In this mini episode, you will learn the common phrase “I guess so.”
Episode 378 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the common phrase “I guess so.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“This is Bing Su, from China. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 378 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 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
In this episode, I am going to teach you how to use a very common and useful phrase. The phrase is “I guess so.” I guess so.
That’s spelled I, g-u-e-s-s, s-o. I guess so.
Before I tell you what this phrase means and how to use it, let’s talk for a moment about the word guess. The word guess has more than one meaning. But in this phrase, guess means “to suppose,” or “to assume,” or “to think,” or “to believe.” It has these kinds of meanings. It has to do with the way we think about something.
What about the word so? What does the word so mean in this phrase? The word so in this phrase means “in that way,” or “like that.”
And that means “I guess so” means “I assume it is like that.” “I assume it is that way.” Or “I assume that is correct.” That is the kind of thing we mean when we say, “I guess so.” It’s a way of saying, “I think it is that way,” or “I think that is correct.”
But if you want to use this very common phrase in a natural way, you also need to know this:
We often use “I guess so” when we feel uncertain. In other words, when we feel unsure about our own thoughts or about the situation.
And we can also use it when we are not interested. Maybe the situation and our own opinion are not very interesting to us. Maybe we really don’t care very much.
And we can use “I guess so” when we want to communicate that we are reluctant in some way. In other words, maybe we really don’t want to give an answer. Maybe we really don’t want to say how we feel or what we think about this situation.
“I guess so” can suggest all of these kinds of things. It can suggest uncertainty. (We’re not really sure what we think.) It can suggest a lack of interest. And it can suggest reluctance. (We don’t want to say what we think. We don’t want to talk about how we feel.)
Let me give you an example of a situation where you might hear someone use “I guess so.”
Let’s say you have a friend who is very excited about a new movie. Your friend keeps talking about this new movie. She is very excited about it. Maybe she really loves the star of this movie. And she wants to see this movie the minute it is in the theaters. She cannot wait to see this movie. She talks about it all the time.
And your friend says to you: “You’re very excited about this movie too, right?” And you answer, “I guess so.” I guess so.
I think maybe you can even hear it in the tone of my voice. Maybe this suggests how we use this phrase. “I guess so” means “Well … maybe I’m interested?” “Maybe I’m excited too?” Or maybe it means “Well, I really don’t care about this movie.” Or maybe it means “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
Maybe you’re not excited, but you don’t want to tell your friend that you are not excited. So you answer with this “I guess so.”
You’re giving an answer, but you’re not stating a strong opinion that you really care about. You’re answering but not really saying much.
That is “I guess so,” a very common and useful phrase that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 378 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Bing Su recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!