Using Small Talk Phrases in English

hi everybody my name is alicia welcome

going to look at the top 20 useful

phrases for small talk

before we get started a quick note you

can find for free from the link below

this video in the youtube description a

bunch of pdf conversation and phrase

cheat sheets so if you want to work on

building your vocabulary or building

your everyday phrase knowledge you

should check these out i think this

survival phrases one is a pretty good

one for today’s lesson you can use these

expressions around your town throughout

the day and of course there are many

other topics to look at too so don’t

forget to check these out you can find

this from the link below the video on

youtube okay let’s get on with the video

you look great you look great

so you look great is a good way to greet

another person you should use this when

someone has had a new haircut or maybe

they have a new

shirt or something cool that they’re

wearing you want to express that someone

looks really nice you can say you look

great

next is

how are things

so how are things is like a more casual

way of saying how are you how are things

means like how are things in your life

things here means everything your job

your work whatever your school your

relationships your family how are things

in general okay let’s go to the next

phrase

what a coincidence

what a coincidence is used to express

surprise so this word is spelled kind of

strangely it’s pronounced coincidence

coincidence it means that two things two

or more things

that you might not expect to happen at

the same time or in the same way

did happen so for example if you meet a

co-worker unexpectedly when you’re

shopping or you go to a coffee shop and

you see someone you know there you might

say wow what a coincidence so you didn’t

expect this thing to happen but here you

are so you can express your surprise

with this expression like what a

coincidence i ran into you at the coffee

shop who’d have thought

okay let’s get on to the next expression

that’s great

okay so that’s great is good to know

it’s a super basic expression but you

can use it to respond to someone else’s

good news someone share something

positive happy good whatever it is just

say that’s great you can change grade

out for awesome or super or whatever it

is you feel like but that’s great is a

good basic phrase you can use just about

any time okay let’s get to the next

expression

next is

good for you

okay so good for you is used to express

like happiness for another person’s good

news so this is different from that’s

great because good for you is like

kind of noting that someone made an

improvement in their life someone did

something that was good for them

specifically so maybe someone started a

new exercise habit and it’s really

positive or maybe they ended a bad

relationship or they started a new job

at a good place in those cases where

someone has made some personal

improvement you can say good for you

good for you okay on to the next

expression

how are you

so how are you is a super basic greeting

you can use it with anybody in your life

really how are you is generally not

replied too seriously we usually just

say i’m good i’m fine i’m okay how are

you so you don’t really need to take

this expression too seriously but just

say how are you to show you’re thinking

of the other person okay on to the next

expression

next is

is everything going fine

so this expression and one that i

personally would use i would probably

say is everything going okay

is used if maybe you think the other

person might be struggling with

something or they might have some kind

of challenge or maybe some kind of

problem it’s kind of used to say like do

you want to talk about something or do

you want to discuss something

you could use it if you’re concerned you

can also just use it as like an everyday

greeting like hey how are you is

everything going okay so just to show

that you’re thinking of the other

person’s life but yeah if you use a more

concerned tone with this like is

everything going okay you can show that

you’ve maybe noticed something about the

other person too and you might want to

show it’s okay to talk about it so

depending on your intonation you can

communicate some different ideas with

this expression all right on to the next

one

you won’t believe this

okay you won’t believe this is used

before you share ex like some kind of

surprising information or exciting

information you might also hear you’re

not gonna believe this which is a

reduced form of you are not going to

believe this you won’t believe this but

is very common so it’s like saying i

have something so surprising that you

probably will not believe the

information but here it is so you can

share something surprising or exciting

with this phrase

okay onward next is

i haven’t seen you for ages

okay so use this expression instead of

long time no c or you can use them

together like a long time no see i

haven’t seen you for ages so an age is a

very long time the word age so ages is

there for a very very long time multiple

ages so when you say i haven’t seen you

for ages it means i haven’t seen you in

a very long time you use this as a

greeting as i said hey long time no see

i haven’t seen you in ages how have you

been for example

okay next expression the next expression

is that’s terrible

that’s terrible

okay so when someone shares bad news

something bad that happened to them you

should respond with something that shows

you understand their point of view say

that’s terrible or that’s awful or

that’s too bad so terrible means very

bad so if you want to sound like you

know really caring about something bad

that happened to another person use this

expression you lost your job that’s

terrible i’m so sorry to hear that

okay on to the next expression

i’d better let you go

okay i’d better let you go this is the

reduced form of i had better let you go

we use this when we’re talking to

someone on the phone or maybe when we’re

having an in-person conversation in the

office to let someone go

means like to release them from

something in this case to release them

from a conversation

so when you say i better let you go it’s

showing i think you’re busy it’s showing

