#186: 9 Effective Phrases to Express Support in English [Ideas, Opinions, and People]

Imagine a coworker wants to propose a solution or idea in a business meeting and you think it’s a BRILLIANT idea. You want to immediately show your colleague that you support her idea.

You could say, “I support you.” Right?

But there are better ways to tell your colleague that you support her idea.

In today’s lesson, you’ll learn 9 effective phrases to show your support for someone’s ideas, opinions, or decisions.

PLUS, with my favorite phrases, you’ll learn multiple meanings and a fun way to pronounce it for natural-sounding speech.

9 Effective Phrases to Show Support in English (Full Transcript)

Hey, it’s Annemarie with Speak Confident English. This is exactly where you want to be every week to get the confidence you want for your life and work in English.

Let’s talk about how you express your support for friends, colleagues, family members, whether you’re supporting an idea, they have an opinion or supporting them emotionally during a difficult decision or challenging part of their life.

Imagine one of your coworkers wants to share an idea in a business meeting tomorrow, and you think it’s a brilliant idea. You want to express your support for your coworker.

So you could say something like I support that, or I support you. And sure. That is a nice, simple way to express that support and show that you think your coworker has a good idea.

Maybe you’ll even say that in the business meeting so that everyone knows you support her.

But there are several different maybe even better ways and more natural-sounding ways to express your support in English.

So again, whether you want to support a co-worker’s opinion or tell a close friend that no matter what she decides on a difficult issue you support her, in today’s Confident English lesson you’ll learn nine different ways to do that in English.

And we’re going to end today with my favorite phrase on this list because this phrase can be used for a number of situations. In fact, has a few different meanings as well. Plus, I’m going to share with you a really fun way to pronounce it.

All right, phrase number one today, for how to express your support for someone is I’m with you on this.

This one is perfect to express your support of someone’s opinion or a decision, particularly if it’s an unpopular or difficult one, it can also be used to say, I agree with you, or I believe in you.

Similar to that is phrase number two. I’ll stand with you to the end.

This is a fantastic way to commit or promise to supporting someone throughout a project or a period of time.

Number three uses a fantastic phrasal verb. And if you’re one of my Fluency School students, you definitely know this one, I’ll back you up.

To back something up or to back someone up means to support them. This one is great for business situations. When you know that someone is going to present an idea or opinion, or maybe make a difficult decision, and you’re there to say, I’m going to support you, and I’m going to publicly give you that support.

So if you have a business meeting coming soon, and you know that a colleague will be sharing an idea, they have a great way to express your support is to let them know you’re going to back them up.

Phrase number four is very similar. I’m behind you a hundred percent.

Phrase number five is another great one when someone has to take a position or make a decision, there may be two sides and you want to let someone know you’re on their side and you can do that simply by saying, I’m on your side.

In phrase number two, I’ll stand with you to the end, we talked about how that is a sort of commitment or promise of your support. Another one that does that is you can count on me. When you tell a friend, family member or coworker that they can count on you, you are committing your support, whether it’s emotional support or support by doing something.

For example, if you know someone who recently had a major operation or surgery, you know, when they’re home, they need help and you can commit to helping them by saying, you can count on me. That might mean taking their kids to school for them going grocery, shopping, cleaning their home, doing yard work. There are so many different ways that you might provide support to someone who’s going through a difficult time mentally, emotionally, or physically.

Now, while we’re on that topic of going through a difficult time, if you’re looking for the right words to say to someone to show comfort or sympathy, I’ve got a full lesson on that topic and I’ll leave a link to it in the notes below the video.

Phrase number seven is another one that’s perfect. When someone has to make a difficult, maybe even agonizing decision. There are times when we just don’t know what’s right.

And we spend so much time thinking about the pros and cons and trying to decide a way forward. So to best support a friend or family member, you could say I’ll support you no matter what, or I’ll support you either way. I’ll support you, no matter what you decide.

Phrase number eight isn’t my favorite one on the list, but it’s close. I’ve got your back. I’ve got your back. What that means is you’re there to help someone you’re ready to be a second pair of eyes, a second pair of ears, a second pair of helping hands. You are there to give whatever kind of support is needed.

And finally, phrase number nine. As you know, this one is my favorite one on the list. Number one, it’s super simple and easy to say. I got you. When a friend of mine has a difficult decision to make, or they want to share their idea in front of a group.

When I want to show support, I’ll say I gotcha. Did you notice how I said that? I gotchya? I didn’t say I got you. I didn’t have that clear pronunciation of got you. Instead, I’m using a form of connected speech. I gotchya. I gotchya. Give it a try and see how it feels. I gotchya.

If you want to learn more about connected speech, I have a full video on that topic. Again, I’ll leave a link to it below this video in the notes, but I want to talk a little bit more about this phrase because not only does I got you mean I support you, but it can also mean I understand, or I understand you.

If someone is trying to clarify or explain something to me when I want to let them know that I understand, I’ll say I got ya.

And again, it simply means I get it. I understand.

Plus there’s a third possible meaning. It could also mean that you are going to cover the cost of something. For example, if you and a friend go to a coffee shop or go out to lunch and you want to cover the cost as your friend prepares to pay, you might say, Oh, don’t worry about it. I got ya. Again. What you’re saying is you’re going to cover the cost. You’re going to pay for it.

So I got ya can be used to mean I support you. I understand you, or I understand what you’re saying. I get the point or I’m going to cover the cost of something. It’s a fantastic phrase to know and use regularly in a variety of conversations with friends, family members, and coworkers.

Now that you have these nine phrases to show your support to someone, I would love to know which one is your favorite and how could you use it in a real-life situation.

Do you know someone who has to make a difficult decision soon, or do you have a meeting coming up and you know, one of your colleagues will be sharing an idea or a proposal? How could you use one of these phrases from today’s Confident English lesson to express that support?

Share your example with me and the entire Confident English community in the comments below.

It’s a wonderful way to get practice feedback, and learn from others as well with that, have a fantastic week. Thank you so much for joining me. And I look forward to seeing you next time for your Confident English lesson.

~Annemarie

P.S. Don’t forget to visit the two lessons I mentioned:

Express Kindness, Comfort, and Sympathy in English — for Times of Crisis and Grief

Sound More Fluent and Speak Faster with One Easy Tip — Connected Speech

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