Short English Sentences Daily Use
Do you want to say more than “Hi” and “How are you?”
Daily english conversation for kids to be used around the house describing. On your social life such as the small talk phrases or your professional life such as.
And would you like to sound like a native English speakernow (instead of waiting until you reach the advanced level)?
You’re in the right place!
Below are 30 basic phrases that people use every day. They are useful phrases that’ll also help your knowledge of English grow.
First, let’s look at a few ideas for how to learn these new phrases.
How to Learn Basic Phrases in English
As you read each phrase below for the first time, say it aloud four times. Yes, four times! (They’re short phrases.)
Then, print this list of phrases.
If you have a conversation partner, ask your exchange partner to say the phrases while you record them on a smartphone, computer or recording device. That way you can listen to the recording and practice the pronunciation by yourself at home.
Then, choose two phrases each day to focus on. Here’s what you could do every day to learn each phrase:
- Picture a situation in your mind where you could use the phrase. Imagine the other people in the scene and what they’re saying. See yourself saying the phrase.
- Listen/look for the phrase while you watch TV, listen to the radio, read blogs, etc. You can even search for a word or phrase in FluentU to instantly find authentic English videos that use it.
Plus, every FluentU video comes with built-in learning tools like vocabulary lists and interactive subtitles, so you’ll learn even more real-world English
- Then, use the phrase in casual writing. Write a tweet (on Twitter), a Facebook post or an email to a friend.
- Finally, use the phrase in 2-5 real conversations.
Write on your list and check off each phrase as you learn it.
By practicing two phrases each day, in 15 days you’ll know the whole list! Or if you learn one phrase each day, then in a month you’ll know these phrases really well!
Phrases for Anywhere
These first eight phrases can be used in many different situations.
1. Thanks so much.
This is a simple sentence you can use to thank someone.
To add detail, say:
Thanks so much + for + [noun] / [-ing verb].
For example:
Thanks so much for the birthday money.
Thanks so much for driving me home.
2. I really appreciate…
You can also use this phrase to thank someone. For example, you might say:
I really appreciate your help.
Or you can combine #1 and #2:
Thanks so much for cooking dinner. I really appreciate it.
Thanks so much.I really appreciate you cooking dinner.
3. Excuse me.
When you need to get through but there’s someone blocking your way, say “Excuse me.”
You can also say this phrase to politely get someone’s attention. For example:
Excuse me sir, you dropped your wallet.
Excuse me, do you know what time it is?
4. I’m sorry.
Use this phrase to apologize, whether for something big or small. Use “for” to give more detail. For example:
I’m sorry for being so late.
I’m sorry for the mess. I wasn’t expecting anyone today.
You can use “really” to show you’re very sorry for something:
I’m really sorry I didn’t invite you to the party.
5. What do you think?
When you want to hear someone’s opinion on a topic, use this question.
I’m not sure if we should paint the room yellow or blue. What do you think?
6. How does that sound?
If you suggest an idea or plan, use this phrase to find out what others think.
We could have dinner at 6, and then go to a movie. How does that sound?
Let’s hire a band to play music, and Brent can photograph the event. How does that sound?
7. That sounds great.
If you like an idea, you can respond to #6 with this phrase. “Great” can be replaced with any synonym, such as “awesome,” “perfect,” “excellent” or “fantastic.”
A: My mom is baking cookies this afternoon. We could go to my house and eat some. How does that sound?
B: That sounds fantastic!
8. (Oh) never mind.
Let’s say someone doesn’t understand an idea you’re trying to explain. If you’ve explained it over and over and want to stop, just say “oh, never mind.” You can now talk about something else!
You can also use “never mind” to mean “it doesn’t matter” or “just forget it.” In these situations, say it with a smile and positive tone, though. Otherwise, when you say this phrase slowly with a falling low tone, it can mean you’re bothered or upset.
A: Are you going to the grocery store today?
B: No, I’m not. But why—do you need something?
A: Oh, never mind. It’s okay, I’ll go tomorrow.
Phrases for Learning English
As an English learner, you’ll need to tell others that English is not your first language. You’ll also need to ask native speakers to repeat phrases and words or to speak slower. The following phrases will be useful for this.
