The English Breakfast ☕
Hi there,
Welcome back to The English Breakfast — the newsletter for Italian professionals who want to feel more confident in English at work.
Today we’re looking at how to follow up a request at work without being rude.
Fantastic phrasal verbs
We’ve all been there.
You send someone an email at work asking for something and…
Here are 6 phrasal verbs to help you follow up on a request (without being rude). Can you get 6/6?
📩 English in Action: The Ultimate Follow-Up (Gone Wrong)
How do you chase an update from HR without sounding rude? You use polite, professional English.
Below is an email from Sarah, an employee who is very politely following up on some... ambitious career requests she made last week. Pay attention to how she uses professional phrases to ask for ridiculous things.
Subject: Just checking in / Follow-up on our meeting ☕
Hi Roberta,
I hope you're having a great week.
Just a quick reminder about the HR proposals we discussed last Tuesday. I know you are incredibly busy, but I wanted to make sure my request for a mandatory 4-day work week (with 5 days of pay, of course) is still on your radar.
I was wondering if you had a chance to speak to the CEO about my summer plans? As mentioned, I would like 3 months of paid holiday so I can backpack across Asia to "find myself."
I have already sent over my proposed itinerary, so I suppose the ball is in your court regarding budget approval. Please let me know your thoughts at your earliest convenience so I can book my flights.
Don't worry about updating the whole team yet—just keep me in the loop for now!
Best regards,
Sarah
💡 Why this works
When we want to ask for something big, we use softening language. Look at how Sarah used these polite structures:
"Just a quick reminder..."
Why use it: It feels small and gentle. It stops the email from sounding like a strict demand.
"...on your radar."
Why use it: A nice corporate way to say "Please don't forget about this."
"I was wondering if..."
Why use it: Using the past continuous (I was wondering) is the ultimate British way to be polite. It sounds much less aggressive than "Did you speak to the CEO?"
"...the ball is in your court."
Why use it: It means: "It is your turn to make a decision."
"...at your earliest convenience."
Why use it: This is the professional, polite version of ASAP (As Soon As Possible). ASAP can sound like shouting; this sounds more professional.
"...keep me in the loop."
Why use it: It means "keep me informed" or "include me in the updates."
Your Turn: The "Ridiculous Request" Challenge
Now, it’s your turn to try.
Imagine you are Roberta from HR, and you just received Sarah’s email asking for a 4-day work week and 3 months of paid holiday to backpack across Asia. Obviously, the answer is no—but you are a professional, so you have to reject her politely using your new English skills.
The Challenge: Write a short reply to Sarah. You must refuse her requests, but you must use at least 3 of today’s (or even last week’s) phrases to keep it completely professional.
Here is a sentence starter to help you out:
“Hi Sarah, thanks for checking in. I wanted to follow up on your interesting proposals...”
📬 Hit "Reply" and show me your polite no!
Don't leave me hanging! 😆 Hit Reply to this email and send me your best, most diplomatic response to Sarah and I’ll reply with any corrections.
Quick Fix 🔧
In this week’s Quick Fix, we’re looking at a very common mistake with the word want.
All you need to avoid this mistake is a simple formula.
Watch this mini-lesson to fix the mistake in under 60 seconds:
All right, that’s it for this week’s edition.
Have a great week and I’ll see you next time.
All the best,
Dan
#englishlesson #learnenglish #learnenglishforfree #speakenglish #howtospeakenglishfluently #englishconversation #englishgrammar #fluentenglish #businessenglish #ingleseperitaliani #imparainglese #inglese #ingleseperlavoro #pronunciainglese #grammaticainglese #englishteacher #englishcoach #insegnatediinglese
All rights belong to the owners. No copyright infringement intended.
