Using Small Talk Phrases in English - By Learn English with EnglishClass101.com
Transcript
00:0-1 | Hi everybody , my name is Alicia . Welcome back | |
00:02 | to top words in this lesson . We're gonna look | |
00:04 | at the top 20 useful phrases for small talk before | |
00:08 | we get started . A quick note , you can | |
00:10 | find for free from the link below this video . | |
00:13 | In the Youtube description , a bunch of pdf conversation | |
00:16 | and phrase cheat sheet . So if you want to | |
00:18 | work on building your vocabulary or building your everyday phrase | |
00:22 | knowledge , you should check these out . I think | |
00:24 | this survival phrases one is a pretty good one for | |
00:27 | today's lesson . You can use these expressions around your | |
00:30 | town throughout the day and of course , there are | |
00:32 | many other topics to look at too . So don't | |
00:35 | forget to check this out . You can find this | |
00:37 | from the link below the video on Youtube . Okay | |
00:40 | , let's get on with the video . You look | |
00:42 | great . You look great , so you look great | |
00:47 | , is a good way to great . Another person | |
00:49 | . You should use this when someone has had a | |
00:52 | new haircut or maybe they have a new shirt or | |
00:56 | something cool that they're wearing . You want to express | |
00:58 | that someone looks really nice , you can say you | |
01:00 | look great . Next is how are things ? How | |
01:05 | are things ? So how are things ? Is like | |
01:09 | a more casual way of saying , how are you | |
01:12 | ? How are things means like how are things in | |
01:15 | your life ? Things here means everything . Your job | |
01:19 | , your work , whatever , your school , your | |
01:21 | relationships , your family . How are things in general | |
01:25 | ? Okay , let's go to the next phrase . | |
01:28 | What a coincidence . What a coincidence . What a | |
01:34 | coincidence is . Used to express surprise . So this | |
01:37 | word is spelled kind of strangely , it's pronounced coincidence | |
01:41 | , coincidence . It means that two things , two | |
01:43 | or more things that you might not expect to happen | |
01:46 | at the same time or in the same way did | |
01:49 | happen . So , for example , if you meet | |
01:51 | a coworker unexpectedly when you're shopping or you go to | |
01:54 | a coffee shop and you see someone you know there | |
01:57 | , you might say , wow , what a coincidence | |
01:59 | . So you didn't expect this thing to happen , | |
02:01 | but here you are . So you can express your | |
02:03 | surprise with this expression , like , well , what | |
02:06 | a coincidence . I ran into you at the coffee | |
02:08 | shop , who'd a thought , Okay , let's get | |
02:11 | on to the next expression . That's great , That's | |
02:15 | great . Okay , so that's great . Is good | |
02:19 | to know . It's a super basic expression , but | |
02:21 | you can use it to respond to someone else's good | |
02:24 | news . Someone shares something positive , happy , good | |
02:27 | , whatever it is , just say that's great , | |
02:29 | you can change great out for awesome or super or | |
02:32 | whatever it is you feel like , but that's great | |
02:35 | , is a good basic phrase you can use just | |
02:37 | about anytime . Okay , let's get to the next | |
02:40 | expression . Next is good for you , good for | |
02:45 | you . Okay , so good for you is used | |
02:49 | to express like happiness for another person's good news . | |
02:53 | So this is different from that's great because good for | |
02:57 | you is like kind of noting that someone made an | |
03:00 | improvement in their life . Someone did something that was | |
03:04 | good for them specifically . So maybe someone started a | |
03:07 | new exercise habit and it's really positive or maybe they | |
03:11 | ended a bad relationship or they started a new job | |
03:14 | at a good place in those cases where someone has | |
03:17 | made some personal improvement , you can say good for | |
03:20 | you , good for you , Okay , onto the | |
03:22 | next expression , How are you ? How are you | |
03:28 | ? So how are you ? Is this super basic | |
03:30 | greeting ? You can use it with anybody in your | |
