Jiaying Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Jiaying…
Neil …and I’m Neil.
Jiaying Are you ready for tonight’s virtual birthday party?
Neil Yes! I think I’ve bought Rob the best present ever! You know he likes biscuits, right?
Jiaying Likes them? He loves them!
Neil Exactly – well I’ve bought him a biscuit jar that has his face on it! I think he’s going to love it!
Jiaying It’s very usual, but I’ll give you that – he’ll love it!
Neil You’ll give me what? I don’t want it – it’s a present for Rob! Why would you give it to me?
Jiaying No, Neil – I said ‘I’ll give you that’ which means I accept something you said and agree with it!
Neil Ahhh that makes sense – well, you know what I think would be a good idea. Some examples.
Jiaying Yes – it’s a great idea – I’ll give you that! Let’s listen to them!
Examples He’s really funny, I’ll give you that, but sometimes he says things that are mean.
It’s really raining now! You were right to bring an umbrella – I’ll give you that!
I’m not a fan of her music, but she’s a great singer – I’ll give you that!
Jiaying You’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about the expression ‘I’ll give you that’. We use this expression to agree with one point or all of what someone has said. It’s a great expression, isn’t it, Neil?
Neil It most certainly is! I’ll give you that. It’s an interesting expression, because we quite often use it to agree with part of something rather than completely agree.
Jiaying Yes – for example if I say that learning the violin was fun and easy.
Neil I might say ‘it’s fun – I’ll give you that, but it’s not easy.’
Jiaying Right – I suppose I’d better get ready for the birthday party. I need to try to find something for Rob that’s even better than your present!
Neil
You’re competitive – I’ll give you that, but I doubt you’ll find something better!
Jiaying True! Bye Neil!
Neil Bye!