Table of Contents
Introduction
Mastering the art of making an appointment in English is crucial in various aspects of daily life, including professional settings, healthcare interactions, academic environments, and social engagements. The ability to make an appointment ensures smooth communication and efficient planning across these diverse scenarios.
Making an appointment
Being able to make and cancel an appointment is an important skill in English. You need to be able to:
- Make an appointment,
- Respond to an appointment and
- Cancel an appointment.
Here are some expressions you can use to do this concisely and clearly.
Asking to meet
If you intend to ask people to meet, you may use the following phrases:
| Are you | available on… / next…? free on… / next…? |
| Can we | meet on… / next …? |
| would | next … be ok? |
| What about | next …? |
| Is | next … ok? |
Here are some examples:
- “Are you available on the 17th?”
- “Can we meet on the 16th?”
- “How does the 3rd sound to you?”
- “Are you free next week?”
- “Would Friday suit you?”
- “Is next Tuesday convenient for you?”
- “What about sometime next week?”
Responding to an appointment:
When someone asks you for a meeting, you may respond using the following phrases:
| Yes, | … is fine …. would be fine. |
| …. | suits me would be perfect. |
| I’m afraid I’m sorry | I can’t on …. I won’t be able to… on … |
| I really don’t think I can | on … |
Here are some examples:
- “Yes, Monday is fine.”
- “Monday suits me.”
- “Thursday would be perfect.”
- “I’m afraid I can’t on the 3rd. What about the 6th?”
- “I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make it on Monday. Could we meet on Tuesday instead?”
- “Ah, Wednesday is going to be a little difficult. I’d much prefer Friday if that’s alright with you.”
- “I really don’t think I can on the 17th. Can we meet up on the 19th?
Cancelling an appointment
To cancel an appointment, use the following expressions:
- Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen business, I will be unable to keep our appointment for tomorrow afternoon.
- Would it be possible to arrange another time later in the week?
- I’m afraid that I have to cancel our meeting on Wednesday, as something unexpected has come up.
- You know we were going to meet next Friday? Well, I’m very sorry, but something urgent has come up.
- I’m afraid that I’m not going to be able to meet you after all. Can we fix it another time?
Conclusion
In summary, knowing how to make an appointment in English is really important. Whether you’re asking to meet, responding to an invitation, or canceling plans, using clear and simple phrases helps everything go smoothly. By learning and practicing these expressions, you can communicate effectively and manage your appointments better.
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