Regular English Basics


Regular English lessons contain key sentences for many different scenarios that are used in everyday life.

Greeting and General Things I

Greeting Basic
There are many ways to greet someone. We'll learn about the most common way to greet someone in this lesson. I'll give a variety of example sentences.

Greeting someone you never met:
"Hi, my name is Steve. It's nice to meet you."
You can respond to this by saying,
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jack."

Another common question to ask is

"What do you do for a living?"

You can respond to this by saying, 

"I work at a restaurant."
"I work at a bank."
"I work in a software company."
"I'm a dentist."

Usually, you will not need to ask for a name. It is implied that each person should say their name. But in case they don't, you can ask, 

"What is your name?"

Many times, I don't hear the name. If you would like for them to repeat their name, you can say,

"What was that again?"
"Excuse me?"
"Pardon me?"




Greeting Someone you know
"Hey John, how have you been?"
"Hi Bob, how are you?"
"Hi Nancy, what have you been up to?"
"Andy, it's been a long time, how are you man?"

If you meet someone unexpectedly, you can say,
"Hey Jack, it's good to see you. What are you doing here?"
or
"What a surprise. I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been?"

If you see the person at a restaurant, you can say, "Do you come to this restaurant often?"
Or at the movie theatre, "What movie did you come to see?"

Appropriate responses:

"Hi Steve, my name is Mike. It is nice to meet you as well."

"I heard a lot about you from John. He had a lot of good things to say."

"Wow. How long has it been? It seems like more than a year. I'm doing pretty well. How about you?"

A typical response to this type of greeting is simple.

"Not too bad."

If asked what you have been up to, you can respond with, "Same ole same ole." Or, "The same as usual."

Here are some other example responses.

"I'm pretty busy at work these days, but otherwise, everything is great."
"I'm doing very well."
"I finally have some free time. I just finished taking a big examination, and I'm so relieved that I'm done with it."

Restaurant Responses

"I've been here a couple of times, but I don't come on a regular basis."
"I come pretty often. This is my favorite restaurant."
"I can't believe we haven't seen each other before. I come here at least twice a week."

Movie Response

"I came here to see Matrix Revolution. How about you?"




Bored - General Phrases

Being bored means having nothing to do. When someone is bored, they often call people and try to entertain themselves or try to find something to do with a friend. So being bored is a good starting point for conversational English.


General Phrases

"I'm dying from boredom."
"I hate being bored."
"I don't have anything to do."
"My life is so boring."
"Life is so boring."
"I'm just watching TV until I find something to do."
"I was bored all weekend."
"I am so bored today."

"I get bored very easily."
"I get bored all the time."

A common place to get bored is when you have to visit family members.

"It's always boring whenever we go to our relatives."
"It's nice to visit my grandmother, but it gets boring after a couple of hours."
"My cousins are so boring. All they do is watch tv."

"There's nothing to do in the country side. I'm always bored there."

If you think you are a boring person, here is a way to say that you are boring.

"I think I'm a little boring."
"I'm a boring person."

Boring can be used to describe someone.

"He is a boring person."
"His personality is very boring."
"It's boring whenever she's around."

Using bored to answer a question is very common. Here are some general questions that someone might ask.

"How was your trip?"
"How was your vacation?"
"How was your weekend?"
"How was the lecture?"
"How was the class?"
"How was the game?"

Any of these types of questions can be answered with a simple answer.

"It was pretty boring."
"It was boring. I didn't do much."
"It wasn't as fun as I thought. It was a little boring."
"I was bored most of the time."
"Because it was disorganized, we had too much extra time. I was bored during our free time."


Bored - Calling someone

The conversation when you call someone might sound something like this.

"Hello"
"Hi Jane, this is Jill. Do you have time to talk?"
"Hi Jill, sure, I was just watching TV."
"What are you watching?"
"I was just watching a re-run of friends. How about you? What are you doing?"
"Nothing much. I really wanted to start studying for the Psychology test coming up, but I can't seem to motivate myself."

