NEW: English for Tech Bundle → Save 40%
Speak Tech English
Your progress…

Loading your progress…

Sign in to save progress
Home
Business communicationverb phrase (idiom) · /tʌtʃ beɪs/

touch base

Sign in to hear it
In simple English

To briefly connect with a colleague to exchange updates, check status, or align on something — typically informal and quick.

Someone wants to understand what "touch base" means when a coworker says it in a meeting or message.

At a glanceCEFR B1–B2
Commonness
Versatility
FormalityCasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticDiplomatic
Region

Say it like this

✓Let's touch base tomorrow morning.
✓I wanted to touch base with you about the timeline.
✓Can we touch base after the sprint ends?
✓Just touching base to see how things are going.
✓I'll touch base with the design team before we finalize.

Real examples

Standup

"I'll touch base with QA today to confirm the test cases."

Slack message

"Hey, can we touch base later about the API changes?"

GitHub PR

"I touched base with the security team and they approved this approach."

Jira ticket

"Touched base with stakeholders — requirements are confirmed."

Retrospective

"We should touch base more often to avoid miscommunication."

Sprint planning

"Let's touch base with DevOps before committing to this deadline."

Pair programming

"Let me touch base with Sarah first — she worked on this module last week."

Don't say this

✕I will touch base you tomorrow.
✓I will touch base with you tomorrow.— You always 'touch base WITH' someone — the preposition 'with' is required.
✕Let's touch a base about the project.
✓Let's touch base about the project.— 'Touch base' is a fixed phrase. Don't add 'a' before 'base'.
✕I touched bases with the team.
✓I touched base with the team.— 'Base' stays singular in this idiom, even when talking about multiple people.

Other forms

base form

touch base

"Let's touch base tomorrow."

past tense

touched base

"I touched base with him yesterday."

present continuous

touching base

"Just touching base about the deadline."

infinitive

to touch base

"I wanted to touch base with you."

Often used with

touch base withThe most common form — always followed by a person or team.
quickly touch baseEmphasizes the conversation will be short.
touch base aboutIntroduces the topic you want to discuss.
touch base before/afterSets timing for the conversation.
just touching baseA soft opener for messages — sounds friendly and low-pressure.

Similar words

check inVery similar — slightly more casual, often used for wellbeing.
catch upImplies a longer conversation, often about multiple topics.
sync upMore tech-focused — emphasizes alignment on work items.
loop inMeans to include someone — not exactly the same but related.
follow upUsually about a specific previous conversation or task.

Opposites

ignoreleave outdisconnectlose touch

More words

sync upcheck infollow uploop inheads upcatch upcircle back

Questions

Want more structured practice like this? Our English for Programmers course covers real workplace English in depth.

Sign in to mark this lesson complete and track it in your course progress.

Sign in

Sign in to collect badges as you complete lessons.

XLinkedIn
← Back to home