BE 638: Is This Grammar Throwing You Off?

This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 638. Is this grammar throwing you off? Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.

For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Aubrey, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.

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Go to allearsenglish.com slash fluency score. That's allearsenglish.com slash f-l-u-e-n-c-y-s-c-o-r-e. Hello, Lindsay. How are you today? Good, Aubrey.

How's everything going with you? Excellent. Have you been busy lately? What do you think? I have been busy. What about you? Anything throwing a wrench into your schedule lately?

Well, it's more like things taking up a lot of time. We're thinking about where to host the podcast, where to if we want to move it somewhere. And that's taking a lot of time and negotiations and contracts and going back and forth. And we have a big show.

And so it really matters where we host our show. And so it's a big decision which can blow up a day. It can really throw a wrench in my day frequently. That could really throw you off if you have plans to get all of these things done and then something like that comes up.

Exactly. You have to adjust accordingly, right? Yes, exactly. Exactly. So today's episode, it comes from a question from YouTube. Guys, go over to YouTube.

This episode will not be on YouTube, but we do have All Ears English podcast over there on YouTube. So you definitely want to hit subscribe. This is from Jas BM, right?

I'll go ahead and read the question. They said, one question, can we use these phrases in present continuous? And this was on an All Ears English video about the phrases thrown off, derailed, put behind, throw a wrench into things, right? We were talking about all these ways to talk about a schedule being thrown off.

But we were using them all in the past tense, right? To talk about how something threw us off, how we got derailed. So this is such a great question. Can we use these in the present?

What about present continuous? And we get questions about this a lot. Like, how do I know when to use present continuous? But I love this focusing on these specific phrases, especially because that was on All There's English.

But we use these phrases a lot at work. Yes, I love it. I love it. So guys, stay until the end. We will share those details for that episode where we dove into these phrases a bit more, like Aubrey said.

But yeah, of course, we can use these in present continuous, can't we? Exactly. Yes. They are more common in the past tense because we're often talking about the past when we share that something went wrong or threw us off.

But we can definitely talk about getting thrown off in the moment, right? Yeah. or how things in general are going wrong. For sure. Yeah, for sure. So today we're going to talk about how to, we'll share with you how to use these both in the present continuous and in the present simple.

So you need to be ready to pivot to different tenses when it matters, right? So we don't have to compromise and we can use the vocabulary we want to use.

Exactly. Yes. Be sure to hit follow wherever you find your podcasts. We do dive into grammar here and vocabulary, but all with the goal of connecting at work, being successful so that you have the tools that you need to get that promotion, to be able to lead a meeting, right?

Whatever you need to do at work. Yep. Connection and relationships. That's what we're all about here on Business English. But first, Aubrey, let's break down the grammar.

I know not all our listeners love grammar, but we have to know it, right? To be able to build those connections. So what is present continuous? What is simple present?

Yeah. So simple present is what's generally true, right? For example, if you say, I work from home, this is in the simple present tense because we're talking about something that's true generally. But what about that same sentence in present continuous?

So that would look like this. I'm working from home this week. This is something that's happening now is maybe temporary and will probably stop happening next week. Okay.

Exactly. Right. So this is one of the most difficult things about English grammar is to know whether to use simple present or present continuous. We've talked about this on the podcast before.

Often it doesn't matter. So it's not something to stress about too much. But we do want to highlight that all of these phrases we use both in the present continuous and the present simple.

So we're going to give examples for both so that you can talk about schedule disruptions, both in the past from part one of this series and also in these present tenses. Yeah. Aubrey, do you consider yourself someone that rolls with the changes in a given day? If someone is throwing you off by changing meeting times, do you usually just kind of like it's annoying at first, but you're okay with it?

Or is it more like, oh, no, that really throws you off mentally? What would you say? That's a great question. I think I do roll with the punches pretty easily.

I don't get upset. I'm able to adjust. Yeah. I think anyone experiences that little bit of frustration of having sort of their to do list and what they're planning on getting done.

And you can't help but be, you know, when you have to move something to the next day, or remove it entirely, right? There is that little bit of a frustration of not being able to complete something you wanted to. But I think I handle it pretty well. I don't like get angry and take that out on people.

What about you? That's good. Yeah, I think I'm pretty flexible for the most part. Absolutely. So here's an example, right? Similar to what we just shared.

I'm getting thrown off by all these last minute changes to the schedule. This is someone who's a little more rigid, maybe. Yeah, because that's a good point, right? Last minute changes to the schedule.

Someone who's super laid back and rolls with the punches probably be like, that's fine. But if you get thrown off, it is probably more of an aspect of your personality that like, this is affecting me. This is throwing me off.

And in the present simple, I usually get thrown off by unexpected changes to my routine. Okay. Yes. Yeah. So this is interesting. We have, of course, the way to use these in the past, but also we sometimes want to talk about it in the moment.

Be like, this is throwing me off or I am getting thrown off. Right. Either way. Or this always throws me off, right? You might want to use present simple to talk about what's sort of generally true, just like you were just asking, Lindsay.

