20 Essential English Phrases for Daily Conversation
Vanessa: Hi.
I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
What do native English speakers really say
in daily conversation?
Let’s talk about it.
Vanessa: Recently, during daily conversation,
I’ve noticed that a lot of the same phrases
come up again and again.
And I think that even in different cultures
these same situations happen in conversation.
I want to help you use the best, most natural
phrases so today we’re going to talk about
20 phrases that are essential for daily conversation.
These phrases fit into five different categories:
someone tells you about changing plans, someone
tells you something surprising, someone invites
you somewhere, you want to tell or ask someone
something briefly, or you want to wish someone
well.
Vanessa: So let’s start with the first category,
which is what can you say when someone tells
you about changing plans.
Recently, our babysitter told us that she
had already scheduled something on the same
day that she told us she could come to our
house and watch our two-year-old.
Thankfully, I didn’t really have something
planned for that time that she was going to
come.
I just wanted some free time.
So what could I have told her in that situation?
She’s changing our plans, and she feels kind
of bad.
I’m so sorry.
I forgot that I already had this other thing
scheduled.
What can I say to her?
Don’t worry about it.
No worries.
No problem.
No biggie.
Things happen.
I could have said all five of these, in fact.
Let’s go through each of them.
Vanessa: I used don’t worry about it because
she was pretty apologetic that she had to
change her plans with us.
I don’t want her to worry about causing us
any discomfort.
Don’t worry about it.
It’s no problem.
No worries.
No biggie.
Those are pretty casual expressions that are
common in daily conversation.
Vanessa: What about that last one?
Things happen.
What is things?
It means situations.
We’re all human, I think.
And it’s human to double-book sometimes, to
forget you had other plans.
So these situations happen occasionally.
Things happen.
Don’t worry about it.
It’s not a big deal.
Vanessa: Another common expression is things
come up.
But this wouldn’t have been appropriate in
the situation with the babysitter because
things come up means that some situations
happen unexpectedly.
Maybe your mom’s car breaks down and you have
to take her to work so you can’t come and
babysit like you said you would.
Okay.
That’s an unexpected situation.
Things come up.
You know, no biggie.
Things come up.
But for the babysitter, she just forgot that
she double-booked.
So this didn’t arise unexpectedly.
It was just something that she forgot.
But if there is some unexpected situation,
you can say, “Things come up.
It happens.
No biggie.”
Vanessa: Let’s go on to the next category.
What can you say when someone tells you something
surprising?
A couple years ago, my brother-in-law was
searching for a job as an actuary.
He’d been searching for a job for a year all
over the US, and I knew that it was a big
process for him.
It was something that he really wanted to
do, but it was tough to find a job, especially
a starting position.
But, one day he got two job offers in the
same day.
It was amazing.
One job offer was in Richmond, Virginia and
one was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where
my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law are
both originally from.
So now they had a choice.
Which one were they going to take?
Which city were they going to move to?
What could I have said in that situation when
he surprisingly got a job offer and a second
job offer in the same day?
What?
No way.
Whoa.
Really?
How do you feel about that?
All four of these sentences, it’s key to have
a positive tone of voice when you’re using
them.
Vanessa: When I said, “What?”
Did you hear this kind of uplifted tone?
What?
I didn’t say, “What?”
If I said it with that negative tone, it can
have a completely different meaning.
Same with the others.
You could say, “No way,” with a smile on your
face.
You’re surprised and excited.
No way.
You got two job offers?
But if you want to say this in a negative
way, no way.
Do you see how that really changes the tone
and the feel of this sentence?
Same with the next one.
Whoa.
Really?
That uplifted tone in my voice.
Whoa.
Really?
I’m so excited for you.
But we could say this negatively.
Whoa.
Really?
You’re questioning this.
Whoa.
Really?
I don’t think that’s a good idea.
Whoa.
Really?
But I didn’t say it like that to my brother-in-law
because I wanted to show excitement.
Whoa.
Really?
Vanessa: The last question, how do you feel
about that, is a little bit ambiguous because
he had two offers, two different places, two
choices.
And for the first time in a year he actually
could choose where his family was going to
move.
That’s a big decision.
So I wanted to know what his feelings were.
How do you feel about that?
Wow.
Now it’s real.
Instead of just this job search, this is real
life.
You actually are going to go somewhere and
get a different job.
How do you feel about that?
If you wanted to say in a more negative way,
change the tone of your voice.
How do you feel about that?
Especially emphasizing that at the end.
