Making Plans in English: A Five-Move Reply That Tells People When You’re Free

A friend sends you one line on Friday afternoon.

Maya: What are you doing Saturday?

You can reply in two ways.

Reply 1: Busy!
Reply 2: Lunch with my sister until about two, but I should be free after three. Are you free around 3:30?

Written for this page. Maya can do nothing with Reply 1. She does not know if Saturday is lost, if the morning is free, or if she should ask again next week. Reply 2 gives her a time to suggest and asks her a question, so the plan can move. In a podcast episode, one of the hosts hears her own first answer, “I’m busy Saturday” (00:02), and says, “Wait, that sounded much bigger than I meant.” (00:08) A moment later she adds that it “was true, but it wasn’t very useful.” (00:20)

You do not need a longer sentence to get from Reply 1 to Reply 2. You need five small moves in a fixed order. This guide gives the order, the sentence pieces for each move, and what to do when your own plan has a time range.

The five-move reply

The episode names four of the jobs in one line: “Mention a relevant plan, say when you’re free, ask about the other person, accept or offer another time.” (05:27) The fifth move is the last one it practices, making the arrangement clear.

Move	Fill in	Example
1. The plan that matters	I’m planning to ___. / I’ve already got plans at ___.	I’m planning to have lunch with my sister.
2. Your window	I should be free after ___. / around ___.	I should be free after three.
3. A time to check	Are you free around ___?	Are you free around 3:30?
4. Your answer to their time	___ works for me. / I can’t do ___, but I should be free around ___.	Three thirty works for me.
5. The arrangement	Let’s meet ___ at ___.	Let’s meet outside the bookshop at 3:30.

You will not say all five in every message. In a text you may send moves 1 to 3 together and wait for move 4. In a quick chat at the door, moves 2 and 3 may be enough. What matters is the order: the other person gets your limit first, then your window, then a question.

Move 1: the plan that limits your time

The plan you mention is the one that blocks the time the other person is thinking about. That is not the same as your whole day. The hosts make a joke of it: learners often think they must describe “Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning, and possibly breakfast.” (01:27) The cure is one rule from the episode: “They need the part that affects the conversation.” (01:44)

Written for this page. Here is a quick test for any detail you are about to say: Would this change the time I can offer?

Detail	Does it change the offer?	Say it?
I have lunch with my aunt until two.	Yes, it blocks until two	Yes
I wake up at seven.	No	No
I’m washing clothes in the morning.	Only if the morning matters to your friend	Usually no
I have a dentist appointment at four.	Yes, if they suggest four	Yes

Two openings cover most cases. Use I’m planning to… when you want to share an activity (“I’m planning to visit my parents” (11:11)). Use I’ve already got plans at… when the other person suggests a time that is taken (“I’ve already got plans at one, but I should be free after three.” (03:21)).

Move 2: a window you can keep

A window is a time range you are fairly sure about. The most useful sentence in the episode is also the shortest model: “I should be free after three.” (02:32) Emily explains the word should: “I’m simply saying that based on what I know now, after three looks available.” (02:44)

You can build the window in three ways:

• free after ___: your day opens at that time (I should be free after three).
• free around ___: you are flexible near that time (I should be free around five).
• plans until about ___: you give the end of the limit (I’ve already got plans until about three, but I should be free after that).

Written for this page. Do not use a window you cannot keep. If your lunch might run until three thirty, after three is a trap. Say after four, or say the real range. The episode has the same warning: “If you know three is completely impossible, don’t say it.” (02:50)

Moves 3 and 4: ask for a time, then answer theirs

Are you free around ___? does a job that your own plan cannot do. It “turns this from one person describing plans into two people making a plan together.” (03:48) The word around gives the time “a little flexibility.” (04:04)

When the other person suggests a time, there are three honest answers.

Your situation	Say	Why
The time works	Four works for me.	Short and sure
The time does not work, a nearby time does	I can’t do four, but I should be free around five.	A no with a time gives the conversation “somewhere to go.” (15:37)
You have to check something	I need to check one thing. Can I let you know this afternoon?	You do not pretend that you have confirmed

Avoid the half-answers. Maybe okay and Yeah, maybe leave the other person “wondering, did we just make a plan?” (04:40) The reason is not politeness. It is information. In the episode the clearest repair for a no is “I can’t do five, but I should be free around six.” (09:11)

Move 5: a time and a place

Even when both people say yes, the plan can still be fuzzy. The episode describes how it happens: “Someone says around four. Someone else says that might work. And three days later, both people have different memories.” (15:46) The repair is one sentence with one time and one place: “Okay, let’s meet Wednesday at four outside the library.” (15:58)

