It’s Tuesday morning. Your teacher starts the class on time at 9.00am with a snappy quiz to review yesterday’s class. But today there are late-comers.

Who should be sitting in that chair?

Perhaps it was the Dublin traffic, or a late night in one of the city’s pubs. Or, maybe you are just enjoying a crisp autumn morning and preparing one of those (1)tall stories for the teacher… you thought you’d won the lottery and had to look for your ticket!

Yeah, right!

The teacher will not (2)make a scene. They’ll just say hello and continue with the lesson if you’re a few minutes late.

But how do you enter the class? Are you that story-teller, or do you just try to (3)sneak in quietly? Or perhaps you’re a drama-mama making a grand entrance! Yes, you have options.

Here are a couple of students showing you how not to be late:

So, forget the story-teller and drama-mama options. Not cool. They won’t be appreciated.

And don’t be too informal. It might be ok to say to your friends:

“Sorry, I know I’m late. I was (4)out on the lash last night. Guinness! Sorry!”

But you can’t say that in class.

You could try a little bit of wit. Teachers might have heard many tall stories but see if “Sorry. Usually my punctuation is excellent!” brings a smile to their face.”

In all seriousness, though, most teachers would appreciate a simple:

• “I’m sorry I’m late”
• “I’m so sorry I’m late”
• “I’m really sorry I’m late”
• “I’m genuinely sorry I’m late”

Yes, don’t ruin an apology with an excuse! And, of course get organised and into the flow of class as quickly and quietly as possible. Then make sure you’re on time for the rest of the week.

Remember, if you can’t be on time, be early!

To finish, we have a quick quiz of our own.

Who can tell us what the highlighted phrases mean?

Leave a comment to let us know.