Everyday phrases for communication — Post 20

Daria Storozhilova
2 min readOct 30, 2022

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Read post 19 here

Today’s mini-dialogue:

— Make sure nobody leaves the building. Keep your eyes on the exit.
— Will do.

What you need to remember:

  1. The popular expression 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 (𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁) means ‘to do everything necessary for something to happen, to check something to be sure’. THAT can be skipped after it.

It can also be used with OF: I will make sure of that. (=I will check and be sure it will happen)

— Make sure you’re at the check-in by 5.30.

— We must make sure this doesn’t happen again.

— Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened.

— Go and make sure of the place and time.

— They made sure they weren’t late.

2. KEEP can be used in a range of set spoken expressions:

keep your eyes on something / somebody (= to look all the time…)

keep your eyes off (of) something / somebody (=to stop looking at smth/smb) — Remember this popular song?

keep your eyes open (=to watch closely, to be on the alert)

keep an eye on something / somebody (=to look after, to watch closely)

— Will you keep an eye on my daughter for a while?

— Could you keep an eye on my bag while I go to the toilet?

3. When you agree to do something, you can say 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 or use a set expression 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼.

— Will you check that for me? — Will do.

Today we have learnt how to use make sure and Will do in speaking, and also got to know some set expressions with KEEP.

If you speak Russian, you can read these lessons in Russian (and practise) in my Telegram channel. Join us!

My name is Daria Storozhilova and this is a series of mini-lessons teaching you how to communicate in English with helpful phrases and spoken expressions.

Read our Smart English Blog (grammar and vocabulary lessons, free quizzes for practice, and podcast for English learners).

Download the free guide ’55 common phrasal verbs for everyday conversations’.

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Daria Storozhilova

I create online English courses to help you understand spoken English and express yourself with ease. Main focus: listening and vocabulary.