9. I’m learning English.
This simple phrase tells people that English is not your native language. If you’re a total beginner, add “just started” after I: “I just started learning English.”
My name is Sophie and I’m learning English.
10. I don’t understand.
Use this phrase when you don’t understand what someone means.
Sorry, I don’t understand. The U.S. Electoral College seems very confusing!
11. Could you repeat that please?
If you’d like someone to say a word, question or phrase again, use this question. Since “to repeat” means “to say again,” you can also ask, “Could you say that again please?”
We can say “please” either at the end of the question or right after “you,” like this:
Could you please repeat that?
Could you repeat that please?
12. Could you please talk slower?
Native speakers can talk very fast. Fast English is hard to understand! This is an easy way to ask someone to speak more slowly.
Note: This phrase is not grammatically correct. However, it’s used often in everyday (casual) speech. The grammatically correct question would be, “Could you please talk more slowly?”
That’s because “slowly” is an adverb, so it describes verbs (like “talk”). “Slower” is a comparative adjective, which means it should be used to describe nouns (people, places or thing), not verbs. (For example: My car is slower than yours.)
A: You can give us a call any weekday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at five five five, two five zero eight, extension three three—
B: I’m sorry, could you please talk slower?
13. Thank you. That helps a lot.
After someone starts speaking more slowly for you, thank them with this phrase.
You can use it in many other situations, too.
A: Ben, could you please make the font bigger? It’s hard for me to read the words.
B: Sure! I’ll change it from size 10 to 16. How’s this?
A: Thank you. That helps a lot.
14. What does _____ mean?
When you hear or see a new word, use this phrase to ask what it means.
A: What does “font” mean?
B: It’s the style of letters, numbers and punctuation marks when you type. A common font in the USA is Times New Roman.
15. How do you spell that?
English spelling can be tricky, so make sure to learn this question. You could also ask someone, “Could you spell that for me?”
A: My name is Robbertah Handkerchief.
B: How do you spell that?
16. What do you mean?
When you understand the words one by one, but not what they mean together, use this question. You can ask it whenever you’re confused about what someone is telling you.
A: The Smiths do have a really nice house, but the grass is always greener on the other side.
B: What do you mean?
A: I mean that if we had the Smith’s house, we probably wouldn’t be happier. We always think other people have better lives than us, but other people have problems too.
Phrases for Introducing Yourself and Making Friends
Here are some phrases for introducing yourself when you meet new people, and questions to learn more about them.
17. Hi! I’m [Name]. (And you?)
Here’s an informal greeting you can use when you meet new friends. If the person doesn’t tell you their name, you can ask “And you?” or “And what’s your name?”
Hi! I’m Rebecca. And you?
18. Nice to meet you.
After you learn each other’s names, it’s polite to say this phrase.
A: Hi Rebecca, I’m Chad.
B: Nice to meet you, Chad.
A: Nice to meet you too.
19. Where are you from?
Ask this question to find out which country someone is from. You answer this question with “I’m from ~.”
Can you answer this question in English? Say both the question and answer aloud right now. (Four times, remember?)
A: Nice to meet you, Sergio. So, where are you from?
B: I’m from Spain.
20. What do you do?
Most adults ask each other this question when they meet. It means what do you do for a living (what is your job).
I think this question is boring, so I ask other questions. But many people will probably ask you this, so it’s important to know what it means.
A: What do you do, Cathleen?
B: I work at the university as a financial specialist.
21. What do you like to do (in your free time)?
Instead of asking for someone’s job title, I prefer to ask what they enjoy doing. The responses (answers) are usually much more interesting!
A: So Cathleen, what do you like to do in your free time?
B: I love to read and to garden. I picked two buckets of tomatoes last week!
22. What’s your phone number?
If you want to keep in contact with someone you just met, ask this question to find out their phone number. You can replace “phone number” with “email address” if you want to know their email address.
You might also hear people use the more casual “Can I get your ~?,” as in, “Can I get your phone number?”
It would be great to meet up again sometime. What’s your phone number?
