Hello, this is Zasa from China and you are listening to Everybody ESL.
Welcome to Episode 394 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.
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Okay, let's get on with this mini episode.
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting and useful phrase.
And the phrase is, by all means, by all means, and that is spelled by b -y all a -l -l means m -e -a -n -s by all means.
What does by all means mean and when do we use it?
We use by all means when we want to say something like, yes, of course, definitely, absolutely, or certainly.
And we use it as an answer when somebody is looking for permission or approval.
If somebody is asking if something is okay, or if somebody is asking if they can do something, and the answer is, yes, of course, of course you can, or yes, of course that is okay, you can say, by all means.
We use by all means when we want to say, yes, of course, in that kind of situation, when somebody is asking for permission or for our approval.
Let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might use the expression by all means.
Let's say that you are in a coffee shop with two of your friends.
You find a table where you can sit, but there are only two chairs at this table.
You need another chair for your group.
You notice that the table next to you seems to have an extra chair.
There is nobody sitting in a chair at the next table, and so you ask somebody who is sitting at that next table, is it all right if I take this chair, or can I take this chair?
And the other person answers by all means.
When they say, by all means, they are saying, yes, of course, it is definitely okay.
It is absolutely fine if you take this chair.
And so you can see that, by all means, is used to say, definitely, or yes, or that is, of course, okay, when somebody is asking for permission or approval.
I don't think we usually use, by all means, when we are talking with children or with our close friends.
It sounds a little bit more appropriate when we are talking with strangers or talking with people who might be older than us or talking in some kind of a formal situation.
I think it's okay to use it, but it might sound a little bit more natural when we use it with strangers or in more formal situations.
That is, by all means, an interesting and useful phrase that I think you should know.
This is the end of Episode 394 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 Sasa recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode, send an email to everybodyesl at 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 next time.
