Basic shopping vocabulary in English

[Singing] "Got to buy some dinner tonight." Hi. James from EngVid. So what are we doing?

We're going to talk about shopping today. As you can see, I have to go shopping because

our budget -- we usually have a big magazine, and I'm down to this poor little piece of

paper. But my dinner is on, so why don't we go to the board.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, something we have to do wherever you go. You

do it in your own country. We do it here. What I'm going to teach you is the vocabulary

for basic shopping. So there -- we have two other videos on engVid that talk about shopping

and specific things. You can go and watch those as well. I recommend you do. But for

now, just so you can go into a store anywhere that they speak English and get what you want,

when you need it, the way you want it, we're going to do this lesson right now.

So the first thing you want to do is -- well, you want to know if it's on sale. "Sale" means

"cheaper price". So that's what we mean, "is it on sale?" The first thing you can ask,

like, "Do you have anything on sale?" For instance: Club Savings. All these foods are

on sale. Regular price 20, now 17. I'm saving money. So "sale" really means -- s-a for "save".

You're saving money because you're going to pay less than the actual, original price.

Which leads me to the next word: "price" and "cost". For some of you guys you're like,

"We know these things." But it's actually using it properly or effectively. You can

say, "How much does it cost?" which is different than "price". They're similar -- not same.

"Cost" means "what do I have to give you". "Price" is what -- what the actual money is.

So you can say, "How much does this cost me?" Maybe two hours. And I'm using it differently

than price. So similar -- not same. So what is the "price"; what is the "cost". And they

will tell you how much money you have to give them, okay? Cool.

That comes with the word "pay". When you have a price or cost and you give them money, you

must "pay". I work in an English school, and people have to "pay". That means, "Give the

money." But you can give not just money, but different things in different forms. So one

of the things we can do is, we can use our credit cards. Everybody -- not everyone. A

lot of people have it if you're over 18 -- piece of plastic that you give, and they say, "This

is worth this much money, and you can use your card to pay with it." Okay? Visa, American

Express, MasterCard -- these are credit cards. Debit. In North America, we're in love with

our debit cards. It's a card that you get from your bank that has direct access to your

account. So not like a credit card where the bank is lending you some money or letting

you take some money for now, and you pay it back. That's the "credit card". Debit is right

in your account, so if you have $500, they literally -- oh, sorry, "literally" means

"really", "in reality", or "actually" -- take the money out of your account. So you can

use either debit or credit to pay. And my favourite, favourite of everyone's

-- I don't have any: cash. Cash. Money. The old fashion way of doing things, right? Give

them the money -- transaction done. "Transaction" is when you do business. You "transact" because

one thing goes to another. You get product; they get money. It's a "transaction", okay?

Taxes. Every country has them. In some countries, like England -- where they speak the Queen's

English -- taxes are included. So if it says $15, it's $15. But folks, I live in Canada.

And what you see is not what you get. $15 becomes $16.50. $100 becomes $115. $1,000

is -- $1,150. That's right. Our taxes are not included. So when you come to America

or Canada, be careful because you might actually have to pay taxes. You see this, "Incl.":

"taxes included". It will be taxes -- it's good. It means price -- what you pay. Most

of the times, you won't see anything, and it means "add more money". "Taxes" are what

the government gets -- okay. Understand this. It's what the government gets for you buying

something because they want their money, too. Anyway.

So this is the first thing. You come in, and if you can see, Mr. E is 50% off. He's on

sale. Because I hate the damn worm, I'm trying to get rid of him. So you want him? He's yours.

Anyone of you come to EngVid, leave a comment, "I'll buy the worm." We'll send it to you.

Anyway. I told you. So that's it. That's the first thing. When you go in, you want to check

if it's on sale, what's the price or the cost, how can you pay, and if there are taxes included,

or can you get away with taxes, right? You might say, "Hey, look, if I pay cash, can

I pay -- can you do something with the taxes?" Shh! I didn't tell you. More than English,

people. I teach you more than English. Next, before you actually pay for it -- right?

We found what the price costs. We're going to look at the product or the thing we want,

okay? That's why we have a box with a bow. It's what I want -- maybe a camera, maybe

a watch, a new shirt: That's what's in the box. So here's what we want to look at -- things

about it. For instance: What style? Because when you buy something, maybe you want it

this style. Or you want a polo shirt, you know, something with a nice collar around

it. So you can say, "style" or "kind" or "type", right? "What type of shirt do you like?" or

"What kind of jeans do you like?" "I like blue jeans." "I like black jeans." "I like

ballet pants." What "type" or what "kind" or what "style". These three words can be

used together, right? "He likes hip hop style." "He likes classic kind of music", or "type".

