How do you politely interrupt someone in English?
Start with a short apology, then give your reason in one sentence: Sorry to interrupt, but those nodes also handle user uploads. In a less formal meeting, Sorry, can I jump in? does the same job. If the detail doesn't belong in the meeting, move it: Can we take it offline right after this? For a side topic, try Can we park that for now? And it's Sorry to interrupt or Sorry for interrupting, not Sorry for interrupt.
Which phrase fits which moment?
The wording follows the reason. A risk is worth stopping someone for; a side topic only needs moving. All of these lines come from Before You Speak scenes and its Meetings unit.
| When | Say |
|---|---|
| Something is about to go wrong | Sorry, can I jump in? My nightly reconciliation job reads that column, so the rename might break it. |
| They've missed a fact | Sorry to interrupt, but those nodes also handle user uploads. |
| Two people are going round in circles | Sorry to cut in. That's a fair point, but let's take it offline after this. Can we get back to the stock plan? |
| It's a side topic | Can we park that for now? |
| Time is nearly up | Sorry to interrupt, but we're almost out of time. |
| You're chairing and a speaker overruns | Greg, I'm afraid we're out of time. Could you wrap up your last point in about a minute? |
| Someone is selling, not asking | Sorry to cut in, Rohan, but we're short on time. What's your question for Greg? |
| You both start at once | Sorry, go ahead. |
| Someone cuts you off | Can I finish my point first? |
How strong does each phrase sound?
Roughly from the most neutral to the firmest. The order is our own judgement, from the notes in the practice scenes.
| Phrase | How it sounds |
|---|---|
| Sorry to interrupt, but … | Polite and neutral; especially useful on calls |
| Sorry for interrupting. | The same meaning; note the -ing |
| Sorry to cut in. | The usual polite opener before you cut in |
| Sorry, can I jump in? | More spoken, and common in team meetings |
| Can I just jump in here? | Spoken, and asks permission |
| In the interest of time, … | What a moderator says: sounds professional, not rude |
| Can I park that for a second? | When you're running the meeting. To park a topic is to set it aside |
| Sorry, can I stop you here? | Clear and firm; for when nothing softer has worked |
| Hang on, … | Short and informal; for something urgent, among people you know |
What does a polite interruption sound like?
Example: a weekly sync on a Teams call. Lina runs the meeting. Omar wants to move a 400-terabyte archive in one weekend, and adds a second idea while he's at it. You look after storage. Notice that you only cut in once, and only when it counts.
Honestly, that's too slow. Why don't we just move the whole archive this weekend?
I see your point, but it's over 400 terabytes. If the copy fails halfway, we won't have an easy way to roll back.
It won't fail. We'll run it on all the storage nodes in parallel. And while we're at it, we could also switch the CDN, because—
Sorry to interrupt, but those nodes also handle user uploads. People will notice the slowdown.
Apology · ReasonGood point. And the CDN is a separate topic. Can we park that for now?
Sure. Anyway, the copy job retries per batch, so failures don't really matter.
I'm not sure I follow. Could you elaborate on the retry part?
If a batch fails, the script retries only that batch, not the whole job.
Just to clarify, the other batches keep running? And could you tell me how long one batch takes?
Yes, they keep running. About 40 minutes per batch, I think, but I'll double-check.
This is getting quite technical. Can you two take this offline after the call?
Sure. To sum up, we test one month of data first, and Omar checks the batch time. I'll send out the action items today.
Source: the Meetings unit in Before You Speak (an example situation). The names and the project are made up.
How do you say the same thing more naturally?
Three real moments, each at three levels. Clear is a short sentence that gets you understood, Natural is what a colleague would actually say, and Compact packs in more while still sounding spoken.
A colleague is about to break something of yours
- ClearSorry, wait. My nightly report uses that column. The rename may break it. Can we talk for ten minutes after standup?
- NaturalSorry, can I jump in? My nightly reconciliation job reads that column, so the rename might break it. Can we grab ten minutes after standup?
- CompactHang on, that could break my nightly job. It reads that column. Can we take it offline right after this? Ten minutes, tops.
Two managers start arguing about last quarter
- ClearSorry, can I stop you here? Let's talk about that after the meeting. Now, back to stock, please.
- NaturalSorry to cut in. That's a fair point, but let's take it offline after this. Can we get back to the stock plan?
- CompactCan I park that for a second? It deserves a proper conversation, just not today. Let's take it offline and get back to stock.
You're moderating and someone starts selling
- ClearSorry, Rohan, I have to stop you. What is your question for Greg, please?