23. Do you have Facebook?
Many people keep in touch (contact) through Facebook. Use this question to find out if someone has a Facebook account. You might also ask, “Are you on Facebook?”
Let’s keep in touch! Do you have Facebook?
Phrases for Work
Finally, here are seven basic phrases you might use at a job.
24. How can I help you?
If you work in customer service, you’ll use this phrase a lot. It’s also a common phrase when answering the phone.
[On the phone]: Hello, this is Rebecca speaking. How can I help you?
25. I’ll be with you in a moment.
When someone wants to see you, use this phrase if you need a minute to finish something first. If a client is waiting at a store, you can also use this phrase to show that their turn is next.
You can replace “moment” with “minute”: “I’ll be with you in (just) a minute.”
Another common phrase for this situation is “I’ll be right with you.”
Good morning! I’ll be with you in a moment.
26. What time is our meeting?
You can use this question’s structure to ask the time of any event: “What time is [event]?”
If you want to ask about a meeting on a certain day, add “on [day].” For example, “What time is our meeting on Thursday?”
What time is our meeting on Wednesday?
27. Please call me (back) at…
When you want someone to call you or to call you back (to return your call), use this phrase to give your phone number.
Hi, this is Cathleen from the financial office.
I’m wondering if you found those missing receipts.
Please call me back at 555-5555. Thanks!
28. (Oh really?) Actually, I thought…
When you disagree with someone, “Actually, I thought…” will make you sound kinder and more polite than saying “No” or “You’re wrong.” This phrase is useful when you have a different idea than someone else.
A: So Sam’s coming in tonight at 8, right?
B: Actually, I thought he wasn’t working at all this week.
A: Oh, ok. I’ll have to look at the schedule again.
29. Actually, I [verb]…
Just like in #28, you can use “actually, I…” with many different verbs: “heard,” “learned,” “am,” “can,” “can’t,” etc. You should use it for the same situation as above: when you have a different idea than someone else.
A: Did you finish the reports?
B: Actually, I am running a bit behind, but they’ll be done by noon!
C: When you type, always put two spaces between sentences.
D: Actually, I learned to put a single space between sentences.
30. I’m (just) about to [verb]…
When you’re going to start something very soon, you’re “just about to” do something.
I’m just about to send those faxes.
I’m about to go and pick up some coffee. Do you want anything?
These 30 phrases are just the beginning. There are many other easy English phrases you can learn as a beginner. When you’re ready, check out these posts for more:
Happy learning!
And One Last Tip About Learning English Phrases
What’s the key to learning conversational English?
Using the right content and tools.
After all, a regular textbook isn’t going to teach you the casual English phrases you need to know.
You need to learn from real English like it’s spoken on TV.
Well, there is a site designed to help you with just that: FluentU.
FluentU takes real-world videos like music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks and turns them into English learning experiences. You’ll learn English as it’s spoken in real life.
FluentU has a lot of fun videos—topics like popular talk shows, music videos and funny commercials, as you can see here:
FluentU makes it really easy to watch English videos. Don’t understand a word? With FluentU’s interactive subtitles, you can just tap on it to see an image, definition and useful examples.
For example, tap on the word “brought” and you see this:
And FluentU is not just for watching videos. FluentU is a complete system for learning English. Learn all the vocabulary in any video with useful questions. Multiple examples are always available for the word you’re learning.
The best part is that FluentU remembers your vocabulary. Using those words, FluentU recommends you new examples and videos. Your experience is truly personalized.
Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes store or from the Google Play store.
Rebecca Thering loved teaching English in Spain, South Korea and France. Now she’s building a supportive learning community at English With Rebe, the place to learn English through gratitude, a growth mindset and mindfulness.
If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn English with real-world videos.
Spoken English Tip #1:
Learn phrases, not just individual words
If you study individual English words in isolation, this is what happens:
When you need to speak, you have to think a lot in order to combine the individual words in the right order, using the right grammar, and in a way that makes sense.
That’s WAY too much work!
If you focus on learning phrases instead, then you will have ready answers and responses for any situation – no need to over-think. Focusing on phrases will help you speak English in complete sentences more naturally.
Spoken English Tip #2: Listen to more English
Listening to more English will improve your speaking
Most English learners read too much and listen too little.