As you can see, Even though Jill is very bored, she didn't say that she was bored. To sensitive people, they can misinterpret the situation. If I am bored and I call you, then that could mean that I am only calling you because I have nothing better to do. So if you are not very close friends, it is better to say something like, 'nothing much' instead of 'I am bored.'

If you are very close friends with someone, then the conversation can be more direct and honest.

"What are you doing?"
"I'm doing the laundry."
"I'm so bored. I have nothing to do."
"Why don't you come over and help me with the laundry?"
"I'd rather do my own house chores. Hey, you wanna take a break from your house work and have coffee at Starbucks with me?"
"Sure, that sounds great. I'll meet you there in thirty minutes."


Bored - Boring Work

A different situation you can tell someone you are bored is when you are simply talking with a friend concerning a part of your life that is boring. For example, if you have a boring job, you can explain to your friend how boring it is.

"How is your work these days?"
"Work is so boring that I'm going crazy."
"I ran out of things to do and management is too busy to give me more work. I tried to find things to do with no luck. I'm basically sitting in my chair pretending to work."
"That sounds so boring."
"Tell me about it. Time goes so slow when you're bored. I'd rather be busy. Then at least the day would go by faster."

Similar type of boring work is when doing something that is routine. Some sentences expressing boring work are:

"I'm doing the same thing over and over again."
"My work is so repetitious that I am getting bored of it."
"My work does not interest me."
"I'm only working to pay the bills."
"I wish I had your job."

Because some people are so busy, they envy people who have nothing to do at work.

"I'm so bored. I have nothing to do at work. I just surf the Internet all day long."
"Dang! I'm so busy at work, it's driving me crazy. I really wish I had your job."


How is your day - General Statements

In this lesson, we are going to learn how to communicate to someone using the present tense.

"I see Bob over there by the newspaper stand."
"I'm going to the library."
"I'm on my way home."
"I'm going to the bus stop."

"Jack is going to the store."
"Jill is stopping by now."
"The meeting is starting now."
"The manager is waiting for you in her office."
"Tell the receptionist that you are here to see Mr. Hwang."

Questions:

A very common question you will run into is,
"How are you doing?"
"How is your day going?"
"What are you doing now?"

To answer these types of question, you must remember that you are talking about what is currently going on now, so you must use the present tense.

Here are some ways to answer the above question.

"I'm enjoying the beautiful weather without any worries in the world."
"I'm playing a video game on my computer because I have nothing to do."
"I'm at the grocery store buying ingredients for tonight's dinner."
"I'm at the gym working out."

As you can see, each sentence is starting with, 'I am' instead of 'I will be' or 'I was.' We will discuss past tense and future tense in the next sessions.

More descriptive answers you can give are the following:

"I'm pretty busy right now. I'm doing my homework because I have an exam tomorrow."
"My project deadline is coming up, so I'm currently in the process of finishing my tasks."
"I'm taking the day off from work today because I have so many errands. I'm going to the post office to send some packages to my friends."
"I'm looking for a job. The job market does not look that great, but I can't give up."
"I'm applying for a job at a consulting firm in Taiwan."
"I'm listening to music while thinking about my situation."



Tomorrow's plan - I am going to

In this lesson, we are going to learn how to communicate to someone using the present tense.

In the previous lesson, we concentrated on present tense using 'I am'

When we speak in the future tense, we can still use 'I am' but it is important what follows the two words that will make it future tense. Here are a couple of examples.

"I'm going to see Bob tomorrow"
"I'm going to meet John at the airport at 6 O'clock tonight"
"I'm going to go home in an hour"
"I'm going to go to the bus stop right after class"
"I'm going to do that tomorrow"

When using 'going to' after 'I am' it is important that a future indicator is present. For example, if I say, 'I am going to meet John', this can also be present tense that we practiced previously. But if you add a future indicator like 'at 6 O'clock tonight' then it becomes future tense.