We often want to have these conversations where we're asking people about their personalities in general. Are you the type of the person that this type of thing throws you off? Right, for sure. And then derailed by, I love this phrase, what does this look like, Aubrey, in the present continuous?

So in present continuous, our project is being derailed by constant technical problems. And yeah, it's interesting to to look at how we construct this, right? We're not going to be saying this project is derailing everything, right?

Instead, we're using present continuous with that auxiliary verb. We say this is being derailed. Yes. Yes. Or in present simple, our projects often get derailed by poor communication.

So this is something that happens on a regular basis, happens over and over again. Exactly. Yes. And then we have this to get put behind, put me behind.

So in present continuous, these unexpected meetings are putting me behind on my work. Yeah. Or unexpected meetings often put me behind on my work. So again, something that happens frequently.

Okay. Exactly. And then what you asked at the top of the episode, Aubrey, throw a wrench into things. Yeah. This is such a fun phrase. This is idiomatic.

We use it a lot at work. And this is sort of bigger, right? If things are really being disrupted, then we might say that the wrench was thrown into things, right? So in Present Continuous, the new regulations are throwing a wrench into things for our business.

It means it's disrupting it. Or if you're hosting a live event or a conference for your company, maybe, I don't know, something like the catering contract fell through. That's going to throw a wrench into things in a major way, right? Or delays.

In present simple, I might say unexpected delays sometimes throw a wrench into things. So this is more talking about the general state, like that something in general could happen or a hypothetical. We'll use present simple as well, right? This could throw a wrench into things.

Yes, exactly. Have you ever listened to native speakers and thought, I understand the words, but I still feel slightly lost. That's because real English conversations include more than vocabulary. There's speed.

There's connected speech. There are cultural references and casual phrases. Your brain has to process all of this in real time. If conversations sometimes feel overwhelming, it may simply mean you're ready for the next level of training.

Find out your exact level with our quick, free fluency quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com slash fluency score. That's allearsenglish.com slash F-L-U-E-N-C-Y-S-C-O-R-E.

Okay, Aubrey, we're back. But before we dive into a role play, I do want to remind our listeners, guys, hit that follow button. If you haven't done it yet, you need to make sure you're following Business English. We publish three days a week over here and also follow All Ears English.

All right. Yes, absolutely. I love it. All right, let's do a role play. You and I are co-workers discussing a product launch in this role play. I'll start this out.

Hey, do you have a minute? I'm a little concerned about the launch. Sure. What's going on? The supplier just told us they can't deliver the materials until next week.

It's really throwing things off because I had everything scheduled for this week. Oh, you're right. This puts us behind schedule. Exactly. I'm worried it's derailing the whole launch.

It's definitely throwing a wrench into things. We've already announced the launch date to our customers. I'm going to call another supplier and see if they can help us out.

Okay. So this is a good example of a wrench being thrown into things. But the first phrase that I used, you used is it's really throwing things off because you can't deliver the materials until next week. Okay.

Exactly. Right. So we use that chunk. And this is interesting. If we were to have this conversation two weeks later and we're remembering and talking about it, then we would use all those in the past tense, right?

Oh, that really threw us off. That derailed everything. But sometimes this is the conversation. It's in the moment and you need these present tenses to talk about it.

Exactly. And then what did I say, Aubrey? And you said, you're right. This puts us behind schedule. So this is in the moment right now. We are behind schedule because something has affected things.

Right. And then you said, exactly. I'm worried it's derailing the whole launch. One of our key words for today, derailing. Yeah. And that's always a good one.

That's for big, right? You imagine a train being derailed where it comes off the tracks. This wouldn't be for very small problems that cause just small inconveniences. This is for something bigger.

For sure. And then I said, it's definitely throwing a wrench into things. We've already announced the launch date to our customers. Okay. Yeah. So that's, it's big.

That's a fun idiom. And as we've mentioned before, idioms are not too informal to use at work. We use them all the time, right? They keep things interesting, but something like this, it's pretty big.

Again, just like derailed or derailing. We wouldn't use this for just very minor inconveniences. This implies a big problem that's having a big effect. For sure.

And guys, go on and check out All Ears English, episode 2659. Don't be thrown off by this vocabulary. So the way to get that episode is to open your search bar right now. If you're listening in Apple Podcasts or Spotify, type in All Ears English and go ahead and hit follow when that show opens.

Okay? Yes, absolutely. There's so many episodes over there with vocabulary that you can use at work. So be sure you're following both shows. All right.

Any final takeaway, Aubrey, when it comes to connection, what do we need to know? Yes. This is so important. We often connect in English, especially in US business culture, when things are going wrong.

We want to talk about it. We want to express it, talk it out. So you need the language to be able to do that in the moment when it's happening. Yes. So you can communicate.

So your coworkers can understand what they can do to help. You can understand how dire it is and how to move forward and not compromise certain relationships. Right, Aubrey? Yes.

Very important. Exactly. Absolutely. All right. Good stuff. I'll see you very soon, Aubrey. Take care. Awesome. See you next time. Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.

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