But when babies and children learn English, they listen first – then speak – and later learn to read and write.
Half of a conversation is hearing the other person – and if you don’t understand what they’re saying, how can you respond correctly? So if you want to improve your English speaking, spend more time listening!
Bonus: Listening more will also help you naturally improve your pronunciation and reduce your accent.
Spoken English Tip #3: Practice speaking by yourself
(both reading aloud and speaking spontaneously)
When you speak English, there are two main difficulties:
- The mental difficulty of thinking of the English words to say
- The physical difficulty of pronouncing the English words correctly
Speaking English by yourself helps train your ability to put your ideas into words
Reading English texts out loud will help you with the second part without having to worry about the first part. It will train your mouth and lips to pronounce English words more easily.
Speaking English spontaneously by yourself is also EXTREMELY helpful in developing your ability to put your ideas into words… without the pressure of a real conversation. You can look at a list of discussion questions and respond out loud in English – speaking alone.
It might feel a little silly, but remember – this is GREAT training for your spoken English, and there’s nobody to hear your mistakes!
Spoken English Tip #4: Practice thinking in English
Do you think in your native language and then translate it into English in your head before speaking?
Don’t do this! It often results in sentences that don’t sound natural in English, because the sentence structure is often different in English and your native language.
Practice thinking in English to improve your fluency
Also, it takes WAY too much time to think and translate when you’re in a conversation.
One of the biggest secrets to speaking English fast and fluently is to learn to think directly in English. The great news is that this is is a skill you CAN develop with practice, and you can practice anytime – while taking the bus, while waiting in line, while sitting at home.
Try thinking in English for a few minutes today, to start building this habit!
Spoken English Tip #5:
Get an online conversation partner
“How can I practice speaking English if I have nobody to talk with?”
You can find a speaking partner on “conversation exchange” websites
There are “conversation exchange” websites where you can find a partner who speaks English, but wants to learn your native language.
You can then schedule a conversation session and speak half in English, half in your native language so that both of you can practice.
It’s also good to have someone help correct any errors in a relaxed, low-pressure situation.
Here are some examples of conversation exchange websites.
So if you don’t have a conversation partner, get one today – it will really help you practice your speaking.
Spoken English Tip #6: Remember that communication is more important than grammar
Do you get nervous when speaking because you’re afraid of making a mistake?
Remember that the #1 goal of speaking English is to communicate. Although grammar is important, it is less important than communication when speaking English.
Here’s a simple example – if you say:
“Yesterday I go to party on beach.”
The sentence isn’t grammatically correct, but it DOES successfully communicate your message, and an English speaker will understand you. It’s better to say something “wrong” and still communicate successfully than to say nothing!
Also, the grammar of spoken English is more flexible than the grammar of written English – so don’t worry too much about grammar when speaking.
Spoken English Tip #7: Speak slowly
Sloooooow down when speaking English – don’t “try” to speak too fast
Trying to speak English too fast won’t make you sound like a native speaker. Instead, it can actually make it more difficult for the other person to understand you.
Speaking English slowly has two advantages:
- It gives you more time to think of what to say
- It makes your speech clearer so the other person can understand
Over time and with practice, your spoken English will get faster naturally.
Spoken English Tip #8:
If you forget a word, use other words
It’s very common for English learners to stop a sentence in the middle because they’ve forgotten the word they want to use – but try to be creative. The other person can help you if you describe the word you want by using other English words.
Be creative – use other words when you can’t remember the word you want
For example, one of my students was describing a recipe, and he didn’t know the word for one of the vegetables. So he said “It’s white, and like a ball, and when you cut it, you cry.”
I said, “It’s an onion.”
So you can see that my student communicated successfully by using different words, even though he didn’t know the word he wanted to use.
Spoken English Tip #9:
Relax & have a positive, confident attitude
If you make a mistake or forget a word when you are speaking English – it’s OK! Don’t be nervous or afraid.
The person who you’re talking to will understand and be patient with you. If you are insecure when speaking English, it will be even more difficult to speak.
So DON’T say “My English is terrible” or “Sorry for my bad English.” These are negative comments and they’re not helpful.