Other future tense indicators are:

'going to go'
'going to be'
'I will'
'I have to'

Let's practice using these words:

"I'm going to be dead if I don't finish this project by tomorrow"
"I'm going to go home next week"
"I'll meet you there at five"
"I can't go tonight because I have to work late"


As you can see, each sentence is starting with, 'I am' instead of 'I will be' or 'I was.' We will discuss past tense and future tense in the next sessions.

More descriptive answers you can give are the following:

"I'm pretty busy right now. I'm doing my homework because I have an exam tomorrow."
"My project deadline is coming up, so I'm currently in the process of finishing my tasks."
"I'm taking the day off from work today because I have so many errands. I'm going to the post office to send some packages to my friends."
"I'm looking for a job. The job market does not look that great, but I can't give up."
"I'm applying for a job at a consulting firm in Taiwan."
"I'm listening to music while thinking about my situation."




Tomorrow's plan - Question and answers

When asking questions about the future, you can ask questions like:

"What are you going to do tonight?"
"What are you doing next week?"
"When do you plan on doing your homework?"
"When are you going to eat dinner?"
"What time do we have to leave for the airport?"
"What should we do tonight?"
There are many different questions you can ask. By changing a few words, you can make numerous questions properly about the future.

When you are answering questions that relate to the future, remember to use the future tense. Here are some ways to answer the questions directly above:

"What are you going to do tonight?"

"I plan on meeting John after dinner. We're going to go to a night club."
"I'm going to go to take my girlfriend out to dinner. And if we have time, we might try to see a movie."

"What are you doing next week?"

"Since I'm on vacation next week, I plan on going to Pusan to visit some friends down there."
"Next week I have to go shopping for all the Christmas presents. I have to buy a present for my dad, mom, and my two sisters."

"When do you plan on doing your homework?"

"I think I'm going to do my homework after I watch the world cup. I don't think I'll be able to concentrate until after the game is over."
"I'm so unmotivated to do my homework. But I'll eventually have to do it, so I'll get around to them probably after dinner."

"What time do you have to leave for the airport?"

"The flight comes in at 4:30, so I plan on leaving at about 3:30"
"The security is pretty tight so I should get there early. I plan on arriving there 2 hours before my flight leaves."

"What should we do tonight?"

"After dinner, let's go grab a couple of beers. Then we can go shopping for a couple of hours, and afterwards, we can rent a video and watch it at my place."
"I'm pretty busy tonight. I have to do the laundry, vacuum, and then make dinner, so I won't be able to meet you tonight."



Yesterday plan - The Past - General Statements

In daily conversation, talking about the past is done very frequently.
"I went to the airport yesterday."
"I met Bob last week."
"I was an hour late for my meeting."
"I went to the bus stop, but I was 30 seconds late. A person on the street told me the bus just went by."
"I completed that task this morning."

Speaking in the past requires past tense words. Let's take a closer examination for the sentences above.

Past TensePresent TenseFuture Tense
WentGoGoing to go
MetMeetWill meet
WasAmGoing to be
CompletedCompleteWill complete

As you can see by some of the examples in the chart, some words change when speaking in the past tense.

Besides some words that change, many times a word with the letter 'd' or 'ed' at the end changes the word to past tense. Here are some examples:

"I was being polite so I opened the door for him."
"I stapled the papers together to keep them organized."
"The paper ripped on the bottom, so I taped them together."
"I switched the presents around because I found out Jane doesn't like red lipstick."
"I was very interested in the topic so I paid close attention."

The tricky part is to know when to add a 'd' to the end of a word to make it past tense. There are exceptions that can cause confusion, for example,

"I rode my bike to school." It would be incorrect to say, 'I rided...'
"I built the house from scratch." Incorrect way is to say, 'I builded...'
"I sat on the chair next to the emergency exit." Incorrect way is to say, 'sitted...'




