11 Easy Ways to Interrupt Someone Politely in English

I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you but I have to be at work for a meeting shortly and must *get going*. It was wonderful to see you. Have a ... 11EasyWaystoInterruptSomeonePolitelyinEnglishbyAnnemarie|Apr18,2018|22comments Recently,IreceivedaquestionabouthowtointerruptsomeonepolitelyinEnglish.Herewastheexactproblem: “Howtointerruptpolitely?BecauseIwasoncallwithAmericansyesterday.IwantedtosaythatIwasonlyabletostayfor40minutesonthiscall.Ididn’tknowhowtointerruptinapoliteway.Anyideas?” Yes!IdefinitelyhavesomeideasandI’msogladIreceivedthisquestionbecauseinterruptingsomeoneiscertainlyadelicatematter. Generallyspeaking,it’srudetointerruptsomeone,right? Butthisquestionisaperfectexampleofwhenit’snecessarytointerrupt:you’reonaphonecallorinameetingandyouneedtoshareanimportantmessage,liketheneedtoleaveearly. Therearethreecommonreasonswhyitmaybenecessarytointerruptsomeone.Youneedorwantto: Shareanimportantmessage Askaquestionorclarifysomething Joinaconversationorexpressyouropiniononthetopic Thekeyisknowinghowtointerruptsomeonepolitely.Tohelpyoudothat,IwanttoshareessentialtipsandcommonphrasesweuseinEnglish. Essentialtipsandcommonsentencesforinterrupting. LessonbyAnnemarie 11WaystoInterruptSomeonePolitelyinEnglish Whenyouneedtodeliveramessage: IhatetointerruptbutIwantedtoletyouknowIhavetoleavethemeetingearly. I’msosorrytointerruptbut… Idon’tmeantoberudebutmayIinterruptquickly?   Whenyouneedtoendaconversation I’mterriblysorrytointerruptyoubutIhavetobeatworkforameetingshortlyandmust*getgoing*.Itwaswonderfultoseeyou.Haveaniceday.(Note:Inthiscontext,togetgoingmeanstodepartorleave.) Oh!SorrytointerruptbutIjustnoticedthetimeandIneedtogettowork.I’mverysorry.Butitwasgreatchattingwithyou. Whenyouneedtoaskaquestionorwouldliketoclarifysomething: SorrytointerruptbutmayIaskaquickquestion? I’msosorryforinterruptingbutI’dliketomakesureIunderstoodyoucorrectly. Idon’tmeantoberudebutI’dliketoaskaquestion.   Whenyouwanttojoinaconversationorexpressyouropinion: Sosorrytointerruptbutbeforewe*moveon*,I’dliketoaddmythoughtsonthistopic.(Note:tomoveonmeanstostartdoingordiscussingsomethingnew.) ExcusemebutmayIjumpinhere? MayIaddsomethingquickly? Todaymychallengequestionforyouisabitdifferentthannormal.Infact,it’sreallymoreofaquiz. Thislessonisfocusedonwhattosaywhenyouneedtointerruptaconversation.Butwhatshouldyousayifsomeoneinterruptsyou?Howdoyoucontinuetheconversationaftertheinterruption? Herearetwospecificquestions: Whatcanyousaytosomeonetoindicatethatitisokayforthemtointerrupt? Whatcanyousayaftertheinterruptiontocontinueyourcomments? Shareyourideasandexamplesinthecommentssectionbelow.I’llbesuretoaddsomefeedbackandexamplesofmyown. Haveagreatweek! ~Annemarie GettheConfidencetoSayWhatYouWantinEnglishDownloadmyfreetrainingonhowtobuildthecourageandconfidenceyouneedtosaywhatyouwantinEnglish. Success! Name Email GetItNow You'llalsogetmyConfidentEnglishlessonsdeliveredbyemaileveryWednesdayandoccasionalinformationaboutavailablecourses.Youcanunsubscribeanytime. SimilarLessons HowtoApologizeinEnglish(WhenYouMakeaMistake)#218:ThinkOutLoudinEnglish—StrategiesforIntrovertsIt'sBlustery!HowtoTalkaboutWinterWeatherinEnglish Learnwithme FluencySchoolJobInterviews MostRecentLessons #227:HowtoStayMotivatedtoReachYourGoals|BuildMomentum StrategiestoreclaimmomentumandstaymotivatedtoreachyourEnglishconfidenceandfluencygoals.PlusaFREEdownloadtogetyoustarted. Top5ConfidentEnglishLessonsof2021 DescribeyourfeelingsinEnglish,howtousethefutureforms,successfulsmalltalkatwork,leadingonlinemeetings,andmore…checkouttheTop5Lessonsfrom2021. #226:6Must-HavePhrasestoExpressGratitudeinEnglish Agratitudepracticeleadstofeelingmorepositive&animprovedsenseofwell-being.Usethese6must-havephrasestoexpressgratitudeinEnglish. Subscribe Notifyof newfollow-upcomments Label {} [+] Name* Email* Website Label {} [+] Name* Email* Website 22Comments Newest Oldest MostVoted InlineFeedbacks Viewallcomments DianeWong 8monthsago Thankyousomuchforsharing.Itreallyhelpful 0 Reply Khalid 9monthsago HiIjoinyourgrouptodayreallyit’sveryhelpful 0 Reply Andy 1yearago HiAnnmarie,thankyouforthispost.Itisveryhelpful.Iwantedtoask–Howdoyoupolitelyinterruptyourcustomersonacoldcalls?Whatcanyousaybeforeyoubeginthesalesconversation? Lastedited1yearagobyAndy 0 Reply Alena 1yearago 1.Feelfree…goahead 2.let’sgobacktothetopic….CanImoveon?Ifyoudon’tmindI’dliketocontinue 0 Reply Ulugbek 1yearago IfIwanttointerruptmypartnerwiththeviewtodevotemyselftoanotherjob,Iwouldsayfollowing: Ihighlyappreciateyourstoryit’sremarkablyfascinatingformebutaslamentablyasthisis,giganticproblemoccuredoutoftheblue,andIurgentlymusttackleit.Wewillhaveunforgettableandunimaginableconversationnexttime. 