03:32 | life ? Really ? How are you ? Is generally | |
03:35 | not replied to seriously . We usually just say I'm | |
03:38 | good , I'm fine , I'm okay . How are | |
03:41 | you ? So you don't really need to take this | |
03:43 | expression too seriously ? But just say how are you | |
03:46 | to show your thinking of the other person ? Okay | |
03:49 | . On to the next expression next . Is is | |
03:53 | everything going fine ? Is everything going fine ? So | |
03:58 | this expression and one that I personally would use , | |
04:01 | I would probably say is everything going okay is used | |
04:05 | if maybe you think the other person might be struggling | |
04:09 | with something or they might have some kind of challenge | |
04:11 | or maybe some kind of problem . It's kind of | |
04:14 | used to say like do you want to talk about | |
04:16 | something or do you want to discuss something ? You | |
04:19 | could use it if you're concerned . You can also | |
04:21 | just use it as like an everyday greeting . Like | |
04:24 | hey , how are you ? Is everything going okay | |
04:26 | ? So just to show that you're thinking of the | |
04:28 | other person's life . But yeah , if you use | |
04:30 | a more concerned tone with this , like is everything | |
04:33 | going okay ? You can show that you've maybe noticed | |
04:36 | something about the other person to you might want to | |
04:39 | show it's okay to talk about it . So depending | |
04:42 | on your intonation , you can communicate some different ideas | |
04:45 | with this expression . All right onto the next one | |
04:47 | . Okay , you won't believe this , You won't | |
04:52 | believe this , Okay , You won't believe this is | |
04:55 | used before you share like some kind of surprising information | |
04:59 | or exciting information . You might also hear you're not | |
05:03 | gonna believe this , which is a reduced form of | |
05:06 | you are not going to believe this , You won't | |
05:08 | believe this , but is very common . So it's | |
05:11 | like saying I have something so surprising that you probably | |
05:15 | will not believe the information . But here it is | |
05:19 | . So you can share something surprising or exciting with | |
05:22 | this phrase . Okay , onward . Next is I | |
05:27 | haven't seen you for ages . I haven't seen you | |
05:30 | for ages . Okay , so use this expression instead | |
05:35 | of long time . No see or you can use | |
05:37 | them together like a long time . No , see | |
05:39 | I haven't seen you for ages . So an age | |
05:42 | is a very long time . The word age . | |
05:45 | So ages is therefore a very , very long time | |
05:49 | , multiple ages . So when you say I haven't | |
05:51 | seen you for ages , it means I haven't seen | |
05:54 | you in a very long time . You use this | |
05:56 | as a greeting as I said , Hey , long | |
05:58 | time . No , see I haven't seen you in | |
06:00 | ages . How have you been , for example ? | |
06:03 | Okay , next expression , the next expression is that's | |
06:07 | terrible . That's terrible . Okay , so when someone | |
06:12 | shares bad news , something bad that happened to them | |
06:15 | , you should respond with something that shows you understand | |
06:19 | their point of view say that's terrible or that's awful | |
06:22 | or that's too bad . So terrible means very bad | |
06:26 | . So if you want to sound like really caring | |
06:29 | about something bad that happened to another person , use | |
06:33 | this expression , you lost your job . That's terrible | |
06:36 | . I'm so sorry to hear that . Okay . | |
06:39 | On to the next expression , Okay . I'd better | |
06:42 | let you go . I'd better let you go . | |
06:47 | Okay . I better let you go . This is | |
06:49 | the reduced form of I had better let you go | |
06:53 | . We use this when we're talking to someone on | |
06:56 | the phone or maybe when we're having an in person | |
06:58 | conversation in the office to let someone go means like | |
07:03 | to release them from something in this case to release | |
07:06 | them from a conversation . So when you say I | |
07:09 | better let you go . It's showing , I think | |
