25 Smart Sentences for Daily Use in English Conversation | Improve English Conversation Skills

- Hello, lovely students, and welcome back to  English with Lucy. Today I'm going to bring you  

25 sentences for daily conversational use. When  we have conversations, we often use the same  

sentences again and again and again, so I've  got some alternatives for you, some new smart  

sentences that you may not have heard before,  but they're definitely ones that we use a lot,  

especially in the UK and around the rest of the  world as well. Now, as always, there is a free  

PDF that goes with this lesson. We have all 25  phrases, some extra information, pronunciation,  

definitions, all that good stuff, and a quiz that  you can use to test your understanding. If you  

would like to download that free PDF, all you've  got to do is click on the link in the description  

box. You enter your name and your email address.  The PDF will arrive directly in your inbox,  

and then after that you've joined the PDF club,  and you will automatically receive all of my free  

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unsubscribe at any time. Right, let's get started  with the lesson. First, let's discuss phrases we  

can use when we meet someone that we either do or  do not know. These are different situations. The  

first phrase is, "Nice to bump into you. It's nice  to bump into you." Now, you would use this phrase  

if you are, at the very least, familiar with them,  so maybe you know of them. To know of someone is  

to have heard about them, to know their name.  If you have seen someone recently, you can say,  

"Nice to bump into you again." Now, the literal  meaning of to bump into someone is to collide with  

someone. For example, "I bumped into someone at  the supermarket and dropped my milk," for example.  

However, in this context, the context of meeting  someone, to bump into someone means to meet  

someone unexpectedly. For example, I might say,  "I bumped into your mum at the swimming pool,"  

meaning, "I unexpectedly met your mum." Now, the  next one, number two, is a phrase that we use if  

we don't know someone, we haven't met them before,  but we have maybe heard of them before, or we have  

communicated with them digitally. Maybe we've been  talking over email or something like that. It is,  

"It's great to finally meet you in person. It's  great to finally meet you in person." I say this  

so much after the pandemic. I met so many people  online, over Zoom, and now I can finally meet them  

in real life, so I say, "Ah, it's so nice to  finally meet you in person." Number three is  

"Speak of the devil." "Speak of the devil." And  this has a very specific usage. This is said when  

a person appears just after being mentioned.  For example, if I'm talking to a colleague  

about someone's excellent presentation, and then  that person appears, I could say, "Speak of the  

devil. We were just talking about your excellent  presentation." This can be a great way to make  

someone new feel included, especially if you have  been complimenting them behind their back. Number  

four, another one to use if you haven't met  someone before, but you want to pay them a nice  

compliment, you can say, "I've heard so much about  you. I've heard so much about you." Obviously only  

say this if you actually have heard good things  said about this person. A really good response  

to this is, "All good things, I hope," or, "All  positive, I hope." And the last one, number five,  

this is a nice way of saying, "I don't know who  you are, so please introduce yourself to me."  

Avoids an awkward situation. It is, "I don't think  we've crossed paths before. I don't think we've  

crossed paths before." To cross paths with someone  is to meet someone by chance. And if we haven't  

crossed paths before, well, we've never met, but I  think it's a bit nicer than saying, "Who are you?  

I don't know who you are." "I don't think we've  crossed paths before." Okay, next section. Let's  

say for now that you've met someone that you do  know, you're going to want to catch up with them,  

and to catch up with someone is to talk about  everything that's happened since you last saw  

each other. So we have number six, which is, "How  is everything going? How is everything going?" And  

if you can't specifically remember what they've  been doing, how is everything going is a great way  

to let them lead the conversation. It gives them  room to open up. This might refer to their family,  

their work, their personal life, romantic  life. Who knows? But you can let them lead the  

conversation, because they decide what everything  is. We also have number seven, which is,  

"What have you been up to? What have you been up  to?" And this is a really friendly phrase. I've  

used this before. I taught it in my "Stop saying  'How are you'" video? If you are up to something,  

it means that you are doing something mischievous.  You're doing something troublesome. But this  

phrase is very warm and friendly. It's saying,  you know, "What trouble have you been causing?  