0 Reply Zizi 2yearsago Hey… Howcanwedealwiths.owhointerruptsandwestillneedtimetoaskfewmorequestions? 0 Reply Zizi 2yearsago Replyto  Zizi emm…noanswer? 0 Reply Author Annemarie(@annemarie) 1yearago Replyto  Zizi HiZizi, Greatquestion.Iactuallyhaveanewlessoncomingonthistopicverysoon.Thefocusiswhattosaywhensomeoneinterruptsyoubutyou’renotfinishedspeaking.Ihopeitwillbehelpfultoyou. 0 Reply Lalatka 3yearsago Ofcourseeverythingdependsoncircumstances,butmostlikelyIwouldsaysomethinglike“Feelfree,goahead…” 1 Reply Jenny 3yearsago HiAnnemarie.Thanksforsharingthishelpfullessonasalways. Ifsomebodyinterruptsme,I’dsay,pleasegoahead,youropinion(question)isverywelcome.Andtogobacktotheconversation,I’dsay,that’sinterestingandwecantalkaboutthatlateron. 0 Reply Author Annemarie(@annemarie) 3yearsago Replyto  Jenny Greatadditionalexamples,Jenny!!Thanksforaddingthose.🙂 0 Reply Miriam 3yearsago That’sveryimportantlesson.Thankyouforsharingyourideas. Myvocabularyisprettyshort,sowhensomeoneinterruptmeorIfigurethatsomeonewantstosaysomething,Ijustsay“goahead“ Probablythat’snotenough. 0 Reply Monika 3yearsago Thisisveryhelpfullesson. Herearemyanswers: 1.Pleasefeelfreetointerruptme,ifyouhaveanyquestionsorideastoshare. 2.It’sveryinterestingwhatyoujustsaid,wecandiscussthislater,nowlet’sgetbacktothemaintopic. Sorryformylateanswer. Monika 0 Reply Salma 3yearsago Thanksalotforsharingtheusefulideas, Ifsomeoneinterruptsmee.g.inameetingordoingapresentationI’llsay:Forsure,I’llbehappierifyousharingyouridea. AndIlovedyourideathat”Idon’tmeantoberudebutmayIinterruptquickly”tointerruptacallormeeting. 0 Reply Fatima 3yearsago HiAnnemarie Manythanksforshairingawonderfulideas, Ifsomeoneinterruptsme,lwouldlistentoher/himmaybeImiss,makeorsaysomethingwrongwantsinterruptmeforthat. Idon’tknowthisismyanswer. Fatima 0 Reply Author Annemarie(@annemarie) 3yearsago Replyto  Fatima Thatiscertainlyagoodstrategy,Fatima.It’salwaysappropriatetolistentoseeifthereissomethingthatcanbeclarifiedorwhetheratopicneedsfurtherdiscussion. 0 Reply PrasannaArumugam 3yearsago HiAnnemarie, Thisiswhatiwouldliketoreplywhensomeoneinterruptsme. 1.Thanksforsharingyouropinion/point/whatever. 2.I’llcertainlytalkaboutthepointsthatsomeonehasjustsaidandcontinuemydiscussionlater. I’mmoreexcitedtoseeyourinput. 0 Reply Author Annemarie(@annemarie) 3yearsago Replyto  PrasannaArumugam Greatexamplesandstrategiesfordealingwithinterruptions,Prasanna.Thanksforsharing!🙂 0 Reply Erin 3yearsago HiAnnemarie, Thanksalotforsharingaveryusefullesson!Harearemysimpleanswers. 1.Whatcanyousaytosomeonetoindicatethatitisokayforthemtointerrupt? –>“That’sokay.Pleaseshareyourthoughts.” 2.Whatcanyousayaftertheinterruptiontocontinueyourcomments? –>“Let’sgobackandcontinuethediscussiononXXX” Actually,Iamnotsureaboutmyanswers.Iwouldliketolistentoyourbetterideas. Haveawonderfulweek! Erin 0 Reply Author Annemarie(@annemarie) 3yearsago Replyto  Erin Greatanswers,Erin!“Let’sgobackandcontinuethediscussion…”isaperfectwaytoreturntothemaintopicafteraninterruption.Thanksforsharingthisexample.🙂 0 Reply Dulat 3yearsago 1.IfsomeoneinterruptsmeinaprofessionalandpolitewayIwouldbehappylistentoandrespondaquestion/feedback/commentthepersonmayhave. Iwouldratherprefertomakeitveryclearatthebeginningofmyspeechorwhateveritmightbesayingthatquestions/comments/feedbackarewelcomedatanypoint. 2.Iwouldfirstclarifyorresponduncertaintyorqueryrespectivelyandwillthencarryonmydiscussion. 0 Reply Author Annemarie(@annemarie) 3yearsago Replyto  Dulat Wonderfulwaystodealwithaninterruption,Dulat!Thankyouforsharing.🙂 0 Reply wpDiscuz220I'dloveyourthoughtsandquestions!Pleaseshareyourcomment.x()x|ReplyInsert PinItonPinterest 23 ShareThis Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn Like 23 Gmail