5 Different Ways to say "I don't care"

🌟 Episode Highlights

• I'm flexible
• It's up to you
• Whatever works
• I don't mind either way
• Makes no difference to me

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Transcript

Hello, hello! Welcome or welcome back to English Extras! I’m Jean. I’ve been an English teacher since 2019 and this is the podcast that takes you beyond textbook English. If you want to sound more natural, then you’re in the right place. I’m here to give you real-world English, cultural tips, and smart strategies to boost your fluency. So, are you ready? Let’s learn some English.

So let’s say you’re making plans to go to a restaurant with your friends or family but nobody can decide what restaurant to go to. There’s a debate between an Italian restaurant or a Thai restaurant and the debate is raging on–it’s lasting forever. You don’t have a preference–you’re just hungry. But when someone asks you your opinion, can you say, “I don’t care?” 

Here’s the thing: “I don’t care” can very easily sound harsh, meaning the opposite of soft. If you say, “I don’t care,” you will probably sound irritated, impatient, angry, or–unfortunately–even rude.

So today we’re going to talk about various ways you can express yourself when you don’t have a preference–without sounding irritated, impatient, angry, or rude. I’m going to share with you five different ways and how you can use them with friends, family, or colleagues. These are not all the ways, but these are the ones that I think are useful to know.

Alright, let’s get started.

Let’s say you and your friends are taking a trip together–that’s nice, isn’t it? And it’s cheaper to share a hotel, so your friends are looking at different hotel options. There’s quite a few options, and they ask for your opinion.

You might not care at all. You might think, “Eh, I’m not going to be in the hotel very much anyway, so who cares which hotel we get?” But it’s not very helpful to say this to your friends, so what can you say?

Here are your options: you can say, “I’m flexible.”

Flexible describes something that can easily bend. An example of a flexible object would be a charging cord. So when your phone’s battery is running low, you want a charger and the charging cord should be flexible; it should be able to move easily.

An example of a flexible person would be someone who is ready and able to change and adapt to new situations. It’s good to be at least a little bit flexible, because that’s how we change and grow as people. Also, inflexible people–people who are not flexible–are usually unlikable. 

So you can say, “I’m flexible” to your friends to show that you can adapt to whatever choice they make. If they choose this hotel, okay, you can adapt. If they choose that hotel, that’s fine, you can adapt. 

So that’s one option. Another option is to say, “Whatever works.”

Work and to work have several meanings. One meaning is to do the actions required for your job. As in, “No, I can’t go to the park today. I have to work.” One meaning is effort. As in, “Oh, my job requires a lot of work.” 

But another meaning is when something is okay or maybe we can think of it like successful. As in, “Oh, my microphone works now!” 

When we say, “Whatever works,” it’s like saying, “Whichever option is most likely to be successful” or “Whichever option is the best.” 

So saying “Whatever works” shows that you don’t have a preference. You also don’t have anything to add to the situation. If their choice is the best choice for them or for the group, then that’s okay for you, too.

Another option is: “It’s up to you.”

This one is a bit interesting, I think, because some people like it and other people hate it. 

First, what does it mean when something is up to someone? Up? Like the opposite of down? That’s weird.

Well, saying, “It’s up to {someone}” means it’s that person’s decision. So when you say, “It’s up to you,” you’re saying, “It’s your decision, not my decision.” Using it in this way can be polite, because you’re not taking control of the situation, you’re passing control to the other person.

But I mentioned that some people don’t like it. The reason depends on context. Some people think that if the result of a decision affects you, then you should have some responsibility in the decision. When you say, “It’s up to you,” it passes responsibility to the other person, and some people think that responsibility shouldn’t be passed. The context is often between couples, who share responsibility, and if one says, “It’s up to you,” it’s putting extra responsibility on the other person, so that’s why some people don’t like this phrase.

But again, it depends on context.

I want to make a small note about the pronunciation; I just want to draw your attention to a small part of this phrase.

When you’re saying this, and you want to sound more natural, connect the “It’s” and “up” and then the “to” and “you.”

So connect “It’s” and “up” so the “s” is like a bridge between the words: It’s up. It’s up. The first /ı/ sound will be very short and the /s/ will be longer. It’s up. It’s up.

Then between the “to” and “you,” don’t pronounce the full “to.” Just say the first sound: /t/. You don’t have to round your lips to make the “oo” sound. It’s harder to say “to you” because you round the lips to make the “oo” sound, then to make the “y” sound, you have to move back in your mouth, and then round your lips again to make the “oo” sound again. It’s too long!

So you can just say the /t/ sound. So it sounds like this: t’you. T’you.

So the whole thing sounds like this: “It’s up to you.” “It’s up to you.”

Practice it and you’ll pick it up, don’t worry.

Our next option is: “I don’t mind either way.” 

I don’t mind is not “I don’t think.” I don’t mind means “It’s not a problem for me” or “I don’t have a preference” or “Sure, it’s okay.” It doesn’t have just one meaning; it can mean a lot of things depending on the context.

In this context, saying, “I don’t mind” is a way of saying, “I don’t have a preference.” We can add “either way” to represent the choices, especially if there are just two choices. So if your friends found two hotels they liked and they wanted your opinion, and you don’t have a preference, you can say, “I don’t mind either way.”

Let’s talk about the pronunciation really quick.

Something we do a lot in American English is not fully pronounce the final /t/ in words like “don’t.” It’s only half-pronounced. We often don’t put a lot of breath into the final /t/ sound unless we’re emphasizing the word. So it’s usually not “don’t;” it’s usually “don’t.” So our tongue makes the shape for the “t” sound but we don’t push out any air.

Now, you still need to make the “o” sound; that’s important, but that final /t/–try to start making the /t/ sound, but don’t release any air. Like this: don’t. Don’t. 

This habit can cause confusion between native speakers, especially with the word “can’t.” It’s a problem because if you don’t pronounce the final “t” sound in the word “can’t,” then it sounds exactly like the word “can,” which has the opposite meaning. So you can hear this confusion between native speakers: one speaker will say “can’t” and the other speaker is confused and they might say: “can or cannot?” We use the expanded form–cannot–to remove the confusion. Context can help in this situation, but when the context is unclear, then a native speaker will ask for clarification.

So when you’re saying “I don’t mind,” try softening the final “t” sound in “don’t.” 

Now, we have arrived at our final option. Your friends are still trying to choose a hotel and you still don’t have a preference. Another way you can say this is: “Makes no difference to me.”

This option is direct, I think. It’s very clear. So, because it’s so direct, tone really matters. Tone always matters, actually, but especially when you’re saying something like “Makes no difference to me,” because it’s direct. There’s a difference between “Makes no difference to me” with a deeper sound and no smile versus “Makes no difference to me” with a high sound and a smile.

With the pronunciation, we see the same thing happening here like with “It’s up to you.” 

You can stretch that “s” at the end of “makes” into the next word: makes no. Makes no. And then with “to me.” We’re chopping off that “oo” sound and just pronouncing the first /t/ sound. T’me. T’me.

There you are! There you have it! That’s your English lesson for today.

Today, I told you five different ways you can express not having an opinion or preference. Those five ways are: “I’m flexible,” “It’s up to you,” “Whatever works,” “I don’t mind either way,” and “Makes no difference to me.” Hopefully your friends were able to figure out a hotel without your input.

As always, thanks for being here, my friends!

Until next time! Bye!