Yesterday plan - Question and Answer

When asking questions about the past, you can ask questions like:

"How did you enjoy the movie?"
"What time did you get home last night?"
"How was your date with Jackie?"
"How was the traffic going to the airport?"
"What have you been up to?"
"What did you do last weekend?"
"How was the party?"
"How come you didn't come to class yesterday?"
"How did your presentation go?"

Here are some ways you can answer these types of questions. Remember to use past tense because these actions already occurred.

"How did you enjoy the movie?"
"It was a long movie, but overall, the movie was great."
"I really didn't like the movie. It was slow and boring."
"I enjoyed the movie so much that I saw it again."

"What time did you get home last night?"
"I got home at two in the morning."
"I didn't make it home until eleven last night."
"I made it home at midnight."

"How was your date with Jackie?"
"The date went so well. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant. And then we saw a movie together."
"I don't think it went too well. We hardly had anything to talk about. I really thought Jackie was bored to death."
"The date was alright. She called me this morning to go out again, but I haven't responded yet."

"What have you been up to?"
"I just graduated from school so I'm happy that I'm done."
"I met Jackie yesterday and we spent the evening together in a nice restaurant."
"The only thing I have done in the last three months is computer games."

"What did you do last weekend?"
"Last weekend, I visited my parents."
"I went golfing on Saturday. I shot a great score."
"I stayed home and watched TV all weekend long."

"How come you didn't come to class yesterday?"
"I was very sick yesterday."
"I missed the bus and by the time I got to campus, class was already over."
"I slept in because I didn't hear the alarm ring."

"How did your presentation go?"
"It went ok. A few of the people asked some tough questions, but overall it was good."
"I messed up so bad. I brought the wrong folder from my office so I didn't have any notes."
"It was the best presentation of the day. My boss told me I was organized, focused, and spoke clearly."




Weather - Summer and Autumn

In this section, we will learn about the four different seasons along with the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit. Also, we will learn about weather in different parts of the world. 

Summer:

Depending on the location, summer can be warm and pleasant or unbearably hot and humid. Although you will describe summer in one particular way, you should be aware of how other people describe summer in different parts of the world.

In Nevada, Arizona, Egypt, or other places that are like deserts, people might say,
"Summer is very hot and dry. It's not so bad when we are in the shade."
"Summer is extremely hot. The sun will burn you if you don't wear sunscreen."
"Because it's not humid, it is easy to get used to."

In Seattle, the summer is the best season,
"Summer is the only time of year that it doesn't rain much."
"Summer is like paradise in Seattle."
"If summer wasn't so good here, I would move to a different city."

In New York, Korea, or other hot and humid places, people can say,
"Summer is both hot and humid here."
"I am always sticky because I sweat so much during the summer."
"Without air conditioning, I don't know how I would survive."

Spring and Fall / Autumn

From my perception, I noticed that spring and autumn are generally pleasant seasons for many areas of the world. I haven't heard enough to say one way or another, so I can only write down what I know.

"My favorite season is autumn."
"The only reason I don't like the fall is due to all the leaves I have to rake up."
"Fall is so beautiful because of all the different color leaves everywhere."
"It rains a lot around here during the fall."
"It gets cold in late autumn."
"In our country, autumn is just like summer. It's hot and humid."
"My favorite season is spring because of the budding flowers."
"I love the spring because it's not cold nor hot."
"The spring season here causes a lot of people to sneeze due to all the flowers appearing. Many people with allergies hate the spring."




Weather - Winter

Winter has many differences between locations. Some places might be extremely cold like Korea, New York, Alaska, Greenland, etc, and some places might be perfect like Hawaii, Los Angeles, Mexico and other hot places.

Hot places that enjoy pleasant summer warmth:

"I don't think we have a winter here. During the winter months, it's still 80 degrees. So everyone loves the winter months because it's not too hot."
"Winter time is the best time to visit because the temperature is the best during January."
"I like to go to Hawaii for my winter vacations because it's so cold in my home city."

