students underestimate themselves, which makes me sad, but that’s why I am a cheerleader for my students! I’m here to help you improve your opinion of yourself.

So something I can say to my students is: Don’t sell yourself short. 

Another phrase I actually use pretty often in my classes is: You’re on the right track. Maybe you’ve heard this one before already. “You’re on the right track” means you are making progress toward the correct goal. So this phrase is about problem-solving. I’ll explain the way I use it in my classes.

If my student makes a mistake, and I make a little sound like–mhm?–to signal they made a mistake, they will think about it and try to correct the mistake. If they are almost correct but not completely correct, I can say, “You’re on the right track.” This tells them that they are heading in the right direction, but they aren’t quite there yet.

So you can say this to someone who is making progress–in life or in their thinking–and they should keep going until they get to the end.

Now let’s talk about expressions you can use to inspire and motivate.

One way you can do this is by making the confidence boost more personal to them. You can say, “Well, if anyone can do it, you can.” This means that out of all of the people around, you can do it the best or you’re the only one who can do it. (It doesn’t matter if this is actually true or not.)

There’s another version of this that’s very popular to hear in the fitness and health community. This other version is: “If I can do it, you can, too.” This is another way to encourage someone, but it doesn’t mean exactly the same thing as “If anyone can do it, you can.” If someone says, “If I can do it, you can, too,” it means that the speaker knows that they are not extraordinary or special but they were able to achieve their goals, so that means that you can achieve your goals, too, because you and the speaker are similar.

But if you say to someone, “If anyone can do it, you can,” it expresses complete confidence in the other person. The speaker is convinced that the other person is the perfect one to achieve this goal.

Finally, last expression. This last expression is a way to help someone feel better on their journey, to help them not stop their progress. The expression is: “This is just a bump in the road.”

No road is completely smooth. Even the smoothest-looking road has tiny bumps on it. That’s part of it, same as in life. In every journey, there will be obstacles–or, bumps. Some bumps will be bigger than others, but they will be there. It’s inevitable. Not only is it inevitable, but most setbacks are temporary. They happen, you fix it, you move on.

(This is not true 100% of the time, of course, but… on the other hand, all life is temporary. So.)

If someone you know is experiencing a setback, an obstacle, and you want to say to them that this problem is temporary and they will move on from it, you can say, “This is just a bump in the road.” It’s a way of saying that this problem is temporary and part of the journey.

For example, if you are having a conversation with a native speaker and you completely forget a word, I would tell you–as a teacher–that it’s just a bump in the road, my friend. It’s inevitable. It’s also temporary. You will move on.

Speaking of moving on, when you move on after this episode, I want you to try to think of a way to use one of these expressions. Try to find a situation to use one in the next 24 hours. If you don’t have any English-speaking friends, I encourage you to leave a comment on this episode. Describe to me a situation you could use one of these expressions for.

Today we talked all about ways to encourage people, but you might also be looking for ways to say you’re sorry, to say you’re happy, or to say you’re sad. Don’t worry, I’ve got episodes for that. You can find all of them in season 1 of English Extras.

As always, thanks for being here, friends. Until next time! Bye!