How do you feel about that?
It’s a little bit more serious if you just
use a more serious tone of voice.
Vanessa: Let’s go on to the next category
of common daily expressions, which is when
someone invites you somewhere.
I recently had a baby.
And as you can imagine, life is busy and hectic
right now.
I can’t really go out and just do stuff as
easily as I used to be able to do, especially
in this period right now right after having
the baby.
Before the baby was born, I often took my
two-year-old three or four times a week to
go see some friends.
It’s good for him to play with other kids,
but it was also good for me to be able to
spend time with my friends who are their parents.
Vanessa: But now when someone says, “Hey,
Vanessa, do you want to go to the park this
afternoon?”
I might have a slightly different answer,
at least for a short time period while I’m
still learning about my new life.
What can I say in that situation?
I hate to miss out, but I’m really tired today,
or but I don’t think I can go.
I hate to miss out but … And then you need
to say that clear statement.
I can’t go.
But I’m tired.
But I’m too busy.
I hate to miss out.
You don’t want to miss out on the fun, but
something else has happened.
Or you could say, “I’d love to, but I’m really
tired today.”
I’d love to.
So we’re using hate and love, but it’s also
important that we include the final part of
this sentence.
I hate to miss out, but I’m tired.
I’d love to, but I’m tired.
Vanessa: What if I actually could go?
What can you say?
“Sure.
Sounds good,” or, “Sure.
Sounds good to me.”
This is a very clear, casual way to respond.
Yeah, I can go.
Sure.
Sounds good.
Sounds good to me.
Or if you have a specific event or maybe you’re
at work and you can’t get to the invited event
at a specific time that they want you to be
there, you could say, “I get off at 2:00,
but I can get there by 2:30.”
I get off.
This means get off work.
I get off at 2:00, but I can get there.
We’re using get in both sides of this sentence.
But I can get there by 2:30.
By here is saying the minimum time.
I’m not going to get there at 2:15.
It would be shocking if I got there at 2:00
because I get off at 2:00, but I can get there
by 2:30.
That’s the average time that I’ll probably
arrive.
But I can get there by 2:30.
Vanessa: Just a quick note.
If you have ever studied British English,
I often hear British English speakers say,
“I can’t be bothered.”
If someone invites you to something, a British
English speaker might decline by saying I
can’t be bothered.
In the US, this is extremely strange to say,
and it also feels rude.
So the word bothered means I’m annoyed that
you asked me or this is irritating to me.
If that person is familiar with British English
expressions, maybe they won’t feel like you’re
being rude.
But I recommend in the US do not say I can’t
be bothered.
You might hear this in British English, but
in the US don’t use this to decline an invitation.
I can’t be bothered.
It is not an Americanism.
It sounds quite odd in the US.
Vanessa: All right.
Let’s go to our next category.
What should you do when you want to tell or
ask someone something briefly?
Well, some people just live with their husband.
Some people raise kids together.
Some people raise kids together and run a
business together like us.
So as you can imagine, we have to communicate
a lot about pretty much every level of our
lives about what we’re eating for every meal,
who’s watching our kids when, who’s working
on what when, different creative ideas about
the business.
We have to communicate about a lot.
Vanessa: So I often ask my husband, “Hey,
can I tell you something really quick?”
Hey, can I tell you something really quick?
If he’s involved in another task, I don’t
want to assume that he can easily switch to
whatever I’m thinking about.
So I want to introduce it with this question.
Hey, can I ask you something really quick?
Hey, can I tell you something really quick?
And maybe his answer is, “Oh, no.
I’m doing something.
Can you talk to me in 10 minutes?”
That’s fine.
But if I just launched right in and said,
“Hey, what do you think about this?” his brain
might be on a completely different track doing
something with our kids or maybe doing something
with work, so it’s good to introduce this.
Vanessa: You can also use this in a workplace
situation in a typical office.
If you have two coworkers who are talking
together and you need to tell one of them
something briefly, you could use this as kind
of a polite interruption.
Hey, can I tell you something really quick?
It means they can continue their conversation
in five seconds, but you just want to tell
that person something really quick.
Vanessa: On the other hand, in small talk,
when you want to ask someone briefly about
some recent event, like a holiday, Christmas,
or an interview, or an exam, or the weekend,
you can just simply say, “How’d your Christmas
go?
How’d the exam go?
How’d the interview go?
How’d your weekend go?”
How’d plus the event go.
You’re usually looking for a simple answer
like, “Oh, it was great.