- NaturalSorry to cut in, Rohan, but we're short on time. What's your question for Greg?
- CompactSorry to cut in, Rohan, but in the interest of time, could you get straight to your question for Greg?
All three versions are the lines the scenes prepare: Daily standup, Cross-team meeting and Seminar moderator.
Which slips make an interruption sound rude?
From the slip warnings and notes in the Before You Speak scenes and units.
| Easy to say | Better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ✗ Sorry for interrupt. | ✓ Sorry to interrupt, but … | “Sorry to” takes the plain verb; “Sorry for” takes -ing: Sorry for interrupting. |
| ✗ Wait wait wait! | ✓ Sorry, can I jump in here for a second? | The apology and the question turn a shout into a request. |
| ✗ Cutting in with no reason | ✓ Sorry to interrupt, but those nodes also handle user uploads. | Give the reason in the same breath, so people know why you stopped them. |
| ✗ Can we go offline? | ✓ Let's take this offline. | “Go offline” means disconnecting. “Take this offline” means talking about it after the meeting, with the people involved. |
| ✗ Your time is over. | ✓ Greg, I'm afraid we're out of time. | “I'm afraid” softens bad news, and “we” shares it. |
| ✗ You should talk to him later. | ✓ Why don't you catch Greg at the coffee break? | “Why don't you” is softer than “you should”, and it gives them somewhere to take the conversation. |
| ✗ No, we have no time. | ✓ I'd love to, but we've only got five minutes left. | Show you'd like to say yes before you say no. |
| ✗ Going straight into the detail once you're in | ✓ Can we take it offline right after this? Ten minutes, tops. | You've stopped the meeting; say the risk, then give it back. |
How do these phrases sound in different accents?
You'll hear these from colleagues too. Press a button to hear the same phrase in a US, UK, Australian or Indian accent.
| Phrase | Meaning | Listen: US / UK / AU / IN |
|---|---|---|
| Sorry to interrupt, but we're almost out of time. | polite way to cut in | |
| Can I just jump in here? | may I cut in? | |
| Sorry, go ahead. | you go first | |
| Can we park that for now? | let's leave that until later | |
| Let's take this offline. | let's talk about it after the meeting | |
| That's a fair point. | you're right about that |
The voices are AI-generated, for practice only.
How do you practise interrupting?
In each of these, someone keeps talking and you have to step in:
- Daily standup: progress and blockers: cut in when a colleague is about to break your job. Practise it
- Cross-team meeting: running it yourself: stop two managers arguing about last quarter. Practise it
- Seminar moderator: watching the clock: stop an overrunning speaker and a questioner who's selling. Practise it
- Q&A after your talk: a professor challenges you: with a moderator who cuts in on the clock. Practise it
The scene pages are in Chinese with the full English script alongside, and every line has a recording. You can read and listen without signing up. All characters, lines and voices are AI-generated, for practice only.
Knowing the phrase isn't the same as saying it while someone else is talking. In Before You Speak (开口前 kaikouqian), two AI colleagues with real accents talk and you can cut in at any time; when it's your turn, they stop and wait for you. Afterwards you get at most two corrections, they go into your review book, and in review a colleague says the original line again and you answer. You can also write your own situation in Chinese (what it's about, who it's with, what you want to say, the facts only you know) and get a practice scene in two or three minutes.
Free sign-up, no card. The free plan has two live AI conversation rounds and three scripted sessions a week; your own scenes come with a 7-day free trial, and nothing is charged when it ends. For people living outside mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The app explains in Chinese; Chrome on a computer works best.
Which guides go with this one?
- Speaking up in meetings: How to get in when nobody leaves a gap, ask about what you missed, buy time and confirm the next step.
- Disagreeing politely: Acknowledge, say what worries you, offer another way: phrases from soft to direct, and what to say when they push back.
- Standup updates: What you finished, what's next, what's blocking you, and how to say a date is at risk, in a few short sentences.
- All guides
How was this page written?
- Author
- The maker of Before You Speak, a Chinese engineer working in English in Abu Dhabi.
- Sources
- The Meetings unit in Before You Speak, and these practice scenes: Daily standup, Cross-team meeting, Seminar moderator and Production plan meeting (“Can I finish my point first?”). The names and the projects are made up.
- Use of AI
- The characters, lines and audio in the scenes are AI-generated. The explanations on this page were drafted with AI and put together by the author. The ranking of how strong each phrase sounds is our own judgement.
- Updates
- First published 2026-11-01. Found a mistake or want to add something? Write to hello@kaikouqian.com.