Phrases for Routine

So we know what a routine is now.

We need to know how to introduce it.

OK so let’s talk about how we can do that to start we need to say when things happen.

So very simple here we can just say and we often use the present tense by the way because these are things that didn’t only happen before because it’s part of your routine.

It’s stuff that you do often.

Right.

So we can use the present tense which makes it a lot easier to describe your routine because when you’re doing it in the past it can be difficult to remember the past tense.

Right.

So we can just use the present tense.

You don’t need to use will either.

Just use the present tense.

What we often use words of frequency words a frequency like usually sometimes often regularly.

I think you probably know most of these words.

So let’s let’s start with time OK.

At 10:00 at 10:00 at 10:00 that’s probably going to be 10:00 a.m. If you don’t say p.m. or am and the situation makes it pretty clear that you’re talking about either morning or evening.

It’s OK to leave that out.

I could say I usually go to bed around 10:00 so that’s going to be P.M. I usually get up around 10:00 or go to work around 10:00 probably that’s going to be a.m. And if it’s not then you will say I have a very weird job where I go to work at 10:00 p.m. at night.

Right.

You’ll say that you’ll say p.m. if it’s different.

But otherwise we can often leave that out.

OK.

So at 10:00 I usually I usually have a snack and then within that usually maybe there’s a sometimes you could say sometimes I have sometimes sometimes I have cookie as a treat.

You could say but more often more often I have some fruit but a cup of fruit if you have a very good diet.

Good eating habits.

All right.

We can use sometimes even though it’s inside usually.

Usually you have the snack but when you have this snack sometimes it’s a cookie.

More often it’s fruit.

If you’re a healthy healthy person don’t eat too many cookies you’ll get fat.

They’ll want to do that.

That is no good.

OK.

We could also say when we do things in order to help keep things in order.

Right.

A routine is usually this followed by this followed by this this this this this this this this we don’t always want to use the time because that can start to feel repetitive can start to feel like it’s repeating too much.

We can instead use after that after that after that.

So you could say for example after that I often I often check you check my email or I often respond to some emails that would be a pretty typical thing to do after a snack.

You don’t need to say after my snack because we just said that we had a snack.

I have a snack.

Usually at 10 after that after the snack is over I usually check my emails.

And then you can say maybe where you check them if you want to mention where it happens you could say at that my my desk.

But you don’t have to say at my desk because that might be maybe obvious.

Maybe it’s kind of obvious that you check e-mails at your desk so you can add details or not.

Sometimes in the routine there’s something that happens if this happens but maybe this doesn’t happen.

So then we can introduce it like this if if I don’t take the bus if I don’t take the bus I usually remember the pronunciation of usually is you use.

Usually I usually walk.

So instead of driving.

Right.

This kind of suggests that you do usually take the bus but there are times when you don’t and when you don’t you usually walk don’t let that confuse you.

Just because I say I usually walk.

That doesn’t mean I usually walk.

I usually walk when I don’t take the bus so maybe I take the bus this often like 90 percent of the time.

This is the bus.

But maybe maybe these are the times when I missed the bus.

Right.

The bus left.

I missed it.

And so what do I do in these times.

Now forget about the first usually forget about how often that happens.

Now we’re only talking about this period of time.

I usually walk or I usually drive my car or I usually take a taxi so that’s OK to do.

In fact that’s a very common thing to do.

But to be clear sometimes our actions depend on whether or not things happen that are completely out of our control if if it rains.

OK.

So what do you do when it rains.

If it rains I take a taxi and you can do this for everything.

When you’re describing what you’re doing usually or on a regular basis on a regular on a regular basis then you can use this basic structure.

If this I do this and it can be a choice that you make if I.

And then what happens after that.

Or it could be something out of your control something that just happens if it rains.

There are times when maybe if isn’t the best phrase to use because we want to focus on the fact that every single time this happens I do this or we do this.

So there we can use whenever whenever focus is on every time before we said if it rains right.

Maybe I do this maybe I do this whenever means every time whenever my boss is out of the office maybe he’s on a business trip right.

Whenever my boss is out of the office everyone in my department wants something silly brings beer to work brings beer brings beer whatever you want to say.

But the point is that it happens every time this happens.

That doesn’t mean your boss is always gone every time your boss is gone.

You bring beer to the office.

One of the things that’s part of a normal professional day.

If you’re a student then maybe you would just say lunch or sometimes your lunch period right.

Lunch is the time when you eat lunch right.

Or if you’re at an office worker or you have a job where you need to have or keep regular hours.

You might say my lunch break.

This is the special time during the day when you can stop working and take lunch or eat lunch.

It doesn’t mean that you actually eat something although probably you do.

The point is it’s this specific time set aside for you to do that.

So maybe you have a one hour lunch break or a 30 minute lunch break.

I’m on my lunch break.

People will say I’m on my lunch break.

Hey look can you could you please talk to this client.

We’re you know we really need.

We really need your help.

Oh I can’t.

I’m on my lunch break.

I would be a terrible office worker.

I would be an awful co-worker.

I think typically after my lunch break I have a few meetings.

Typically after my lunch break I have a few meetings.

OK.

That means it doesn’t happen every time but most of the time it does.

In fact you can say most of the time can say most of the time.

Some things are not really strict in time maybe your lunch break is always at twelve from twelve to one twelve to one but often when we get off of work or get out of school we can use around to say that it happens near that time.

So maybe you have to do some extra work after school every day and you don’t leave school until around four thirty pm so OK.

You can say that most of the time I get out of school around around four thirty.

And of course that for 30 means p.m. We don’t have to say p.m. because nobody gets out of school at 430 am.

That is crazy.

Get off work ok.

Get off work.

I could say by around by around 5:00 I’m usually ready to go home or by around 5:00 I’m usually done with my work or by around 5:00.

I usually leave the office by around 5:00.

I usually by around 5:00 I usually leave the office or again get off work Get off of work.

This is a way to say something happens near a time but it’s not fixed.

If something is very fixed well then you should just use at I have lunch at 12:00 or I have lunch from 12:00 to one or if you’re a student you could say I get out of school at three thirty.

That means it’s the same every single day and it happens exactly at three thirty.

Exactly then.

OK.

There’s no flexibility around is near about is near by around is also ok I usually get off around three thirty.

I usually leave by around three thirty.

That means before three thirty and up to three thirty or if it’s specific use at or if it happens between this time and this time we can say from two from twelve to one.