For a plan that may change, add a closing line: “If anything changes, I’ll let you know.” (06:10) Do not add it to every message. One of the hosts points out that when you are meeting someone in ten minutes, it “might sound a little dramatic.” (07:09)

When your own plan has a time range

Some plans do not have an exact end time. A repair visit, a delivery, a doctor who is running late: you know a range, not a minute. The episode uses a repair technician with “a two to four arrival window.” (17:34) Emily’s first instinct is to say 3:30 is fine, then she stops: “I don’t want to tell you three thirty and then have someone working in my kitchen when you arrive.” (18:17) Her answer is the useful one: “I should be free around five.” (18:22)

Written for this page. Here is a second example with a delivery. A neighbor asks, Can I borrow your ladder around eleven? You know the delivery arrives between ten and twelve.

Neighbor: Can I borrow your ladder around eleven?
You: I’m waiting for a delivery between ten and twelve, so eleven is not safe. I should be free after noon. Does twelve thirty work for you?
Neighbor: Twelve thirty works for me.
You: Great. Come by the front door at twelve thirty. If the delivery runs late, I’ll text you.

Notice what is missing: what the delivery is, why you ordered it, or where it is coming from. The reply gives a range, a safe window, a question, and a next step. In the episode the same idea appears as: “You’re giving the best usable plan based on current information.” (19:02)

When someone asks about a time inside your range, answer that exact time. In the episode, if the question is Are you free at five? then I’m going to have a repair appointment is confusing, and the answer that helps is “The appointment should finish before then, so five should work.” (20:11) When you are not sure, offer a safer time: “It might run late. Could we make it five thirty?” (20:18)

Eight replies to fill in

Written for this page. Say each answer aloud before you open the answers.

1. A friend asks, Are you free Saturday? You have a class from ten to twelve. Complete: I’ve already got plans in the ___, but I ___ be free ___ noon.
2. Rewrite I’m busy Thursday evening into a reply with a window. You finish work at six.
3. Someone suggests five o’clock and you know it works. Which is clearer: Maybe okay or Five works for me?
4. Fix this reply to Are you free at four?: No, I can’t. You are free around five.
5. A delivery will arrive between ten and twelve. A neighbor wants to come by at eleven. Write a reply.
6. Put the five moves in order: ask for a time, confirm the place, window, answer their time, the plan that matters.
7. Make this shorter by deleting the detail the other person does not need: I wake up at seven, I walk my dog, then I have lunch with my sister until two, and I should be free after three.
8. Write a closing line for a plan that may change.

Answers

1. I’ve already got plans in the morning, but I should be free after noon.
2. For example: I’ve got a work thing until six, but I should be free after seven. (Anything with a window and a reason that matters is fine.)
3. Five works for me.
4. I can’t do four, but I should be free around five.
5. For example: I’m waiting for a delivery between ten and twelve, so eleven isn’t safe. I should be free after noon. Does twelve thirty work for you?
6. The plan that matters, window, ask for a time, answer their time, confirm the place.
7. I have lunch with my sister until two, so I should be free after three. (The wake-up time and the dog walk do not change the offer.)
8. For example: If anything changes, I’ll let you know.

Sixty seconds: make your own plan

Written for this page. The episode’s speaking task asks for “a short two-way planning conversation” (23:54) of “about 45 to 75 seconds.” (23:57) Pick a real or imagined plan in the next seven days: a class, a market, a visit, an appointment. Say these five things in order, and imagine a friend answering in between:

1. The plan that matters to your time (I’m planning to… / I’ve already got plans at…)
2. Your window (I should be free after…)
3. A time to check (Are you free around…?)
4. Your answer if they suggest a different time (___ works for me or I can’t do ___, but…)
5. The place and the time (Let’s meet at…)

Then say it again and delete one detail that the other person does not need. A model: I’ve already got plans on Saturday morning, but I should be free after two. Are you free around three? … Three thirty works for me. Let’s meet near the station. If anything changes, I’ll let you know. The episode’s own check is a good last test: “A plan feels complete when both people know what happens next.” (27:06)

Hear it in a real conversation

To hear Paul and Emily work through the bookshop plan, the Sunday walk, and the neighbor who needs a folding table, listen to the episode and use the practice on the Show Note: I’m Busy Saturday? Say When You’re Free and Make the Plan Clear.

Five moves, one line each

• The plan: only the one that changes the time you can offer
• The window: I should be free after ___ (only if you can keep it)
• The question: Are you free around ___?
• The answer: ___ works for me, or a no with a time
• The close: a time and a place, and If anything changes, I’ll let you know when it may change