This is the Business English Podcast, episode 267.
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Offer ends August 10th. allearsenglish.com slash connection. michelle how are you today i'm good how are you fantastic fantastic i have a question for you today are you a punctual person would you say i don't know what would you say i feel like i feel like you and i are both pretty punctual with our recordings every once in a while one of us is running behind one or two minutes but i wouldn't say For work, I try to be pretty punctual.
But for example, this morning I ran into an issue with my light.
I was trying to get everything hooked up and I was a couple of minutes late to apologize.
Oh, that's okay. That's okay. Yeah. I think in general, maybe people have different worlds.
There's your work schedule, your work personality, and then there's your personal life.
For me, I try to be punctual in both for sure.
I think we are both quite punctual at work.
I think everyone on our team is punctual. we show up on time.
That means like, you know, if we have a meeting, like, you know, on time is anywhere between 8am and 8.02, right?
Something like that. Yeah, right. Yeah. It's 2015.
I will say, I will say that in my personal life, because I'm gonna blame it on my kids.
For example, my son, every single day is late to school every single day without fail every single day.
And it's embarrassing. Wow. I can't get them.
I can't, I can't get these little people out of the door.
And every time I think that we're going to get out the door, then, then like the baby poops or all of a sudden something happens or somebody doesn't want to put their shoes on.
And I wish you could see a video of me in the morning and what goes on in my life.
But I will say every day I get to the school and what I feel badly about is that his school doesn't have working elevator and his he's on the third floor so if they already walked all the other kids up then somebody has to walk him all the way up all these stairs and there's this woman the security guard at the front I always feel guilty.
She has to walk him up the stairs. I don't know if it's her, but I always get that.
She's very nice about it, but I know, I know that I'm famous for this.
And now if I'm a couple of minutes late to pick him up, I get, he yells at me.
Oh boy. Okay. So I can envision you in your kitchen trying to get the kids out the door.
I have the picture in my mind. I, it seems chaotic, Michelle.
It's something special. It's No, that's okay.
So clearly there's a different business versus personal life, social life, family life thing going on, right?
Interesting. Okay, so we're talking about being punctual today.
And what else for our listeners? Yeah, well, we have a great listener question for today.
It's a quick one from Jessica. It's just, I'll just read it.
It's the difference between in time and on time.
Thank you. Thank you, Jessica. That is a good question.
So episode 265, actually just two episodes we did was late on a deadline, how to ask for an extension in English.
So these two episodes really link together because that's about being punctual with work assignments.
Yeah, they really link. It's almost like a series kind of guys.
We didn't even know it, but we created a little series for you.
So make sure that you go back when you finish today and catch up on Business English 265, right?
So then you'll have all the skills that you need.
Love it. Very important skills. So. Often, let's talk about in time versus on time.
So they're very similar, but there are some differences and this is very important for work.
So let's talk about on time first. Lindsay, what is on time?
Okay, so on time means it relates to a schedule, a deadline for something to be done.
For example, I got to the meeting on time.
I'm glad I wasn't late. Mm hmm. Whereas in time is at an OK.
This is going to sound confusing, but just stay with me.
Is that an OK time for something to still happen?
So maybe just before a deadline. So now let's listen to the examples and it'll make sense.
I got to the meeting in time to have a cup of coffee before it started.
Wow. It's nuanced, but it's it's important to know the difference here.
To me, I feel that in time is being in time for something else.
I was able to do something. I'm in time for something else.
I'm on time and I'm in time. The key here is that does the idea end?
For example, in the first with on time, you say, I got to the meeting on time, period.
I'm glad I wasn't late. The idea ended. Whereas within time, I got to the meeting in time to do something, to have a cup of coffee, to relax, use the bathroom, whatever it was, right?
Right, right. So do you, I got to the meeting, if I just said I got to the meeting in time and ended it there, would that sound a little off to you or is it mostly okay or would it feel like it's missing something?
I think you could get away with it, but I think it, it, I would expect a little more.
You got to the meeting in time. Okay. What do you mean?
Did they start the meeting with sharing or give me more?
You know, I would want more information, you know?
Right, right. Exactly. Or here's another example.
She got to the meeting in time to hear the final point.
The boss was upset that she wasn't on time, though.
