One very effective little trick is to find new ways of saying things that you say regularly .

And language learners often have moments of uncertainty and will regularly say : I don't know.

So I'm going to give you 10 alternatives to the phrase I don't know. Let's go .

Number one. I'm not sure.

Now you can use this as part of a sentence.

I'm not sure where my father is.

I'm not sure where my purse is.

I'm not sure what I've done with my phone.

Or you could use it as a phrase all by itself. I'm not sure.

As an answer to a question.

-Where's your father? -I'm not sure

- When did you last see your phone? - I'm not sure

You could also use the phrase I'm unsure but this would usually make up a sentence so I'm sure about how to pronounce certain

words in English I'm unsure about my tenses or CC learning a new skill takes

time and practice something I know a lot about here's me after two and a half

years of practicing my gymnastic skills and learning a language is no different

so kudos for you for putting in the time to watching this video but is watching

YouTube videos enough to effectively learn a language? Good question

probably not which is why I'm happy to tell you about today's sponsors italki an

online language learning provider that makes learning language effective

convenient and affordable effective because you're learning with human

teachers that's right human teachers not animal teachers I mean have you ever

taken a language class from a cow not recommended convenient because the

lessons are online so you can take them wherever and whenever I took you have a

huge database of teachers so you will never have a problem shared you will in

a lesson and finally affordable something to suit every budget it's more

affordable than paying for an off line tutor a course or even buying software

and if you are new to italki then simply by clicking on the link in the

description box below and booking your first class then you will be rewarded

with ten dollars in credits into your I talk we account within 48 hours of that

purchase. So after this lesson why not check it out. similar to

number one number two is I'm not 100% sure to be honest it's quite a long

phrase and this can be broken down you could say I'm not 100% sure or I'm not

100% it means that you might know a little but you're not certain so if I

ask you as my classmate have I done this exercise correctly is that right it's a

I'm not a hundred percent to be honest I'm not sure to be honest you better ask

the teacher if you absolutely don't know then you could use phrase number three

I've got no idea or this could be shortened to no idea bear in mind that

the contraction always stands so you won't hear someone say I have got no

idea it seems a little unnatural we will always shorten it to I've got I've got

no idea whatsoever simulator I've got no idea you could use number four I haven't

got a clue I haven't got a clue this again can be shortened to not a clue not

a clue sometimes you'll hear someone saying not a Scoob

and this is cockney rhyming slang the character scooby-doo do rhymes with blue

and therefore if you haven't got a Scooby you haven't got a scooby-doo clue

you haven't got a clue I don't know it's very confusing just stick with haven't

got a clue number five I haven't got the faintest idea I haven't got the faintest

idea no little idea it's coming into my mind

whatsoever not even a faint idea I haven't got the faintest idea the next

phrase is a little bit odd but very common it is number six I haven't the

foggiest I haven't the foggiest I don't know where that phrase came from if you

know about it then please do put it down in the comment section below because I'd

love to know but it simply means I don't know so if you don't know and you're not

sure if anybody else knows then you might say who knows who knows by saying

who knows you're saying I don't have a clue and I don't know who else has a

clue either who knows ask somebody else because I have no idea I haven't the

foggiest number eight is a nice little saying it's beyond me it's beyond me

this means that the knowledge is not within your reach it's beyond you is

beyond me I can't find that knowledge I don't know it's beyond me number nine

you could simply say I'm not the best person to ask I'm not the best person to

ask go and ask somebody else and number ten and nice little phrase to wrap this

up with is your guess is as good as mine your guess is as good as mine if you

don't know I don't know your guess is as good as mine and an additional little

tip it is you could expand on I don't know with I don't know

the top of my head if you don't know something off the top of your head it

means without referencing from somewhere without getting reassurance from a book

from the internet from someone who definitely knows without that you can't

be certain so without double-checking you're not certain but it means that you

have an idea so as an English teacher I'm regularly asked questions that I

don't instantly know for certain the answer to so I often say in my life

lessons I don't know off the top of my head I'll have to double check so there

you go now you know more ways to say I don't know and that rhymes hit that

subscribe button for more English lessons and don't forget to turn on

notifications ding-dong but for now put the kettle on and let's have a brew oh

it's a bit cold now definitely need a fresh one