Instead, think “I can speak English!” before every conversation in order to give yourself more confidence and help you speak better!
Spoken English Tip #10:
Learn real English phrases for everyday life
Today, you have the opportunity to take an English course that focuses on useful English in the context of conversations.
The Everyday English Speaking Course teaches you phrases from conversations
The Everyday English Speaking Course is a simple, fun, and effective way to learn new phrases and expressions – and improve your speaking ability.
Each lesson is based on conversations, and reading and listening to the dialogues will help you improve your understanding.
The next part of the lesson explains and expands upon the vocabulary you heard in the conversations, teaching you new expressions and showing you how to use them.
There are lots of practice phrases which you can listen to and repeat to improve your English speaking.
Finally, each lesson has quizzes to help you test yourself and remember the new phrases – and opportunities for you to send speaking samples and get feedback from me on your spoken English.
Learn English for Daily Life
In this course, you’ll learn how to speak English in the typical situations of daily life:
Talking on the phone
- Going to restaurants & going shopping
- Traveling: airport, hotel, & sightseeing
- Talking about hobbies & entertainment
Learn Social English
You’ll also learn important phrases for social English, so that you can interact with other English speakers successfully and confidently.
Learn social English
Agreeing & disagreeing
- Giving opinions & advice
- Asking & interrupting politely
- Expressing thoughts & feelings
Learn Practical English
The course also covers practical vocabulary for talking about:
Information
- Similarities & differences
- Certainty & probability
- Hypothetical situations
Interesting Topics in English
And finally, there are lessons on topics you don’t often find in textbooks:
Learn slang, interjections, and other interesting expressions
Slang & euphemisms
- Interjections & swearing
- Discourse markers
- Using vague language
Student Comments
More than 100 students have taken this course and enjoyed it.
They describe the course as…
“Very good with clear explanations”
“Useful for daily life”
“Brilliant, warm, nice, and concrete”
“Totally worth it!”
Would you like to learn new phrases
and improve your speaking, using the same
expressions as native English speakers?
Register for the Everyday English Speaking Course
and start speaking better today!
Other English websites charge a monthly fee for access, but when you sign up for Everyday English Speaking, you’ll get instant and permanent access to the 45 lessons in the course.
You can take the lessons online or download them to your computer, and there’s no time limit for finishing – you have access to the course forever.
You can take the lessons online or download and save them to your computer
Your investment in the course is $45 – that’s just $1 per lesson – and you can pay by credit card, debit card, or PayPal through a secure connection that keeps your information safe.
For payment by bank deposit in Brazil, contact me for details.
Everyday English Speaking Course
45 Lessons
One-time payment… permanent access
Everyday English Speaking Course – Lesson List
Lesson 1 – Telephone English Phrases
First let’s learn some essential telephone vocabulary, and then you’ll hear examples of formal and informal telephone conversations – learning phrases for making a call, answering a call, taking and leaving messages, and finishing the call.
Lesson 2 – Apartments & Neighborhoods
Today you’ll learn phrases for searching for an apartment and talking about where you live. At the end of today’s lesson, instead of a quiz, there’s an opportunity for you to send me a speaking sample. Don’t be shy!
Isiplot 1 3 keygen mac download. Lesson 3 – Talking About TV & Movies
Emily and Dave are a husband and wife who are relaxing in front of the TV on a Saturday night. Listen to them decide on which TV show to watch. Bill and Wanda are two friends who are chatting about movies; from their conversation, you’ll learn how to comment on movies.
Lesson 4 – Talking About Relationships
Today you’re going to learn phrases for talking about every stage of a romantic relationship – from the first impressions upon meeting each other, to starting a relationship, making it official, and breaking up.
Lesson 5 – Talking About Your Hobbies
The word “hobby” refers to an activity or interest that you do for pleasure or relaxation. In this lesson, you’ll learn vocabulary words for some of the most common indoor/outdoor hobbies, as well as phrases for talking about your passions.
Lesson 6 – Public Transportation
Today you’ll learn how to ask for information, buy a bus/train ticket, and take a taxi. After this lesson, you’ll be able to speak confidently when taking public transportation in English!
