Subtitles section Play video
-
Hi, Bob the Canadian here.
-
Welcome to this English lesson
-
where we're going to talk about
-
10 very common English questions that English speakers
-
either use or hear as they go through their day.
-
The other week, I thought to myself
-
I should keep track of all the questions that I hear
-
and all the questions that I ask as I go through my day.
-
And I should turn it into an English lesson.
-
And this is it.
-
(upbeat music)
-
Question number one that I hear almost every day
-
is the question how did you sleep?
-
This is a question that you would hear at home.
-
It's a question that family members would ask of each other.
-
So a lot of times in the morning when I get up,
-
Jen will say to me, "Hey, how did you sleep?"
-
And I'll reply by saying, "Oh, I slept great."
-
Or, "I'm a little grouchy right now
-
because I didn't sleep very good at all."
-
And I will also ask Jen the same question.
-
I will ask my kids the same question as well.
-
How did you sleep?
-
It's just a nice way to start a conversation in the morning.
-
It kind of helps you get a sense
-
of what kind of mood the other person is in
-
before you start to talk to them about other things.
-
So question number one that I hear almost every day,
-
how did you sleep?
-
The second question is also a question
-
that you use in the home.
-
And it's a question that starts with have you seen my...
-
And then it might end with car keys or phone.
-
I'm guilty of asking this question quite a bit.
-
I'll say to Jen in the morning, "Have you seen my car keys?
-
Have you seen my phone?"
-
Notice I don't use this question.
-
I don't say where are my car keys or where is my phone?
-
Because when you use that question,
-
it almost implies that the other person
-
should know where they are.
-
So a polite way to ask about where something is
-
that you lost yourself is to use that phrasing.
-
Have you seen my car keys?
-
Have you seen my phone?
-
I ask one of those two questions almost every morning.
-
The third really common question that I hear in the morning,
-
because Jen asks me this question a lot,
-
is the question are you running late?
-
Sometimes in the morning I get up
-
and I have a shower and I have breakfast
-
and I'm trying to find my keys or find my phone
-
and time is ticking.
-
That means that I'm starting to become late for work.
-
When I'm in that mood, when I'm moving fast
-
and looking for stuff to try and get out the door
-
sometimes Jen will say, "Hey, are you running late?"
-
Basically what she's saying is
-
are you starting to become late for work?
-
Have you spent too much time getting ready to go
-
and are you now going to be late for work?
-
So another question you will hear quite often
-
in the home would be the question are you running late.
-
There's another question that Jen usually asks me
-
before I leave the house, and it's the question
-
when do you think you'll be home,
-
or what time do you think you'll be home?
-
My work day ends at around 4:00, 4:30,
-
but it's not always over at the same time every day.
-
Sometimes I have errands to run after work as well.
-
So Jen sometimes is curious about when I'll be getting home.
-
So she'll ask one of two questions.
-
What time do you think you'll be home?
-
Or when do you think you'll be home?
-
The fifth most common question I hear every day
-
is a question that I hear at work.
-
And I hear this question when I walk in the door,
-
and I hear it multiple times.
-
And it's the question how's it going?
-
It usually starts with the word hey.
-
We like to say, "Hey, how's it going?"
-
And I know there are a lot of videos
-
that English teachers have made saying
-
that you should use other phrases when greeting people,
-
that hey, how's it going is really common
-
and you should have some variety when you say hi.
-
But the reality is, this is the phrase
-
that English speakers that I know use all the time.
-
When I walk in the door at work, when I see my boss,
-
he says, "Hey, how's it going?"
-
And I say, "Pretty good, how are you?"
-
When I see someone at work, when I see a colleague,
-
I say, "Hey, how's it going?"
-
And they usually respond by saying, "Oh, pretty good.
-
How are you?"
-
So even though it's a super common phrase
-
and maybe you would like some variety
-
in your English speaking, it's still very, very common
-
for English speakers to say hey, how's it going?
