English For You     

Some important everyday phrases in English

1. "How are you?" is a little formal.
   
   People will often say the more informal:
   "How're you doing?"
   "How's it going?"
   or "How's everything?"
   
   They all mean pretty much the same thing really; the speaker wants to know if you're OK.
   
   You might also hear "What's happening?" or "What's up?"
   
   These questions are asking you about your activities now – "What are you doing?"
   
2. "Thank you."
   
   Of course that's fine, but people will usually say "Thanks." You may also hear "Cheers," or "Ta" (especially in British English).
   
3. "Gonna," "wanna," "coulda," "shoulda," "woulda," etc.
   
   Sometimes you will come across these in spoken English.
   
   They are shortened forms of "going to," "want to," "could have," "should have" and "would have."
   
   They can cause a lot of confusion among learners so listen out for them. Again, they are very informal.
   
4. "Have a nice day!"
   
   I love this phrase. It's a kind of nice, happy way of saying goodbye to someone and is often used if you don't know someone very well.
   
   You will also hear the more informal expressions, "see ya!" (see you), "take care," "later," and "bye bye" as often as "Goodbye."
   
5. "Cool" is probably the most used word in the English language.
   
   If you can start using this naturally in your English speech you know you are making progress towards sounding like a native English speaker!