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Everyone who wishes to learn English wants to sound more natural when speaking, like a native speaker. But how can you achieve a high level of fluency?
There’s no doubt that taking the best English courses in London will allow you to attain a good grasp of English grammar and comprehension. However, the basic words and phrases you learn in class often vary slightly or are pronounced differently when you hear them outside of class in your everyday conversations. Learning a few commonly used, informal phrases will enhance your understanding and make your spoken language sound more natural.
Here are 10 of the most common phrases that you normally hear native speakers use:
You can say ‘no problem’ or ‘no worries’ as an informal way to mean ‘that’s alright’ or ‘forget about it.’ It is usually used to reply to someone who is thanking you for helping with something. For example, if someone said, “Thanks for helping me with my homework,” you could reply, “No worries.”
This is a way of asking you how you are, as an informal greeting. The usual expected response would be ‘good’ or ‘fine’. It can also be a way of asking how something is progressing, as in, “How’s your English class going?” The reply can be, “Great thanks, I’m doing really well.”
This expression is used to agree to do something that has been asked of you. For example, “Can you complete that homework by tomorrow?” to which you can reply, “Sure, will do.”
‘Just a sec’ is short for a second. Saying this, or just a minute, shows that you will do something asked of you in a short amount of time. For example, if asked, “Can I talk to you?” you could respond with something like “Just a minute, I’ll be right there”.
This is a different form of the question ‘What have you been doing?’ and can be used to ask a person about what they’ve done recently or in the period of time since you last saw them. For instance, “What have you been up to this week?”
A casual way of saying goodbye to someone when parting company, especially if you will be seeing them again soon, as in “I’ve got to go now, see you later.”
You can say ‘fair enough’ to admit that an action, a statement or a decision is reasonable and that you accept it. It shows that you understand the other person’s reason or point of view, such as, “I can’t come out tonight; I have to work late.” “Ok, that’s fair enough.”
This idiom explains that you are letting someone else make a choice or decision in a situation. An example could be: “Where do you want to go to eat?” “I don’t mind; it’s up to you.” On the other hand, if something is up to you, it means that you are the person who is going to make the decision.
This is a quicker way of asking when it would be a good time for a person to do something or when it would be convenient for them. If someone asked you, for example, when you were planning to pay them a visit, you could reply with, “I don’t mind. When would be good for you?”
You would use ‘sounds good’ or ‘sounds great’ to show that you agree that a proposed idea sounds like a good one and that you are interested in it. For instance, “Shall I meet you outside the cinema at 7 p.m.?” “Yep, that sounds good.” These are only a handful of the essential, everyday phrases used by native English speakers. Although there are many more that you can learn, these are a great place to start, so give these expressions a try, as they come up in conversational English regularly.
Knowing and using these phrases will not only help improve your understanding and comprehension of spoken English but also improve your own speaking and make your English sound much more natural. So join us to study English in London!
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