This mini episode teaches you the very useful expression “to have no business doing something.”
Episode 202 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the very useful expression “to have no business doing something.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello! This is Juhee from South Korea. You are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 202 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it, too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
The expression I’m going to teach you today is “to have no business doing something.” To have no business doing something. That’s “to have no business: b-u-s-i-n-e-s-s.” To have no business doing something.
When we say that somebody has no business doing something, we mean that person has no right to do that thing. That person has no good reason to do that thing, or it is somehow inappropriate for that person to do that thing.
Before I give you an example and explain this expression a little bit more, let me just make sure you understand this one thing: when we use this expression—when we use the expression “to have no business doing something”—we always use it with a gerund. We always use it with one of those -ing forms of a verb. So you could say somebody has no business “going there,” or somebody has no business “saying that.” Or somebody has no business “doing that.” We always use one of those -ing forms of a verb.
Here is an example of a situation where somebody might use the expression “to have no business doing something.”
Let’s say you have a friend who always makes bad decisions. Your friend is always getting into trouble. And your friend is always making bad choices, and things just don’t work out for your friend. Let’s imagine that you are telling your friend about some situation you’re having or some problem, or maybe you’re not sure what to do. And your friend starts giving you advice. Your friend tells you, “This is what you must do. Listen to me. You must do this.” And if you are a little bit angry with your friend for telling you what to do, you might say, “You have no business giving me advice.” You have no business giving me advice. In other words: “You have no right to give me advice. You always make bad decisions. So how come you think you can give me advice? You have no business giving me advice.”
And that is how we use the expression “to have no business doing something.” I think this is an interesting and useful and very natural-sounding expression. And I think it’s an expression that you should know.
Outro
We’ve reached the end of episode 202 of Everybody ESL. Remember, if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Juhee recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with another episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.