ask someone to calm down in English
Harry
ways to say calm down in English
Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to my English lessons where I try to help you with a better understanding of the English language. Improve your conversational English. Improve your business English writing, talking, whatever you’re trying to do to improve your level of English. So we look at expressions phrasal verbs, grammar, and, of course, pronunciation.
For today, we’re going to look at ways to say ‘calm down’ in English or to ask someone how to calm down in English.
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So I’m going to give you a list of these different expressions to tell someone to calm down in English. I’ll give you an example as to when you can use them. Then, hopefully, you can practise those. Let’s go through them one by one.
The first one I have on the list is
relax
We say it in a common way to take the steam out of the situation.
Look, just relax. It’ll be okay. Everything will be okay, just relax. Take it easy.
And hopefully, the person will then calm down a little bit.
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The next expression
chill out
Some people say chillax. So they take relax and chill out and they mash them together and you get chillax. This is a real modern way to say it.
Again, another way to ask somebody to calm down.
They get a little bit excited over politics or talking about their boss, the problems at work, whatever it might be.
Chillax. Just chillax. It’s the weekend, you can worry about that on Monday.
Chillax, the sun is coming out, we’ll have a beer in the garden, we’ll get the barbecue on, and everybody will enjoy themselves.
You can also use chill out when you want somebody to actually relax.
👩What are we going to do for the weekend?
👱We’re just going to chill out in the back garden, there’s nothing else to do, and there’s nowhere else we can go.
So in that case, you’re just talking about an activity under relaxation.
When we want to get somebody to calm down, then we just put a little bit of extra stress on it:
Just chill out and just breathe in deeply. Chill out, everything will be okay.
ways to say calm down in English
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Okay, so the next on my list is
control yourself
Now, this might be a way of talking to the kids.
When we say control yourself, it’s usually suggesting that somebody is completely out of control or they’re screaming or ranting or having a tantrum.
Look, just control yourself. Stop doing what you’re doing. Stop the screaming and when you stop the screaming, then I can listen to you. Okay, so control yourself.
Or it might be in another adult conversation when you’re giving somebody a bit of advice.
Don’t just walk into the boss and tell them you’re leaving. Calm down, control yourself. And when you control yourself, you’ll be able to get your point across.
Next on the list is
take a deep breath
Well, this is a very old way of telling somebody to calm down.
Look, relax, take a deep breath.
It actually works. Try to take a deep breath when you’re excited or annoyed. You relax a little bit more with these breathing exercises.
Just be careful when we use the words breath and breathe.
So take a deep breath. That’s the noun.
Breathe in, breathe out. It’s the verb.
ways to say calm down in English
Another way of getting you to calm down is to get you to
count to ten
It actually does work. By the time we get to eight, you’ve forgotten what the problem is.
Take a deep breath, count to ten and tell me exactly what happened at school.
The next on my list is the expression
just let it go
So when you’re trying to get somebody to calm down, they’re really holding on to something that’s annoying them.
Just let it go, it’ll pass. Forget about it, just let it go.
Follow the words from Frozen and just let it go.
The next expression, I’ve used it already a couple of times because it comes naturally,
take it easy
It’s a good way of getting somebody to calm down.
Why don’t you take it easy? It’ll be okay. You know, you’ve had all week to worry about it, just take it easy.
Just take it easy. Don’t let that ruin the night. Don’t let it ruin your weekend.
So it’s a good way just to forget about something.
Okay, so most of the expressions that I’ve just given you are quite informal, and you can use them in any situation. The next one is quite formal, and it’s quite long. So there are certain situations when you might want to use it.
I see that you’re upset, let me help you
That sounds very, very formal. It might be a situation where somebody in the office is really busy. They’ve had a problem or an argument, and you go over to them and say,
Look, I can see that you’re upset. Can I help you in any way?
So it’s extending the hand of friendship, trying to see if there is something that you can do for the person.
Indeed, you may even be walking along the street and there’s somebody sitting on a step and they’re in tears and obviously upset so you go over to them say,
I see that you’re upset, let me help you.
Okay, so a lot more formal.
ways to say calm down in English
And the very last one here is
take a chill pill
This is the one that the kids all like to use when mum or dad or somebody is getting a little bit excited, a little bit anxious,
Take a chill pill. Everything will be okay.
So if you’re really getting upset or you’re really stressed, do what the kids tell you just take the chill pill.
So these are just different ways to say calm down in English.
Let me just go through them one last time:
- relax
- chill out/chillax
- control yourself
- take a deep breath
- count to ten
- just let it go
- take it easy
- I see that you’re upset, can I help you
- take a chill pill
So different ways of asking people to calm down in English.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching. Remember to subscribe to my channel and as always, join me again soon.
More information
For more information on English grammar rules, English collocations and English idioms, check out the links below:
How to express REGRETS in English
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You can always study English advanced level at Learning English with the BBC.
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