So what's happening now? So was she on time?
She was not on time. Right. So she didn't meet this deadline, but yeah. yeah exactly so it's a little bit of a little bit of a difference there interesting yeah it's important so something more it's it's arriving to the meeting to do something to hear the final point to have a cup of coffee to use the bathroom before we start yes right it's almost like there's two events so yeah yeah she wasn't on time but she was in time for this to hear the final point Yeah, right.
Interesting, interesting, a little bit tricky, a little bit nuanced.
Let's do some more examples. Lindsay, what's the first one?
Okay, you could say make sure you're on time, right?
Meaning make sure you're there before the the the thing is supposed to happen, right?
Whether it's a deadline that you have, or there's a schedule, make sure you're there on time.
Or make sure you finish your work on time, right?
Schedule, deadline. Schedule, deadline. Now let's go to in time.
In time. Make sure you're in time to catch the happy hour specials.
Make sure you're in time. This is kind of a complex construction here for our listeners.
It is. It is complex. This is a really great question.
It's a little bit tricky. Guys, if you're a little confused, don't worry.
We're trying to clear it up for you. It's very nuanced, but there are there's some things that we want to think about to try and make the best decision.
And with this example, Michelle, I think it's important to note that we're leaving out a word here, right?
Make sure you're in time to catch the happy hour specials Make sure you're there in time.
Make sure you're there. You're present. Make sure you're there.
Yeah. Let's add there. But you, obviously we say to be in time.
Are you in time? In time? But I don't know.
It's just to orient ourselves here. Where?
There. At the place. At the bar. Right. I could have said make sure you're on time.
But if I said make sure. Okay. Now I'm going to make it a little bit real crazy.
Make sure you're there on time. So you can catch the happy hour especially it's like the on time is kind of Separate and then you have to be in time.
That's yeah to do something I think it is a very specific construction or make sure you're on time for happy hour also Right.
So you're saying the same thing. It's just it's kind of a matter of what prepositions are coming after in time or on time make sure you're in time to catch in time to do X or on time and For X. Yeah, that's a very good point, Lindsay.
Guys, recently we just did an episode on good points.
So that is a good point. Thank you. So there is definitely a grammatical piece to this as well.
But here we're really starting with that meaning, the idea of in time for something else.
So, for example, make sure you finish your work in time to have Sarah check it before the deadline.
Right. So you want to be on time. for this deadline.
So you want to have Sarah check it. So you want to finish it in time.
So she can check it before you give it in.
Yeah. So it's really about the prepositions that we're adding here.
That's what we pay attention to. Tricky, but good to cover today.
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Exclusions apply, see details online. Okay, another thing that we can add is just.
Now, this is kind of more of a saying, an expression, a chunk, right?
Yes. Yes. I got there just in time. So have you ever heard there's a famous saying, something like, if you're early, you're on time.
If you're on time, you're late. Yes, that's right.
And I think that's probably kind of true in American culture.
I mean, we just said at All Ears English for our meetings being on time is basically between like 8am and 8.02, whatever, two after the hour.
But I would say in the corporate world, you probably want to be five minutes early for a meeting. you know?
Don't you think so? Or a job interview, job interview.
Oh, for sure. 15 minutes early for a job interview.
But yeah, I think being on time might be considered late.
But then there are other cultures where it's exactly the opposite of that, you know?
Right. Right. It's very culture dependent.
Yeah. Very culture dependent, I think. Yeah.
And in business, it might be different than your personal life.
Or you also have to think about who you're... So my dad... gets very stressed about being punctual.
He's famous for it. And sometimes I'll tease him because we'll be going over to my brother's house, who my brother is notorious for being late, just for everything.
And my dad is the exact opposite. And he's going...
He's rushing, rushing everyone to get to my brother's house.
And I said, do you really think we have to worry about rushing to get to him?
That's so funny. Like, why are we like, really?
Like, so you have to think about your audience.
Is this someone who really values punctuality?
Or can you lay back a little bit? It's a good point, actually.
I think it's good to default and assume people value it, but if it's a family member, you know that they wouldn't rush in the same way and stress themselves out.
Maybe it's okay to sit back and say, hey, for this person, 50 minutes late is actually on time.