07:12 | you're busy . It's showing the other person you understand | |
07:15 | they're busy and they have something to do . So | |
07:18 | if you're talking to a busy person and you realize | |
07:20 | , oh my gosh , we talked for so long | |
07:22 | . We've been talking for a long time . You | |
07:25 | can say sorry , I better let you go , | |
07:27 | meaning I recognize you're a busy person and you need | |
07:30 | to do other things . So use this to end | |
07:32 | the conversation quickly . Of course , you can also | |
07:35 | use this to escape a conversation you are ready to | |
07:37 | be finished with . Okay , let's go to the | |
07:39 | next expression . Next is did you catch the news | |
07:43 | today ? Did you catch the news today ? So | |
07:48 | use this as a greeting or as a way to | |
07:50 | start a conversation if you want to talk about current | |
07:53 | events . So did you catch the news today or | |
07:56 | did you see the news this morning is also okay | |
07:59 | . It just shows you want to talk about recent | |
08:01 | events with someone . So use this maybe with someone | |
08:05 | that you're okay to talk about . These kinds of | |
08:07 | topics with okay on to the next phrase , okay | |
08:11 | , nice day outside , isn't it ? Nice day | |
08:14 | outside , isn't it nice day outside ? Just refers | |
08:19 | to the weather so you can use any kind of | |
08:21 | weather and follow it with , isn't it ? You | |
08:23 | can use rainy today , isn't it ? Or windy | |
08:26 | today , isn't it ? So that isn't it shows | |
08:29 | you're looking for confirmation from the other person Nice day | |
08:32 | outside , isn't it ? And of course you can | |
08:34 | drop outside if you really want to . Of course | |
08:37 | the weather is outside , but this is just an | |
08:39 | expression that we use are Nice day today would also | |
08:43 | be okay . So you're just starting a conversation by | |
08:46 | talking about the weather and finding a small point you | |
08:48 | can both agree upon . Okay on to the next | |
08:51 | expression . Okay , next . Is have you been | |
08:55 | waiting long ? Have you been waiting long use ? | |
09:00 | Have you been waiting long when you are supposed to | |
09:03 | meet another person and maybe they arrived before you and | |
09:07 | you're worried that they waited a long time for you | |
09:11 | . So if you , for example , we're supposed | |
09:13 | to meet at one o'clock and you arrive at 1 | |
09:16 | 15 , you might say to the other person , | |
09:18 | have you been waiting long ? So you don't know | |
09:21 | how long that person has been waiting ? Maybe they | |
09:23 | got there 15 minutes early , you're showing that you | |
09:26 | have concern for their time with this expression . Have | |
09:29 | you been waiting long ? Sorry ? Okay . Next | |
09:32 | is it's good to have you here . It's good | |
09:36 | to have you here use this expression when you're hosting | |
09:41 | a party , hosting an event or maybe you have | |
09:44 | a guest in your office . Someone who's not usually | |
09:47 | around is in your circle for the day . You | |
09:50 | can say it's good to have you here or it's | |
09:52 | nice to have you here . That shows that you | |
09:55 | recognize that they are a new person , but you | |
09:57 | want them to feel welcome . It's good to have | |
09:59 | you here , you could use this at a house | |
10:01 | , party and dinner event and so on . Okay | |
10:04 | , next expression is what brings you here ? What | |
10:09 | brings you here ? Okay , so this question is | |
10:13 | a much softer way of saying why are you here | |
10:16 | ? So if you say why are you here ? | |
10:18 | It might sound a little too direct . Instead , | |
10:21 | say what brings you here ? You could say maybe | |
10:24 | why did you decide to come to this event if | |
10:27 | you want ? Or you could ask , what brings | |
10:29 | you here today specifically ? So these are always to | |
10:33 | say why did you come here ? But they sound | |
10:35 | much softer and less aggressive . Okay , on to | |
10:39 | the next expression . Do you mind me asking ? | |
10:44 | Do you mind me asking ? Okay , do you | |
10:48 | mind me asking is used before ? A topic Before | |