The next: "size". I'm not a big guy. I know I appear bigger on TV, but in reality, I'm

tiny, much like the worm. Anyway. Size. But you can get big. You can get small. You can

get medium size. So in North America, you'll see this: "S", "M", and "L". That's "small",

"medium", "large" -- they're the basic sizes. Then there is "extra large" and "extra small",

but basically, you'll find those three everywhere. And finally, colour. You'll notice I have

"colour" and "color". Why? Because in the United States -- and I know we have a lot

of people there. Hi, people in the United States. "Color" is spelled without a "u",

but in Canada and Britain, they spell it with a "u": "colour". So what colour? Maybe you

want -- I'm kind of monochromatic, which means "only one colour". I've got black watch, black

shirt, black necklace, black pen, okay. Maybe you want red or black -- different colours,

okay? So these are the things you can change. Other

things -- because these are parts you can change on the product -- features: not exactly

the same. A "feature" is what something has. Cars have features. A car might have automatic

steering, or it might be manual or -- it's automatic and manual. Sorry. There you go.

It might be manual or automatic. These are features. It's not these things here. What

they do is what it has in the car -- four doors, two doors. It has four-wheel drive.

Benefits. After someone told you the features about something, if you're buying a camera,

it goes -- it has automatic shutter, it's got sound reduction, what have you. You might

go, "So what? What does that do for me?" And then go, "Okay, here is the benefit." This

is what -- because "bene" means "good". "This is why it's good for you." "Automatic noise

reduction" means you can get rid of all the outside noise. "Oh, very good. Very interesting,

yes?" Okay, and that's why we do that. So you can say to somebody, "What are the

features on this product? What are the benefits to me? Does it come in this size, this style,

or this type of thing? And what size is it?" See? You get information so you can get exactly

what you want. And if you're very smart -- remember we talked

about "sale"? We can talk about "discount". You can say, "If I buy five of these, can

I get a discount?" It's not the same as "sale". This is different. It's because I'm doing

something, I want to get another benefit. I'm giving you more money: Give me more money.

I'm going to save you money, son. I told you. Okay.

And if there is something wrong -- maybe there is a little scratch. A "scratch" is a little

cut on the product. You can go, "I want a discount. Look, it's not perfect. It's not

100 percent -- change the price for me." See? If you don't get a sale, go for the discount.

We have talked about the -- Mr. E on sale. We have talked about the product, how to change

it to make it ours -- modify it for ourselves. We're individuals, after all. Now, finally,

please come again. If you've ever watched The Simpsons -- Apu, I love you, man. I really

do. "Come again" is his favourite thing. You're leaving. Don't leave without these things.

That's why it's basic shopping, but this is like, guerilla shopping: You want to get everything

you need. What do I mean by that? Well, first things first, if you buy something expensive

-- like, this marker, it doesn't matter. But if I buy a new laptop, I want a warranty.

A "warranty" is basically the company saying, "If anything is wrong when you leave the store,

we will fix it. We will make it okay. No problem." Some people go, "I don't care." And then they

go home, they open it up. It doesn't work. And the company goes, "No warranty? Your problem;

not ours." So you should say -- if it's an expensive thing, like a camera, or a new cell

phone, or, you know, iPod, "What's the warranty?" Because they will tell you, "For one year"

-- or even a car. They'll say, "One year, six months: We will protect you. We promise

to make sure everything is okay, no problem for you." So you go, "Does this have a warranty?"

Next: "Warranty" is for the product, but every store has what we call a "return policy".

Some stores will say, "Hey, the product has a warranty, but we won't give you your money

back. You have to talk to the person who made the product." Yeah. Right. You're like, "But

I'm protected." For the product. By the company. But the store that sells it might just say,

"Our return policy is 'no money back'. No money. Our money, not yours." So you want

to check, "Do I get my money back if there is a problem?" or "Do I have to get a receipt?"

Not a receipt, a -- they have this little piece of paper. They go, "credit note". Which

means, "No money for you, but you can buy anything in the store." It's up to you. Maybe

it's okay, if you know you're going to use it again. If not, don't go for credit note.

But if you want to get a good return policy and a warranty, the one thing you must leave

with, you must never, ever forget, and this is the most important part of the lesson:

Keep your receipt. No receipt? No return policy, no warranty, and all these other things are

no good. So I'm going to wrap this up because now you

should be going, "time to go shopping", okay? If you're in my country, do so... or in any

country that speaks English, okay? So very quickly, ask for a sale -- if there is a sale

on the product. Check out the price or the cost. You can ask. They'll tell you. And I

said "quickly", so listen and focus. "How can I pay?" "Cash, debit, or credit?" It's

the modern world. You never know. "Are the taxes included or not included?" "Do I have

to pay extra money for this?" "Is it 15 or 20?" "My package -- can I make it small, big,

large?" "What are the benefits?" "What are the features?" And finally, "Give me my damn

receipt." So I've got to go. Mr. E, see you later. Once

again, I want you to come to -- where? Favourite website" www.engvid.com, "Eng" as in "English,

"vid" as in "video". Where you'll see me and Mr. E -- sorry. Come again, please. Come again.

Bye.