Lesson 7 – Driving & Directions
Listen to a conversation about a terrible road trip, and learn phrases for talking about driving actions/problems as well as asking for directions to your destination.
Lesson 8 – Restaurants – Part I
We’re going to eat out – that means eating at a restaurant. Today you’ll learn how to make reservations, what to say when you arrive at the restaurant, and how to understand the menu.
Lesson 9 – Restaurants – Part II
Today we’ll continue our restaurant lesson by learning how to order the food, how to pay the bill, and how to talk about your experience at the restaurant.
Lesson 10 – Ordering Drinks, Coffee, and a Pizza
I hope you’re still hungry, because today you’re going to learn how to order drinks at a bar, order coffee at a cafe, and order pizza for delivery.
Lesson 11 – At the Post Office and Bank
Today we’re going to run some errands. “Errands” are activities of daily life that you do outside your house. Let’s go to the post office – that’s the place where you can send mail and packages – and the bank.
Lesson 12 – Shopping
Today’s lesson is all about shopping – let’s begin by learning about the different types of stores. Then, you’ll hear typical dialogues when shopping for clothes and shopping at the supermarket.
Lesson 13 – Getting Sick & Going to the Doctor
Today you’re going to learn phrases for not feeling well, and how to talk to a doctor about health problems and treatments.
Lesson 14 – Crime & Safety
How to talk about different types of crime and criminals, the process of justice and punishments for crime, and how to report a crime to a police officer.
Lesson 15 – Talking about the Weather
In this lesson, you’ll learn practical words and phrases for describing the current weather and temperature as well as predicting weather conditions in the future.
Lesson 16 – Airport (Part 1)
Are you ready to take a trip? We’re going to start a series of lessons on practical English for use while traveling. Today we’re going to go through the airport step by step, learning important vocabulary and useful phrases along the way.
Lesson 17 – Airport (Part 2)
Today you’ll learn how to go through immigration and customs, what to say if you miss a flight, and how to report lost luggage.
Lesson 18 – At a Hotel
We’ll continue our lessons about practical travel English with dialogues for making a hotel reservation, checking in and checking out, and describing problems with your hotel room.
Lesson 19 – Sightseeing
Today’s dialogues focus on asking for tourist information and booking a tour. There are also two quizzes that test your listening ability.
Lesson 20 – Camping & Hiking
In today’s lesson, you’ll accompany George to the countryside and learn vocabulary and phrases for camping and hiking.
Lesson 21 – At the Beach
Listen to this conversation to learn phrases and vocabulary for describing a beach and talking about what you bring and what you can do there.
Lesson 22 – Social English: Basics
Many students are afraid of making a mistake or “saying the wrong thing” when talking with a native English speaker. These social English lessons will teach you phrases you can use with confidence in various social situations. Let’s start with some basic expressions.
Lesson 23: Likes, Dislikes, and Preferences
Denise and Robert are discussing a new design for their website. Listen to their conversations to learn various phrases for talking about things you like (or love), things you don’t like, and what you prefer.
Lesson 24: Invitations and Offers
Knowing how to make – and respond to – invitations and offers is a very important part of social English. It helps you build professional relationships as well as friendships. This lesson will teach you how to speak in these situations in a friendly way that’s appropriate for the context.
Lesson 25: Agreeing & Disagreeing
Co-workers Shannon and Cathy agree that there need to be some changes in their office – but when they present their proposal to vice-president Dan, he disagrees with every single one of their ideas. In today’s lesson, you’ll learn multiple phrases for agreeing and disagreeing in formal and informal situations.
Lesson 26: Arguing & Swearing
Yesterday you learned how to disagree politely – but what if the disagreement turns into a real argument? Listen to this conversation between Christine and Tara, who share an apartment, to learn some of the common phrases used for arguing.
Lesson 27: Apologizing & Expressing Regret
In yesterday’s lesson, you learned how to argue and swear in English – but after having an argument or fight, it’s important to apologize in order to maintain a good relationship! This lesson will teach you about the different ways to say you’re sorry and accept responsibility for what you did wrong.