-
The sixth super common question that I hear at work
-
is the question can you give me a hand with something?
-
At my job, sometimes it takes more than one person
-
to do certain parts of the job.
-
And sometimes people need help.
-
In English, when you give someone a hand,
-
when you give someone a hand with something,
-
it means you're helping them.
-
So if someone says can you give me a hand
-
with something later today?
-
It means they need some help.
-
You can also use this question
-
if you want to be really nice.
-
If you see someone doing something
-
and you think they need help, you can say,
-
can I give you a hand with that?
-
Or can I give you a hand?
-
So the sixth most common question that I hear at work
-
is can you give me a hand with something.
-
The seventh most common question that I hear,
-
and this is another question that I hear often at work
-
is the question do you have a minute.
-
When someone says to you do you have a minute?
-
It usually means that they want to talk to you.
-
Sometimes it means that they need help with something
-
but usually it means they want to talk to you.
-
If my boss walks up to me and says,
-
"Hey, Bob do you have a minute?"
-
It means he wants to talk to me about something.
-
If I see a student who has late work
-
and hasn't handed it in, I might say to them,
-
"Hey, do you have a minute?"
-
It means that I want to talk to them.
-
So the seventh most common question that you'll hear
-
is do you have a minute?
-
The eighth most common question is another question
-
that I hear a lot at work.
-
And I usually hear it at lunchtime
-
or I ask this question at lunchtime.
-
And it's the question, how's your day going?
-
Or how's your day going so far?
-
This is just a really polite way to begin conversation
-
with colleagues at lunch.
-
I work with really awesome, nice people.
-
So we really enjoy talking about each other's day
-
as we eat lunch together.
-
So the eighth most common question that I hear
-
in my day as an English speaker, how's your day going?
-
Or how's your day going so far?
-
How's your day going so far?
-
I hope pretty good.
-
The ninth most common question that I either hear or ask
-
is the question how was your day?
-
This is a question that I ask at home.
-
This is a question that I ask Jen almost every day.
-
And Jen asks me the same question.
-
When I get home from work, as soon as I see Jen,
-
I usually say, "Hey, how's it going?
-
How was your day?"
-
So I greet her with how's it going, again.
-
And I say, how was your day?
-
And Jen will explain a little bit about how her day went.
-
And then she'll say to me, "How was your day?"
-
And I will tell her a little bit
-
about what happened at school and what happened at work.
-
So the ninth most common question that I hear
-
and that I ask and that happens almost every day in my life,
-
and I think it's a really important one,
-
is the question how was your day?
-
So I said I was going to help you learn
-
10 common English questions that I hear or use every day,
-
but it's actually going to be 11.
-
There's going to be a bonus question.
-
The two last questions are the two questions
-
I hear at the end of the day.
-
The first question is, what time are you going to bed?
-
Jen and I usually go to bed somewhere between 10 and 11,
-
but it's not the same time every night.
-
So sometimes when I'm done watching TV
-
or done reading a book or we're done
-
playing a game or something,
-
I'll say to Jen, "What time are you going to bed?"
-
And Jen sometimes asks me that question as well.
-
Sometimes I'm playing a game on my computer at 10 o'clock
-
and she'll say, "Hey, Bob, what time are you going to bed?"
-
And then the other question is the last question
-
that Jen usually asks me.
-
And it's the question did you set the alarm?
-
So at the end of the day
-
it's important to set your alarm clock.
-
Sometimes I forget to do that.
-
So it's really nice to have Jen there
-
to ask me that question.
-
Hey Bob, did you set the alarm?
-
Well, hey, thank you so much for watching
-
this English lesson about common English questions
-
that English speakers either hear or use
-
as they go through their day.
-
I hope you enjoyed this lesson.
-
If you did, please consider clicking that subscribe button
-
if you're not already a subscriber,
-
and giving me a thumbs up is just a good idea
-
if this lesson helped you learn a little bit more English.
-
And of course, if you have the time,
-
why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson?
-
(upbeat music)