I don't want to hear any excuses.

When people make mistakes or don't do the things they were supposed to, sometimes they try to give reasons why they didn't do it. For example:

Sorry I'm late. The traffic on the way in was crazy!

It's not fair. I wasn't given enough time to finish.

If you don't think the reason is good enough, you might say that this person is "making excuses".

If your children or employees make excuses to explain their mistakes, you can use this expression to tell them that you won't accept their reasons:

I don't want to hear any excuses. Just fix it!

I don't want to hear any excuses. You should have thought of that before you agreed to do it.

There's also a shorter version of this:

I don't want to hear it!

You need to (do something)

"You need to ___" is a really strong and direct way of giving someone advice or orders. It's usually used by parents, teachers, and bosses. It's usually used when they're angry or annoyed:

You need to stop talking and pay attention.

You need to get the account manager on the phone and tell him you're sorry, but you made a mistake.

take responsibility for (something)

The phrase "take responsibility" means to accept the negative consequences of a mistake. In other words, if there's a problem, you either fix it yourself or

"Take responsibility" is used in the following ways:

• take responsibility for (oneself)

  You've got to start to take responsibility for yourself!

• take responsibility for (one's actions)

  You need to learn to take responsibility for your own mistakes.

• take responsibility for (doing something wrong)

  I think that, if anyone, Amy should be the one to take responsibility for losing the account.

• take full responsibility

  Please forgive me. I take full responsibility.