It's so true, though. It really depends on the context, on the person. so um yeah um you know we could also do a follow-up on how to say you're running a little late so we've done stuff on deadlines but also just about arriving somewhere late Yeah, I love that expression.
I'm running late. We envision the person running, right?
There's a whole thing about you're doing something else while you're saying that, right?
That's the assumption. There's also this concept in business that I feel like I heard about more in the past, but just in time learning, just in time learning where I think a philosophy is many startups or smaller companies that want to be more nimble will not learn everything just to learn it, but they only learn it when they need it.
So let's say we want to go into AI marketing.
We want to install an AI chatbot or something on our website.
I would then go buy a course in that moment, learn about it.
Not before. Only when I know I want to do something, I would go and learn.
So it's just a term in business. Just-in-time learning.
Just-in-time learning. Interesting. I had never heard of that.
So Um, so let's put it together in a role play and we'll go through again, guys, we know this may have felt a little intimidating, a little overwhelming, but one of the key things that we want you to walk away from this with is this idea of in time being maybe about an extra event and in time for something else.
Whereas on time is more definitive. Yes.
100% on time is maybe not as, connected to another action you want to do.
Right. So, okay. Right. Example. So here we're getting ready to run a meeting together at work.
All right, here we go. Okay. So I just spoke to the it guy.
He said, if we want to start on time, he should be there at 30 minutes early.
That sounds good. I really think we need to finish in time for the team to get lunch.
Absolutely. Ring, ring, ring. Oh, that must be the Starbucks order.
Ah, just in time. I need my coffee. Nice, nice.
Okay, love it. Here you said, Okay, so I spoke to the IT guy.
And he said, if we want to start on time, he should be there 30 minutes early.
So we're not saying in time for him to start.
We're saying if we want to start on time, new idea, he should be there 30 minutes early, tricky.
And then you said, I really think we need to finish in time for the team to get lunch.
So you're saying we need to actually finish this meeting so that the team has time to get lunch before their next activity.
Exactly. More directly connected within the phrase.
There's no comma. There's no period. We're not stopping the idea.
Something has to happen first for something else to happen.
Yeah. Right. Yep. Absolutely. And then my Starbucks order comes through and you say, ah, just in time, I need my coffee.
So Lindsay, would you say just on time? No, because this is a chunk, right?
This is a chunk that's taken in isolation.
And we just say that, oh, just on time. Just sorry.
Oh, just in time. Just in time. It's when something happened at the exact correct moment for you.
Right. Right. It's just in time for me to really want the coffee.
Just in time for me to drink it before the meeting, whatever it is.
Love that. Love that. What's the takeaway for today?
This is all about, I mean, schedules matter, especially in American business culture, right?
Western. Yeah. It's really important to be on time, to be punctual.
A lot of, there's a lot of talk about time.
Time is kind of something that people possess.
They take back, they give you, there's so much in our culture, Michelle, about time.
Yeah. Yeah. So this is useful for making schedules.
I mean, this is just a small grammar change that can have a big difference.
Sometimes It may not matter that much. And sometimes one thing might sound better than the other.
We gave you some basics today, but the key thing is to really go out there and listen.
If you are in the workplace, you are going to hear these two things on time and in time.
You're going to hear them all the time. So pay attention.
Now that we gave you a bit of a guideline that we could even follow up on because there's a lot to this, a lot of nuance here.
See what you observe when you hear it out there.
Are you hearing in time combined with something else?
More than one event in time for something.
And then just in time is just a great one to throw in there.
Yeah, and I think broadly speaking, we all have a clock on the wall, right?
But we look at time differently depending on where we come from.
There are some cultures that see time as a lot more flexible, a lot more stretchable, right? things can overlap, things can be extended because it's, from what I understand and what we studied a little bit in my graduate program, in that kind of culture, it's the relationship that matters more actually.
Whereas there are cultures where I would actually say probably the US and other cultures are more so this way where it's more static, it's not flexible.
What matters is the schedule. And so a meeting starts and ends, the next one starts and ends, right?
Things don't carry over in the same way.
So just kind of be aware that everyone has a different idea of time and how it should be handled.
That's really the interesting piece, I think, Michelle.
Absolutely. So different. So, okay. Well, thank you to Jessica for this question and we hope you guys have an amazing day.
All right. Take care. Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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