2014.02.14
Point 26 “I was just about to…” 初級ビジネス英会話
初級者向けビジネス英会話 Bizmates for beginners 第26弾は、”I was just about to…” です。
やり忘れていたタスクを上司に進捗確認された際に「いまからやろうとしていたところです」
と伝えたいシチュエーションとかってありませんか？
例えばあなたの上司から、
“Did you call Mr. Sato?” 「佐藤さんに電話した？」
と確認され、「はい、ちょうど今（電話を）しようとしていたところです。」と答えたい場合を
想像してみてください。
“I am doing now.”
これだと「今、電話中です」と言っているように伝わってしまい、相応しい言い方ではありません。
こんなときは、ぜひ “be about to do” 「～をするところ」の表現を使って、
“I was just about to…” （doを省略するのが一般的）
と言うととてもナチュラルに伝わります。
ぜひ覚えておいてください！
Hello and welcome to this Bizmates for beginners
video series for Japanese businesspeople.
And today's expression is I was just about to.
I was just about to.
What does this mean? We will learn this.
OK but first, let's do our test OK.
So you and I, we are colleagues.
We are having a company party.
And I say, hey are you coming?
Are you coming?
You say, yes I'm looking forward to it.
Very natural. OK did you get that?
I hope so.
OK so today's phrase or expression, I was just about to.
How do we use this? Hmmm...
OK let me show you an example.
Let's imagine that I am Taro's boss OK.
And I come up to Taro and say, hey Taro, did you call Mr. Sato?
Mr. Sato is waiting. Did you call him?
And Taro says, ah yeah I am doing now.
And I say, no you're not. You're not calling now.
You are talking to me now.
Yeah. So I'm doing now is strange.
Or I'm calling him now is a little strange.
Because he's not. He's talking to me now, yeah.
So in this case, we can say this.
So if I say, hey Taro, did you call Mr. Sato?
He's waiting.
And Taro says, ah yeah, I was just about to...
Oh OK OK, you were just about to, yeah.
So he was just about to dial or call, yeah.
It's a very, it's a useful expression.
So if you forget to do something
and someone asks you, did you do this?
You could say, oh yeah, I was just about to, yeah.
OK so you can try using this in your office.
OK so pronunciation.
We say, I was justabout, justabouto...
So it's not about to, but it's I was justabouto.
I was justabouto. You try.
OK let's try it with my question.
Did you call Mr. Sato?
Good. Did you get that?
OK for homework, I will ask you.
Did you call Mr. Sato?
And you say, I was just about to...
OK so we'll see you in the next lesson.
Thank you.
video series for Japanese businesspeople.
And today's expression is I was just about to.
I was just about to.
What does this mean? We will learn this.
OK but first, let's do our test OK.
So you and I, we are colleagues.
We are having a company party.
And I say, hey are you coming?
Are you coming?
You say, yes I'm looking forward to it.
Very natural. OK did you get that?
I hope so.
OK so today's phrase or expression, I was just about to.
How do we use this? Hmmm...
OK let me show you an example.
Let's imagine that I am Taro's boss OK.
And I come up to Taro and say, hey Taro, did you call Mr. Sato?
Mr. Sato is waiting. Did you call him?
And Taro says, ah yeah I am doing now.
And I say, no you're not. You're not calling now.
You are talking to me now.
Yeah. So I'm doing now is strange.
Or I'm calling him now is a little strange.
Because he's not. He's talking to me now, yeah.
So in this case, we can say this.
So if I say, hey Taro, did you call Mr. Sato?
He's waiting.
And Taro says, ah yeah, I was just about to...
Oh OK OK, you were just about to, yeah.
So he was just about to dial or call, yeah.
It's a very, it's a useful expression.
So if you forget to do something
and someone asks you, did you do this?
You could say, oh yeah, I was just about to, yeah.
OK so you can try using this in your office.
OK so pronunciation.
We say, I was justabout, justabouto...
So it's not about to, but it's I was justabouto.
I was justabouto. You try.
OK let's try it with my question.
Did you call Mr. Sato?
Good. Did you get that?
OK for homework, I will ask you.
Did you call Mr. Sato?
And you say, I was just about to...
OK so we'll see you in the next lesson.
Thank you.