Cold places:

"It's freezing out."
"It doesn't snow often, but when it does, it stays around for several weeks because it stays cold."
"For 3 months, this city will be covered with a layer of snow because it will never melt."
"It doesn't get too cold here, but it's always raining and very gloomy."
"The winter here is cold and dry. We hardly get any precipitation."



Weather - Fahrenheit and Celsius


It's unfortunate that some countries still use the Fahrenheit system. It would be so much easier if everything was in Celsius. But because the United States still uses the Fahrenheit system, knowing the conversion of Celsius to Fahrenheit will help when speaking to Americans.

"How do you convert Fahrenheit to Celsius?"
"Well, you subtract 32 from Fahrenheit, multiply by 5 and then divide by 9."

"How do you convert Celsius to Fahrenheit?"
"You multiply Celsius by 9, divide by 5, then add 32."

Here is an example dialog.

Person A: "What is the average temperature in Seoul during June?"
Person B: "It is usually about 26 degrees Celsius during June."
Person A: "What is that in Fahrenheit?"
Person B: "That would be about 80 degrees Fahrenheit."

Usually, it takes some time to convert degrees using the conversion method. So it's easier to have general temperatures already memorized. Here is a small table so you can quickly respond when talking with a foreigner about the temperature.

FahrenheitCelsius
10037.8
9032.2
8528.4
8026.7
7523.9
7021.1
6518.3
6015.6
5010
404.4
320
20-6.7
10-12.2
0-17.8

You don't need to remember everything. But if you know a couple of numbers you can just change the other number slightly. For example, if you know that 80 degrees is about 27 degrees Celsius, then if the temperature is 77 degrees, you can figure that it will be about 25 degrees Celsius. Also, you don't have to be very accurate. In conversation, many people just want general numbers and being off by a half a degree will not do any harm.

Finally, during the winter months, it gets so cold that the temperature goes below 0 degrees Celsius. Let's practice a few sentences using negative numbers.

"How cold does it usually get in Korea?"
"Usually around minus 5 degrees Celsius, but sometimes it gets as cold as minus 12 degrees."

"How cold does it get in Alaska?"
"Depending on the area, but it's common for the temperature to be below 0."
"Is that in Fahrenheit or Celsius?"
"Fahrenheit."
"That means it's 20 below zero!"



Greeting and General Things II

Small Talk

Many people believe small talk is very boring and not personable. Although that is true, there are many places where small talk is very important. In the western culture, strangers talk to other strangers frequently. On the other hand, small talk is not so common in the eastern culture. Because strangers are friendly to one another in the western culture, small talk is very important to master in regards to learning English. One other place small talk is important is in an interview. That is why this session will be important to learn.

The best way to learn small talk is to provide many examples. So this lesson will be taught using an example format.

Small talk involves many different topics. We will have several sessions on small talk once we have covered other subjects such as sports, jobs, school, etc. But for now, we will go through the basics of small talk conversation. To initiate small talk, we can use what we have learned from our previous several sessions:

One: "Hi Bill, how are you doing?"
Two: "I'm doing great. How are you doing?"
One: "I'm doing well myself."

Wasn't that simple? If you studied the material in prior sessions, this should be real easy for you. Now that we have initiated the small talk, it's your responsibility to keep the conversation going. In order to do so, you can talk about anything that is not too personal. Let's first ask what the other person has been doing lately.

One: "What have you been up to lately?"
Two: "Well, I just started to work at the bank so I'm pretty busy learning everything."

You can elaborate on what you have learned to keep the conversation alive. In this example, you are going to ask more questions about school and work.

One: "Does that mean you already finished school? I thought you had 1 more semester left."
Two: "I took summer courses, so I finished one semester early."
One: "It's great that you got a job. I'm really happy for you."
Two: "Thanks."

As you can now tell, the conversation is getting old. You have a choice of ending the conversation, or changing the topic. Let's practice ending the conversation.

One: "We should get together for lunch sometime."
Two: "Yeah, that would be great."
One: "I'll call you sometime."
Two: "Ok. I'll see you later."
One: "Alright. See ya."


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