# 1094 – How to Use “Thing” Naturally

An episode of [Happy English Podcast (Natural American English)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/884643408), 9 Sep 2026, 8:56.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75017252/utf_8_q_1094_e2_80_93_how_to_use_e2_80_9cthing_e2_80_9d_naturally_mp3.mp3

The thing is, I’m busy tomorrow. Here’s the thing... That’s the thing. The funny thing is, I actually liked it. The good thing is, nobody was hurt. One thing I like about this neighborhood is how quiet it is. The word Thing is pretty basic word, but in daily English conversation, we use it in a lot of useful ways that go far beyond simply talking about an object. We use this word in phrases like the thing is, here’s the thing, that’s the thing, and, funny thing! So for today's English lesson podcast, we’re going to look at some very natural ways you can use the word thing in everyday English. The Happy English Podcast Helping people speak English better since 2014 Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads 📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.: https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons 🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts 🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses https://www.myhappyenglish.com

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: The thing is, I'm going to be really busy tomorrow.
[0:03] Speaker 1: That's the thing. Here's the thing. The funny thing is,
[0:07] Speaker 1: I really like it. The good thing is, nobody was hurt.
[0:10] Speaker 1: One thing I like about this neighborhood is it's really quiet.
[0:15] Speaker 1: The word thing is a really basic word, but in
[0:19] Speaker 1: daily English conversation, we use it in a lot of
[0:23] Speaker 1: useful ways that go far beyond simply talking about objects.
[0:30] Speaker 1: We use thing in phrases like the thing is, here's
[0:35] Speaker 1: the thing, that's the thing, and funny thing. So, for
[0:41] Speaker 1: today's English lesson podcast, we're going to look at some
[0:45] Speaker 1: very natural ways you can use the word thing in
[0:49] Speaker 1: everyday conversational English.
[0:56] Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast coming to you from
[1:00] Speaker 2: New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
[1:03] Speaker 1: All right. Thank you, John. And thanks, everyone. It's Michael
[1:09] Speaker 1: here from Happy English, and I help people speak English better.
[1:14] Speaker 1: And this is Happy English podcast episode 1094. How to
[1:19] Speaker 1: use thing naturally. And by the way, If you're enjoying
[1:27] Speaker 1: learning English with me, be sure to subscribe so you
[1:30] Speaker 1: don't miss any new episodes. First of all, you've probably
[1:36] Speaker 1: already learned that the word thing is used to refer
[1:40] Speaker 1: to items or objects. Like, I have this solar-powered flashlight.
[1:47] Speaker 1: It's a good thing to have in case of an emergency. Or,
[1:52] Speaker 1: there are a lot of things in that closet we
[1:55] Speaker 1: don't need anymore. And by the way, thing is countable. So,
[2:02] Speaker 1: we can say one thing, two things, a lot of things.
[2:07] Speaker 1: That's different from the word stuff, which is uncountable. So,
[2:12] Speaker 1: we can say, I have a lot of things to do,
[2:16] Speaker 1: or I have a lot of stuff to do, but
[2:20] Speaker 1: not Okay, that's the basic idea of the word thing,
[2:27] Speaker 1: and I'm going to guess that you've already learned that. Well,
[2:31] Speaker 1: let's move on to some casual conversational phrases that use
[2:37] Speaker 1: the word thing, which will make your English sound more natural.
[2:42] Speaker 1: Let's start with the thing is... This is a very
[2:47] Speaker 1: common way to introduce an explanation or an important point
[2:52] Speaker 1: that you'd like to make. For example, imagine your friend says,
[2:57] Speaker 1: Do you want to come over on Friday? You could say,
[3:00] Speaker 1: I'd love to, but the thing is I have to
[3:03] Speaker 1: work late. You're not just saying no, you're explaining the
[3:09] Speaker 1: situation behind your answer. Here's another example. Maybe your co-worker says,
[3:16] Speaker 1: why don't we finish this tomorrow? You could reply, the
[3:20] Speaker 1: thing is, the client needs it by tomorrow morning. That
[3:25] Speaker 1: extra information changes the situation. Or maybe somebody asks you, hey,
[3:31] Speaker 1: why don't you take a vacation, Michael? You could say, well,
[3:36] Speaker 1: the thing is, I don't really need one now. Again,
[3:41] Speaker 1: The phrase the thing is introduces the most important reason
[3:46] Speaker 1: behind what you're saying. A very similar expression is here's