What have you been doing?" It's something that we  use a lot with children or animals. I often say to  

my dog, "What have you been up to, Diego?" Because  I know he's been doing something mischievous. We  

use it with friends as well. It's very casual, so  it's not appropriate for professional situations,  

but it is appropriate if you know the person quite  well. A good response to, "What have you been up  

to," is, "Ah, not much," or, "I've not been up  to much." We also have number eight, which is,  

"What have I missed? What have I missed? Fill me  in." So if you haven't caught up with someone for  

a while, this is a good way to ask them, "What has  happened since you last spoke?" To fill someone in  

is to give someone missing information or to  inform someone more fully of a situation. So  

if I'm saying, "Fill me in," I'm saying, "tell me  all this missing information." Another good good  

one is, "We've got so much to catch up on." This  means we've got so much to talk about, so much has  

happened since we last saw each other. Now, number  10 is one that you can use if you've seen or met  

someone that you know you need to spend along  talking to, but it's not the right time, it is,  

"There's so much to say, but I can't go into it  now. I can't go into it now." To go into something  

is to discuss or explain something in a careful  and detailed way. And this implies that there  

are lots and lots of details. Too many for now.  Maybe it would be impolite to talk a lot. Maybe  

there are some people around that shouldn't hear  what you're talking about. It's a good one to use,  

or a good one to have up your sleeve. And that  means to have something ready for later. Right,  

so we've discussed talking to people that we  have met before. Now, what should we do with  

people that we haven't met before? We should get  to know them, shouldn't we? We should ask some  

good open-ended questions to get them talking.  Often we want to ask people, "How did you get  

your job? How did you end up working here?"  But that's not so polite. So a really good  

alternative is number 11, which is, "How did you  get into X? How did you get into marketing? How  

did you get into finance?" To get into something  in this context is to become involved with. "How  

did you become involved with marketing?"  Then they can tell you their life story.  

Another nice way of getting to know someone is  to ask them what they do for fun. And in American  

English, especially, "What do you do for fun" is  a very common question. I would say that it's not  

so common in the UK, but we do see it in movies  and TV shows a lot. I just noticed this question  

asked to me a lot when I visited the US, and I  thought it was really nice. It was a really good  

way of making conversation that isn't about work.  "So what do you do for fun?" In British English,  

we might say something more like, "What do you do  outside of work?" Or, "what do you do when you're  

not working?" It's maybe a bit nicer than asking  someone what they do for fun, because I know when  

someone asks me what I do for fun, I think, "Oh my  word, I'm not that fun a person. I like running.  

Is running fun enough to answer this question?  Do they think that running's fun enough?" Yeah,  

so there's other alternatives, "What do you do  when you're not working? What do you do outside  

of work?" They're pretty safe. Another good thing  to talk about is motivation, and we want to know  

what motivates people. But instead of just simply  saying, "What motivates you?" You could say, "What  

makes you tick? what really makes you tick?" And  this is sort of asking, "What are you passionate  

about? What keeps you going?" For example,  helping my students gain confidence really  

makes me tick. Another similar one is, "What gets  you out of bed in the morning? What do you get up  

for?" Or a really fun and cheeky one is, "What  floats your boat?" That means, "what brings you  

joy?" That comes from the phrase "Whatever floats  your boat, whatever you like." This is something  

that we say when someone says they like something  that we think is a bit strange. So, for example,  

if someone says, "They like running marathons  every weekend," I might say, "Whatever floats  

your boat. Not my thing but good for you." The  question, "What floats your boat," is a variation  

of that. Now, when we meet people and we have  a really, really good conversation, the next  

step is to ensure further contact, to create  further contact. But we don't just want to say,  

"What's your number? I would like to talk again."  Although, I quite like the direct approach. There  

are some other ways of doing this, like number 16,  "I'd love to carry this on at a later date," or,  

"I'd love to carry this on at another  time." And this is basically saying,  

"I would like to continue this conversation."  So you're sort of stopping them there, saying,  

"Pause, but let's continue this later on." Another  good one to use if you can see that a conversation  

is coming to an end, maybe it's like a break in  a conference, and you know that the next lecture  

is starting, but you still want to make sure  that you remain in contact with this person,  

you could say something like, "I feel we've got  so much more to talk about. I feel we've got so  

much more to talk about." And this one is really  nice, because it's sort of passing the baton.  

