You do not need aggressive English to make a serious salary ask. Use four moves: show genuine interest, give one relevant reason, make one clear request, then pause and let the employer respond.
If your salary request contains three apologies, four maybes and no request, congratulations: you have negotiated yourself into invisibility.
First: direct is not the same as aggressive
“Could we revisit the base salary?” is direct. “Increase the offer or I’m walking” is an ultimatum. The goal is to separate clarity from hostility.
Why practise the conversation at all?
A 2025 NBER working paper by Zoë Cullen, Bobak Pakzad-Hurson and Ricardo Perez-Truglia studied two field experiments involving more than 3,100 job seekers in the U.S. tech sector. A light-touch encouragement intervention increased negotiation attempts and compensation gains in that studied population. See Pushing the Envelope: The Effects of Salary Negotiations.
That does not mean everyone should negotiate every offer, negotiating is risk-free, or one phrase guarantees a better package. Our job here is narrower: make sure your English does not hide the request you already decided to make.
Move 1: show interest without surrendering the negotiation
- “I’m really excited about the role and the team.”
- “Thank you for the offer. I’m very interested in moving forward.”
- “I’m enthusiastic about the opportunity, and I’d like to discuss one part of the package.”
Move 2: give one relevant reason
Use information you can actually support: role scope, relevant experience, responsibilities, another verified offer, or market information you researched yourself.
- “Given the scope of the role and my experience with [relevant area], I was hoping we could revisit the base salary.”
- “Based on the responsibilities we discussed, I’d like to ask whether there is flexibility on compensation.”
- “Considering [your verified evidence], I was hoping we could get closer to [your target].”
Move 3: make the ask visible
| Original | Classification | What the listener may hear | Likely intent | Clearer alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Sorry, I was just maybe wondering if there might possibly be any flexibility?” | Grammatically valid but over-hedged | A very tentative question with no clear target | Ask for a better offer politely | “I was hoping we could revisit the base salary. Is there flexibility?” |
| “I deserve more money.” | Grammatically valid, but confrontational in many negotiation contexts | A judgment about entitlement | Argue that the offer should be higher | “Based on [relevant evidence], I was hoping we could get closer to [target].” |
| “Can you increase it?” | Context-dependent but vague | Request for an increase, without saying what outcome matters | Open negotiation | “Is there flexibility to move the base salary closer to [target]?” |
Move 4: pause
After the ask, stop. You do not need to rescue three seconds of silence with “But obviously I understand if not, and really the current offer is fine, and sorry for asking…” That is you negotiating against yourself in real time.
Build your ask before the role-play
Role-play 1: “What number did you have in mind?”
Say your answer aloud before opening the model.
Open one possible response
“Based on [your evidence], I was hoping for something closer to [your target]. Is there room to move in that direction?”
Role-play 2: “The offer is fixed”
Open one possible response
“Thanks for clarifying. If the base is fixed, is there flexibility anywhere else in the package?”
If there is nothing else you genuinely want to discuss, you can simply ask for time to consider the offer.
Role-play 3: “We need approval”
Open one possible response
“Of course. Thanks for checking. When would be a reasonable time for me to follow up?”
How to ask for time
- “Thank you. I’d like a little time to consider the full offer. When do you need my response?”
- “I appreciate the clarification. Could I review everything and come back to you by [time you can genuinely commit to]?”
Do not invent deadlines or pretend you have another offer. Clear English does not require fake leverage.
Is asking directly aggressive?
No. A concise request can be completely professional. Aggression comes more from contempt, threats, pressure, personal attacks or dishonest ultimatums than from simply saying what you want.
Rehearse the ask and the awkward silence
Salary-negotiation English gets easier when you practise both the sentence and the pause after it.
Rehearse the ask and the awkward silence by choosing a speaking-practice path in FunFluen. The destination provides general English speaking practice; this exact salary-negotiation role-play is not preloaded, and FunFluen does not tell you what compensation target to choose.
The sentence to remember
Interest. Evidence. Clear ask. Pause.
You do not need to shrink the request until nobody can see it. And you do not need to turn it into a threat. Say what you are asking for, support it honestly, and give the other person room to respond.
For broader ideas on turning useful real-world English into active practice, continue with FunFluen’s media-based language learning hub.