[3:52] Speaker 1: the thing. We often use this when we want to
[3:55] Speaker 1: get someone's attention and explain the key point of a situation.
[4:01] Speaker 1: For example, here's the thing. We can leave later, but
[4:05] Speaker 1: if we do, we'll probably hit traffic. Or here's the thing.
[4:10] Speaker 1: I like the apartment, but I think the rent is
[4:13] Speaker 1: a little high. Here's the thing has the feeling of
[4:18] Speaker 1: here's what I really need you to know. You can
[4:21] Speaker 1: also use here's the thing when you want to be
[4:25] Speaker 1: a little bit more direct. Like if someone at work
[4:28] Speaker 1: keeps asking you to help them with more projects, you
[4:32] Speaker 1: might say, look, here's the thing. I'm already working on
[4:37] Speaker 1: three different projects, so I really don't have time to
[4:41] Speaker 1: take on another one. Here's the thing introduces the main
[4:46] Speaker 1: point clearly without sounding too abrupt. Next, let's look at
[4:53] Speaker 1: that's the thing. We use that's the thing when we
[4:58] Speaker 1: introduce a key point in a conversation. Like, imagine you
[5:03] Speaker 1: haven't heard from someone in a while. Another friend says,
[5:07] Speaker 1: why don't you just call him? You could reply, that's
[5:11] Speaker 1: the thing. I don't have his number. The missing phone
[5:16] Speaker 1: number is exactly the problem. Here's an example of something
[5:19] Speaker 1: that happened to me quite recently. I found this old
[5:23] Speaker 1: mom-and-pop restaurant, but it's just not fashionable anymore for people,
[5:29] Speaker 1: I guess. And one of my friends was like, Well,
[5:32] Speaker 1: that restaurant always looks empty. So I said, that's the
[5:36] Speaker 1: thing I don't understand. The food is really good there.
[5:40] Speaker 1: So here, that's the thing introduces something surprising or important
[5:48] Speaker 1: to explain the situation more. We also use phrases like
[5:53] Speaker 1: the funny thing is, the strange thing is, and the
[5:58] Speaker 1: good thing is to introduce a particular aspect of a situation.
[6:05] Speaker 1: For example, the funny thing is, I didn't even want
[6:09] Speaker 1: to go to the party, but I ended up having
[6:11] Speaker 1: a good time. Or, the strange thing is, nobody knows
[6:16] Speaker 1: where that noise is coming from. These expressions highlight what's
[6:22] Speaker 1: funny or strange, surprising or good about a situation. Here's
[6:28] Speaker 1: another useful one. The good thing is, imagine your flight
[6:33] Speaker 1: is delayed for a couple of hours. You might say,
[6:36] Speaker 1: the good thing is we don't have a connecting flight.
[6:40] Speaker 1: Or maybe your car needs repair. And you say, the
[6:45] Speaker 1: bad news is it's going to cost a lot. The
[6:48] Speaker 1: good thing is they can fix it today. We use
[6:53] Speaker 1: this pattern to focus on one point of a larger situation.
[6:58] Speaker 1: Another very natural structure is, one thing I like about blah, blah, blah.
[7:04] Speaker 1: For example, this is useful when we want to talk
[7:07] Speaker 1: about one feature or a specific point. One thing I
[7:12] Speaker 1: like about this neighborhood is how quiet it is. Or
[7:17] Speaker 1: one thing I like about working from home is I
[7:21] Speaker 1: don't have to commute. You can also say, One thing
[7:25] Speaker 1: I don't like about that app is all the notifications.
[7:30] Speaker 1: The structure is useful because it lets you focus on
[7:33] Speaker 1: one point without sounding too absolute. So instead of saying,
[7:38] Speaker 1: this city is great, you can say, one thing I
[7:42] Speaker 1: really like about this city is the public transportation. That
[7:47] Speaker 1: sounds more specific and conversational. The thing is, there are
[7:52] Speaker 1: a lot of ways to use this word. And the
[7:55] Speaker 1: funny thing is, when you start using them, your English
[7:59] Speaker 1: will sound more natural. And keep in mind, the best
[8:03] Speaker 1: way to remember English like this, and any other word
[8:07] Speaker 1: or phrase in English, is to take that word or
[8:10] Speaker 1: phrase Write it in a sentence that's true for you
[8:14] Speaker 1: or true in your world and then memorize your sentences. Hey,
[8:19] Speaker 1: thanks for listening. And remember, learning another language is not easy,
[8:23] Speaker 1: but it's not impossible. And I'm here to help you
[8:27] Speaker 1: on your journey.
[8:29] Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please
[8:33] Speaker 2: visit MyHappyEnglish.com. Show your support for Happy English by leaving
[8:39] Speaker 2: us a review. Get English. Get happy. Happy English.

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