I had a nice time.
Oh, it was too short.”
Some kind of quick answer for small talk.
Vanessa: I don’t recommend using this for
something that you know is going to be long
and complicated.
I’d be a little bit surprised if a native
English speaker said, just kind of in small
talk, “Hey, how’d your birth go?”
If you have ever experienced birth or been
around it, that is a long, complicated story
that is also quite emotional, so it’s not
really for quick small talk conversations
maybe in the grocery store.
In these type of situations, you’re going
to want to have simpler questions like, “Hey,
how’d your weekend go?
Hey, how’d your holidays go?”
Great.
This kind of short small question.
Vanessa: Another quick note, do not say we
need to talk or I want to talk with you.
This is the most scary sentence to any English
speaker.
If you said to me, “Vanessa, we need to talk.”
Whoa.
I feel like I’ve done something terrible.
What did I do?
I’m in trouble.
I’m either going to get fired, you’re going
to break up with me, something awful that
I’ve done that I didn’t mean to do has happened.
So be very cautious.
If you are upset with someone and you want
them to feel extremely nervous, send them
a text message that says we need to talk.
Oh.
They probably won’t be able to focus on anything
else for the rest of the day, so be careful.
Use this in the correct way or just don’t
use it at all.
Instead, you can just interrupt a conversation
quickly and say, “Hey, can I tell you something
really quick?2 No problem.
But if you say, “We need to talk,” or, “Do
you have a minute to talk?” it’s going to
make someone feel really nervous.
So be cautious about that statement.
Vanessa: Let’s go to our final category, which
is wishing someone well.
I find myself wishing people well a lot in
daily life.
Maybe it’s when they’re about to go on a new
date, when they have a job interview, or when
they’re just doing something simple like taking
their two kids to the grocery store.
Hope it goes well.
There’s a couple different sentences that
you can use to wish someone well.
The most simple is have a good time at the
lake.
Have a good interview.
Have a good time at the grocery store.
Have a good … You’re wishing them well.
Vanessa: Or you could be more straightforward
and say, “Hope your interview goes well.
Hope your date goes well.”
We often cut out the subject I just to be
a little more casual.
Hope your interview goes well.
You could say, “I hope your interview goes
well,” but it feels a little bit more serious.
If you’re just saying goodbye to your friend,
you’ve been talking about they have an interview
coming up, and then you’re saying goodbye,
it’s more common to say, “Hope your interview
goes well,” instead of, “I hope your interview
goes well.”
It’s much more serious.
I hope your interview goes well.
It’s a little more serious when you add the
subject.
Vanessa: Or you might say, “Fingers crossed.”
This is usually accompanied with this kind
of crossing fingers with your middle and your
pointer finger gesture.
You could use one fingers crossed or you might
use two fingers crossed.
If they say, “Okay, I’m about to go to my
interview.
I hope it goes well.
Fingers crossed,” or if you are taking your
two children to the grocery store and you’re
a little bit worried that things might get
crazy, one of your friends might say, “Fingers
crossed.
It’s going to be tough, but you got this.”
Vanessa: And that’s our next expression.
You got this.
You got this.
It doesn’t mean you received some kind of
package.
It just means you can do this.
You got this.
You got this.
Or you can say, “Don’t sweat it.
Don’t sweat it.”
Sweat is the liquid that comes from your face
when you’re hot or when you’re nervous.
This often happens when you have a big situation.
So you need to say, “Don’t sweat it.
You can do it.
You got this.”
We often combine these together.
Vanessa: When I film these YouTube lessons,
it’s my husband who watches our two-year-old
and our newborn.
And the first time that he watched both of
them alone by himself, I said, “Don’t sweat
it.
You got this.
You can do it.
Don’t sweat it.”
It’s great to combine them to wish someone
well in an extreme situation.
This isn’t really extreme, but in some new
situation.
Vanessa: Whew.
That was a lot of daily expressions.
Now I have a question for you.
Let me know in the comments.
What would you say if your friend said, “I
hate that I can’t come to your party.
I hate that I can’t come to your party.”
Hmm.
What would you say to make them feel a little
bit better?
Let me know in the comments, and thank you
so much for learning English with me.
I’ll see you again next Friday for a new lesson
here on my YouTube channel.
Bye.
Vanessa: The next step is to download my free
e-book, 5 Steps to Becoming a Confident English
Speaker.
You’ll learn what you need to do to speak
confidently and fluently.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel
for more free lessons.
Thanks so much.
Bye.