the other person you understand they’re

busy and they have something to do so if

you’re talking to a busy person and you

realize oh my gosh we talked for so long

we’ve been talking for a long time you

can say uh sorry i’d better let you go

meaning i recognize you’re a busy person

and you need to do other things so use

this to end a conversation quickly of

course you can also use this to escape a

conversation you are ready to be

finished with okay let’s go to the next

expression

next is

did you catch the news today

so use this as a greeting or as a way to

start a conversation if you want to talk

about current events so did you catch

the news today or did you see the news

this morning is also okay it just shows

you want to talk about recent events

with someone so use this maybe with

someone that you’re okay to talk about

these kinds of topics with okay on to

the next phrase nice day outside isn’t

nice day outside isn’t it

nice day outside just refers to the

weather so you can use any kind of

weather and follow it with isn’t it you

can use rainy today isn’t it or oh windy

today isn’t it so that isn’t it shows

you’re looking for confirmation from the

other person nice day outside isn’t it

and of course you can drop outside if

you really want to of course the weather

is outside but this is just an

expression that we use our nice day

today would also be okay so you’re just

starting a conversation by talking about

the weather and finding a small point

you can both agree upon

okay on to the next expression

next is

have you been waiting long

use have you been waiting long when you

are supposed to meet another person

and maybe they arrive before you and

you’re worried that they waited a long

time for you so if you for example were

supposed to meet at one o’clock and you

arrive at 1 15 you might say to the

other person have you been waiting long

so you don’t know how long that person

has been waiting maybe they got there 15

minutes early you’re showing that you

have concern for their time with this

expression have you been waiting long

sorry

okay next is

it’s good to have you here

use this expression when you’re hosting

a party hosting an event or maybe you

have a guest in your office someone

who’s not usually around is in your

circle for the day you can say it’s good

to have you here or it’s nice to have

you here that shows that you recognize

that they are a new person but you want

them to feel welcome it’s good to have

you here you could use this at a house

party a dinner event and so on okay next

expression is

what brings you here

okay so this question is a much softer

way of saying why are you here so if you

say why are you here it might sound a

little too direct instead say what

brings you here you could say maybe why

did you decide to come to this event if

you want or you could ask what brings

you here today specifically so these are

all ways to say why did you come here

but they sound much softer and less

aggressive

okay on to the next expression

do you mind me asking

okay do you mind me asking is used

before a topic or before a question that

might be a little bit sensitive so if

you want to ask about a person’s age

maybe or if you want to ask about maybe

where a person works or maybe where

they’re from

it could be any kind of information that

you feel is a little bit sensitive you

can use do you mind me asking before you

ask that for example you might say do

you mind me asking how old are you or do

you mind me asking where are you from so

it shows that you are concerned it might

be a slightly sensitive question and it

gives the other person the option to

refuse so do you mind me asking

so you can use this in more sensitive

topics i think okay next expression

are you from around here

are you from around here is a first time

greeting question so you’ve just met

someone you’ve exchanged names you can

say are you from around here that means

is your hometown or the place where you

grew up near where we are now are you

from around this area specifically so

this is maybe a more casual way of

saying where are you from it’s

suggesting that the other person might

be from the local region are you from

around here i just moved

okay next expression is

i need your help with this matter

okay this is a rather formal expression

you would not use this with your friends

or your family members it sounds too

formal use this at work or maybe in a

study a professional more professional

kind of polite study situation i need

your help with this matter or just i

need your help with this i probably

would not say matter in this sentence

but you might see it or hear it from

time to time so use this when you need

someone’s assistance with something and

you need to be polite about it like i

need your help with this paper i’m

writing could you please take a look at

it so i need your help with this so use

that expression when you want to

politely ask someone for help

okay let’s get to the last expression

have fun

so use have fun when someone else is

going to do something that seems fun so

you say goodbye to your family members

before they leave for an exciting trip

you could say have fun

or you see your co-workers at the end of

the day they decide to go for drinks but

you’re feeling tired but you want to

wish them well you can say have fun and

say goodbye in that way so have fun is a

very positive happy expression some

people will use it to sound a little bit

sarcastic if they want to attend

something but they’re not attending but

generally we use this in a very positive

way to say goodbye i hope you have a

good time alright that brings us to the

end of the top 20 useful phrases for

small talk what did you think you can

let us know in the comments and don’t

forget to click the link in the

description to get your free pdf cheat

sheets to learn even more useful english

words and phrases you can download them

to any device or print them out they’re

yours to keep so click the link and get

them for free thanks for watching and

i’ll see you in the next video bye

great work here’s a reward speed up your

language learning with our pdf lessons

get all of our best pdf cheat sheets and

ebooks for free just click the link in

the description