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Keep things loose with appropriate, polite phrases

Reading Time:1 minute
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Dino Mahoney

Songbirds teaches English through radio drama. By listening to the weekly series, you can practise your English language skills. The characters in Songbirds use plain everyday English. Below is an example. Try to use the expressions in your own English conversations.

'Sorry to keep you waiting.'

This is a useful, polite phrase if you are late for a date or an appointment. In the Songbirds extract, Adam is late. He was supposed to meet his friends earlier at a restaurant, but because he is late, he apologises by saying, 'sorry to keep you waiting'.

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Adam: Hi, guys. Hey, sorry to keep you waiting. Our taxi got caught up in some terrible traffic on Nathan Road.

Chang: That's okay. Hey, sit down and relax.

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Max: The food here is very good.

Chang: There he goes again - always talking about food.

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