It's passing the responsibility over to the other  person, and it gives them the opportunity to say,  

"Well, let's stay in touch. Let's exchange contact  details." It's good to use if you don't know if  

they want to stay in touch, if you're kind of  testing the water. If they say, "Yeah let's stay  

in touch," brilliant. If they don't, well, there  we are. At least we know. The next one, number 18,  

is to discuss something over a consumable, a food  or a beverage. For example, "We should discuss  

this over lunch," or "We should chat over coffee.  We should talk over dinner." If you think about  

it, using the word over is quite appropriate,  because normally two people having a meeting at  

dinner are speaking over the top of the food.  The conversation flows over the food or drink.  

Another very simple, very casual one is number  19, "We should do this again." We should do this  

again." It's implying, "We should see each other  again." And the last one, number 20, if you want  

to be very direct and give your contact details,  you can say, "Here's my email. Here's my number.  

Drop me a line and we'll sort something out." To  drop someone a line is to write a brief message,  

so it could be a text, a WhatsApp, an email.  We can also say, "Drop me a text, or, "Drop me  

a WhatsApp." To sort something out is to organise  something. We'll arrange another meeting. And the  

last set of phrases, and for me, the hardest part  of any conversation, is leaving the conversation.  

I'm terrible at parties. I end up talking to one  person intensely for the whole event, and then  

it comes to the end, and I think, "Ugh , I have  not met many people here." It's just so awkward,  

isn't it? If you don't have much time, you can  use 21, which is, "Ooh, I'm a bit pressed for  

time. I'm a bit pressed for time." And this is  a nice way of saying, "I don't have any time,  

I need to go." Or number 22 , "Right, I need to  make a move." And in the UK, we always sort of  

clap our hands together, or if we're sitting  down, we slap our thighs and say, "Right,  

I've got to be going." To make a move is to begin  to leave or to leave. "I'm going to make a move.  

I'm going to leave." It's a nicer way of saying  it, because we're beating around the bush. We're  

avoiding the topic. I don't want to say "I'm  leaving," so I'm gonna say, "I'm making a move."  

Another similar one is, "I'm going to have to  get going. I'm going to have to get going," or,  

"I need to get going." Again, this is to begin to  leave. But by saying I have to, it's implying that  

you don't want to, I just have to. I'm obliged  to leave. It's not my choice. I need to. Now,  

a really nice one, it's interesting, but ever  so slightly manipulative, but I learned it from  

someone that I really respect, an older woman  in my village. I always enjoy talking to her  

at parties in our village, but I probably enjoy  speaking to her more than she enjoys speaking with  

me. And once she said this wonderful thing when  she wanted to leave our conversation, but she did  

it in such a nice way. She said, "I don't want to  hog you, so I'm going to go over here." And I felt  

like, "Oh, she doesn't want to hog me ." To hog  something is to take or use something good all for  

yourself, so that other people can't have it. And  she was saying, "I don't want to keep you all to  

myself, so I'm going to make sure other people  can talk to you too." And it's implying that  

whoever you are talking to is so great that they  need to talk to lots of people. Lots of people  

can benefit from talking to them. It wouldn't be  right to deny others the chance of talking to this  

person. I thought it was really interesting, kind  of like reverse psychology, instead of making me  

feel abandoned, it made me feel flattered. "Oh,  I'm so weak." Okay, and the last one, number 25,  

"I've already taken so much of your time. I've  already taken so much of your time." That's a  

lovely way of saying, "You know, I don't want to  leave, but I've wasted your time, so I'm going to  

go, because it's fair on you." Okay, those are  your 25 smart sentences for daily conversation.  

Really good if you're going to a new place, you're  going to meet lots of new people, or you're going  

to see lots of people that you haven't seen in a  while. It's also great for networking, if you're  

going to have to have lots of conversations and  leave conversations frequently. As I said before,  

we have the full list and explanations and  a quiz in the free PDF that goes with this  

lesson. Just click on the link in the description  box to get that. That's all from me. I hope you  

enjoyed the lesson. I hope you learned something.  Don't forget to check out my English courses.  

We've just launched B1, B2 and C1, and if I do  say so myself, they are bloody brilliant. If  

you want to achieve the intermediate, upper  intermediate, or advanced level of English,  

check them out. The link is in the description  box too. I will see you soon for another lesson.  

Mwah!