10:52 | ? A question that might be a little bit sensitive | |
10:56 | . So if you want to ask about a person's | |
10:58 | age maybe , or if you want to ask about | |
11:00 | maybe where a person works or maybe where they're from | |
11:04 | , it could be any kind of information that you | |
11:06 | feel is a little bit sensitive . You can use | |
11:09 | do you mind me asking before you ask that ? | |
11:11 | For example , you might say , do you mind | |
11:13 | me asking ? How old are you or do you | |
11:15 | mind me asking where are you from ? So it | |
11:18 | shows that you are concerned ? It might be a | |
11:20 | slightly sensitive question and it gives the other person the | |
11:24 | option to refuse . So do you mind me asking | |
11:28 | ? So you can use this in more sensitive topics | |
11:31 | ? I think . Okay , next expression , are | |
11:34 | you from around here ? Are you from around here | |
11:38 | ? Are you from around here is the first time | |
11:40 | greeting questions . So you've just met someone , You've | |
11:43 | exchanged names , you can say , are you from | |
11:46 | around here ? That means is your hometown or the | |
11:48 | place where you grew up near where we are now | |
11:51 | ? Are you from around this area specifically ? So | |
11:55 | this is maybe a more casual way of saying , | |
11:57 | where are you from ? Its suggesting that the other | |
12:00 | person might be from the local region . Are you | |
12:03 | from around you ? I just moved . Okay . | |
12:06 | Next expression is I need your help with this matter | |
12:11 | . I need your help with this matter . Okay | |
12:14 | , this is a rather formal expression . You would | |
12:16 | not use this with your friends or your family members | |
12:19 | . It sounds too formal . Use this at work | |
12:22 | or maybe in a study of professional , more professional | |
12:25 | , kind of polite study situation . I need your | |
12:27 | help with this matter or just I need your help | |
12:30 | with this . I probably would not say matter in | |
12:33 | this sentence , but you might see it or hear | |
12:35 | it from time to time . So use this when | |
12:37 | you need someone's assistance with something and you need to | |
12:40 | be polite about it . Like I need your help | |
12:43 | with this paper I'm writing . Could you please take | |
12:45 | a look at it so I need your help with | |
12:47 | this . So use that expression when you want to | |
12:49 | politely ask someone for help . Okay , let's get | |
12:52 | to the last expression . Have fun . Have fun | |
12:59 | . So you have fun when someone else is going | |
13:02 | to do something that seems fun . So you say | |
13:05 | goodbye to your family members before they leave for an | |
13:08 | exciting trip , you could say have fun or you | |
13:11 | see your co workers at the end of the day | |
13:14 | , they decided to go for drinks , but you're | |
13:15 | feeling tired but you want to wish them well , | |
13:18 | You can say have fun and say goodbye in that | |
13:20 | way , So have fun is a very positive happy | |
13:23 | expression . Some people will use it to sound a | |
13:26 | little bit sarcastic if they want to attend something , | |
13:29 | but they're not attending , but generally we use this | |
13:32 | in a very positive way to say goodbye . I | |
13:34 | hope you have a good time . Alright . That | |
13:37 | brings us to the end of the top 20 useful | |
13:39 | phrases for small talk . What did you think ? | |
13:41 | You can let us know in the comments and don't | |
13:44 | forget to click the link in the description to get | |
13:46 | your free pdf cheat sheets to learn even more useful | |
13:49 | . English words and phrases . You can download them | |
13:51 | to any device or print them out . They're yours | |
13:54 | to keep . So click the link and get them | |
13:55 | for free . Thanks for watching , and I'll see | |
13:57 | you in the next video . Bye . Great work | |
14:00 | . Here's a reward . Speed up your language learning | |
14:03 | with our pdf lessons . Get all of our best | |
14:05 | pdf cheat sheets and e books for free . Just | |
14:08 | click the link in the description . |
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