Ready to tidy up conversations like a pro? This short lesson gives you useful Spanish phrases to close, pause, or change topics with tact. Practicing these will help you sound natural and polite in meetings, chats, and social moments.
Level B1: In this lesson (98) you'll practice common phrases for ending or moving on from topics — friendly closers, polite postponements, and short summaries. These are CEFR-aligned B1 social-glue phrases you can use in real conversations to change the subject without awkwardness.
After this lesson you'll be able to:
Practice B1 phrases for closing or moving on from topics.
Learn polite ways to postpone or summarize a discussion.
Use these phrases naturally in short conversations.
Ready? Let's go!
When you tap play on phrases, we track your progress through this lesson.
1. Reading + Listening Practice
Hear core phrases, repeat aloud.
Bueno, ya hablamos bastante de ___.
Anyway, that's enough about ___.
Meaning: Anyway, that's enough about ___.
When to use: Use to signal politely that a particular topic has been discussed enough.
Tip: Beginners sometimes omit the polite buffer 'Bueno,' and it can sound blunt.
Bueno, ya hablamos bastante de ese proyecto.
Anyway, that's enough about that project.
Bueno, ya hablamos bastante de la reunión de ayer.
Anyway, that's enough about yesterday's meeting.
Hablemos de otra cosa.
Let's talk about something else.
Meaning: Let's talk about something else.
When to use: Use to suggest changing the subject directly but neutrally.
Hablemos de otra cosa: ¿cómo está tu familia?
Let's talk about something else: how is your family?
Si te parece, hablemos de otra cosa por ahora.
If you like, let's talk about something else for now.
Creo que ya vimos eso.
I think we've covered that.
Meaning: I think we've covered that.
When to use: Use when you want to say a topic has been sufficiently discussed.
Creo que ya vimos eso en la reunión pasada.
I think we already covered that in the last meeting.
Creo que ya vimos eso, podemos seguir adelante.
I think we've covered that, we can move on.
Podemos retomarlo más tarde.
We can come back to that later.
Meaning: We can come back to that later.
When to use: Use to postpone a topic in a cooperative way.
Podemos retomarlo más tarde si necesitas más tiempo.
We can come back to that later if you need more time.
Si quieres, lo vemos ahora o lo retomamos más tarde.
If you want, we can look at it now or come back to it later.
Bueno, pasemos a otra cosa.
So, moving on.
Meaning: So, moving on.
When to use: Use to smoothly transition away from the current subject.
Bueno, pasemos a otra cosa: el presupuesto.
So, moving on: the budget.
Bueno, pasemos a otra cosa antes de que se haga tarde.
So, moving on before it's too late.
Tal vez conviene dejarlo ahí por ahora.
Maybe we should leave it there for now.
Meaning: Maybe we should leave it there for now.
When to use: Use to suggest ending a discussion without finalizing everything.
Tal vez conviene dejarlo ahí por ahora y volver después.
Maybe we should leave it there for now and come back later.
Tal vez conviene dejarlo ahí por ahora hasta tener más datos.
Maybe we should leave it there for now until we have more data.
Eso era todo lo que quería decir sobre ___.
That's all I wanted to say about ___.
Meaning: That's all I wanted to say about ___.
When to use: Use to close a personal explanation or short story.
Tip: Learners sometimes leave out the reference (e.g., 'sobre___'), which makes the sentence unclear.
Eso era todo lo que quería decir sobre mi experiencia en la empresa.
That's all I wanted to say about my experience at the company.
Eso era todo lo que quería decir sobre las vacaciones.
That's all I wanted to say about the holidays.
No quiero dedicarle mucho tiempo a esto.
I don't want to spend too long on this.
Meaning: I don't want to spend too long on this.
When to use: Use to politely limit time spent discussing a subject.
No quiero dedicarle mucho tiempo a esto, tenemos otra reunión.
I don't want to spend too long on this, we have another meeting.
No quiero dedicarle mucho tiempo a esto; vayamos al punto.
I don't want to spend too long on this; let's get to the point.
Dejémoslo así por ahora.
Let's leave it at that for now.
Meaning: Let's leave it at that for now.
When to use: Use to accept the current result and stop further detailed discussion.
Dejémoslo así por ahora y revisamos mañana.
Let's leave it at that for now and review tomorrow.
Dejémoslo así por ahora; mañana lo pulimos.
Let's leave it at that for now; we'll polish it tomorrow.
Bueno, mejor no nos metamos en tantos detalles.
Anyway, let's not get into all the details.
Meaning: Anyway, let's not get into all the details.
When to use: Use to politely avoid or close a topic that would take too long to detail.
Bueno, mejor no nos metamos en tantos detalles y sigamos.
Anyway, let's not get into all the details and continue.
Bueno, mejor no nos metamos en tantos detalles por ahora.
Anyway, let's not get into all the details for now.
No voy a entrar en eso ahora.
I won't go into that now.
Meaning: I won't go into that now.
When to use: Use to signal you won't explain something further at the moment.
No voy a entrar en eso ahora; lo discutiré después.
I won't go into that now; I'll discuss it later.
No voy a entrar en eso ahora porque no hay tiempo.
I won't go into that now because there's no time.
Esa historia la dejamos para otro día.
That's a story for another time.
Meaning: That's a story for another time.
When to use: Use casually to postpone a longer or entertaining explanation.
Esa historia la dejamos para otro día; es larga y divertida.
That's a story for another time; it's long and funny.
Esa historia la dejamos para otro día con calma.
We'll save that story for another day, calmly.
Para no hacerla larga, ___.
Long story short, ___.
Meaning: Long story short, ___.
When to use: Use to summarize a longer point briefly before ending the topic.
Tip: Watch word order — learners sometimes place the summary clause awkwardly and lose natural flow.
Para no hacerla larga, llegué tarde por el tráfico.
Long story short, I was late because of traffic.
Para no hacerla larga, acepté el trabajo.
Long story short, I accepted the job.
2. Conversational Listening Practice
Hear phrases in a real mini-conversation.
Anna and David at a small meeting finishing a topic
What do Anna and David decide to do about the current topic?
Anna
Bueno, ya hablamos bastante de los plazos.
Anyway, that's enough about the deadlines.
David
Creo que ya vimos eso. Podemos retomarlo más tarde si hace falta.
I think we've covered that. We can come back to it later if needed.
Anna
Tal vez conviene dejarlo ahí por ahora.
Maybe we should leave it there for now.
David
Bueno, pasemos a otra cosa. Hablemos del informe.
So, moving on. Let's talk about the report.
3. Guided Practice
Quizzes and matching to lock in meaning.
Which phrase means 'Let's talk about something else'?
Which phrase is used to say 'We can come back to that later'?
Which phrase would you use to politely summarize before ending a topic (Long story short)?
Which phrase best matches 'That's all I wanted to say about ___'?
I think we've covered that.
We've already covered this topic in detail. ___.
We can come back to that later.
If we don't have time now, ___.
Let's not get into all the details.
You asked for details, but ___.
Match the core phrases
Match the extra phrases
4. Speaking Practice
Say phrases yourself (mic/recording).
Recording stays on your device only. Check speech uses your browser's speech tools when available.