Lesson 28: Expressing Concern, Sympathy, and Condolences
One of the most difficult social situations – for both native and non-native English speakers – is knowing what to say when someone tells you a piece of bad news. In today’s lesson, you’ll learn phrases for handling these conversations with sensitivity.
Lesson 29: Worrying, Reassuring, Cheering up, and Encouraging
In today’s conversation, Kate worries about her final exams and her older sister Robin tries to encourage her. In this lesson, you’ll learn phrases for expressing your concerns as well as helping other people feel better. D-link wireless lan card.
Lesson 30: Interrupting & Getting Back on Track
Knowing how to interrupt is an important skill in social English. The way you phrase your interruption will make a big difference in how it is received – so in today’s lesson, you’ll learn various phrases for interrupting politely.
Lesson 31: Asking Permission & Asking Indirect Questions
As you learned in the last lesson, the words you use make a big difference in whether your phrase is polite or impolite. Today we’re going to study examples of how to ask questions in a polite and indirect way.
Lesson 32: Common Interjections
Everyday spoken English contains lots of little expressions like wow, oops, aww, ooh, huh?oh, and cool! – each of these interjections serves to express a particular emotion or attitude.
Lesson 33: Common Euphemisms
Today’s lesson is about euphemisms. Euphemisms are indirect or vague expressions that are often used instead of words or phrases that are thought to be offensive or too direct. Most euphemisms are in topic areas that could be offensive if talked about too directly, such as love and sex, bodily functions, death, and mental capacity.
Lesson 34: Talking about Information
Today we’ll begin the final section of the Everyday English Speaking Course – it’s called functional English, and it focuses on practical phrases that you can use in a variety of situations and contexts. We’ll start this section by learning how to talk about information.
Lesson 35: Certainty & Probability
Today you’ll learn how to talk about certainty and probability – including all those confusing phrases like “I’m pretty sure,” “must have,” “might have,” “could have,” etc.
Lesson 36: Similarities & Differences
Kate mistakes a person in the supermarket for a friend of hers – and Jen tries to decide between two very different universities. These two dialogues will teach you various expressions for talking about similarities and differences.
Lesson 37: Talking about Decisions
How can you talk about easy and difficult decisions in English? What’s the difference between “undecided” and “indecisive”? And what are some phrases for evaluating a decision after it was made? You’ll learn the answers to all these questions in today’s lesson.
Lesson 38: Opinions & Advice
In today’s conversations, you’ll learn a number of different phrases for asking for someone’s opinion, giving your opinion, requesting advice, and giving advice.
Lesson 39: Complaining & Criticizing
When we want to make a complaint or criticism in English, we often use specific words or phrases to make it politer and less direct. This helps the other person to listen and understand the complaint/criticism without getting defensive.
Lesson 40: Discourse Markers
Today’s lesson is on some of the most common discourse markers. What are discourse markers? They’re words or small phrases that express the connections between ideas when writing or speaking. You’ve already learned some of these in this course: for example, starting a sentence with “as I was saying,” to get back to the topic after an interruption.
Lesson 41: Idioms for Feelings
Idioms are small phrases that often have a different meaning than their individual words. Although idioms are not usually used in more formal written English, they are extremely common in spoken English – and we have a number of idioms to describe feelings and emotions.
Lesson 42: Using Vague Language
In spoken English, it’s very common to use vague (not precise or exact) expressions. Listen to today’s conversation: Martha is waiting for her teenage daughter, Rachel, to get home from a rock concert. Rachel finally walks in the door at 12:30 AM.
Lesson 43: Talking about Hypothetical Situations
This is often one of the most difficult grammar challenges for English learners. We use the second conditional and third conditional to do it. In today’s lesson, you’ll see examples in two interviews.
Lesson 44: Common Slang
Slang is not usually taught in textbooks, and you won’t hear it in academic or professional situations – but in movies, TV shows, and informal conversations, these words are used frequently. In today’s lesson, you’re going to learn 15 common slang words used in American English.
Lesson 45: Differences between Speaking & Writing in English
There are some real differences between written and spoken English in terms of vocabulary and grammar. In this lesson, you’ll learn three major ways that spoken English is different from written English.