Easy English Conversation: 11 Common Social Expressions

Hello. My name is Emma; and in today's video, I am going to teach you some very

common conversational expressions. So, these expressions, like I said, are very

common, and they will help you to sound like a more natural speaker. Okay? These

expressions are the types of expressions we use when we're talking with our

friends, or with our family, or acquaintances. So, they're informal, but

they're also polite. So, let's get started. So, one of the best ways to

learn expressions is to make a story using them because this can really help

you to remember the expressions. So, I've made a story using the expressions

I'm going to teach you today. So, let's look at my story.

"I ran into my friend last week." So, the expression that I'd like to teach

you is "ran" or "run" — depending on the tense — "into", "ran into". So, when you

think of "run", you might think of actually running; this expression means

something different. Simply, it means an unplanned meeting. So, it's when you see

somebody you know, and you weren't expecting to meet them. So, we could

say: "unplanned" or "unexpected". So: "I ran into my friend last week; it was a

surprise meeting." Okay? "We decided to hang out." So, that's one way to say:

"informally meet". Okay? Another way to say: "hang out", we can say: "get

together", or we could also say: "meet up". These are three expressions, which

mean pretty much the same thing, and that's: To spend time together. Okay?

So, "hang out", "get together", "meet up" — they mean to spend time together,

but in, like, an informal way. Okay? So, it's not like a business meeting; it's a

meeting with your friends, or with your family. So: "We decided to hang out, we

decided to get together, we decided to meet up."

Okay. So, we have: First, you meet your friend unexpectedly, by running into

them, then you decide to meet up or to hang out. What happens next in my story?

"We were both up for anything", or "We were both in the mood for anything." So,

the two expressions here I'd like to teach you are: "up for", which means the

same thing as "in the mood for". So, you can use either of these expressions. Can

you guess what this means? Well, when you're "up for" something, or when you

are "in the mood for" something, it means you're open to do something. So,

you're willing to do something; you want to do something. So, I'll give you some

other examples to make this a little clearer. When I saw my friend, she

wanted to have dinner, and I said: "I'm up for pizza." This means: "I feel like

pizza, I'm open to pizza, I want to get pizza." Or I could say: "I'm in the mood

for sushi." Again, that can mean: "I want sushi, I'm open to sushi, or I feel

like sushi." In this case, in my story, we say: "up for anything", or "in the

mood for anything". So, this means that we're very flexible. We're willing to do

anything; we have nothing in mind. We're open to experiences; we can do anything.

So: "We were both up for anything. We were both in the mood for anything." All

right, so let's see what happens next in our story.

Okay, so my friend and I were both up for or open to anything. We were in the

mood to do anything. So, what happened? Well, "My friend and I grabbed a bite."

What does it mean to "grab a bite"? Or you can also say: "grab a bite to eat".

Well, it means that you decided to get something to eat together. So, maybe

this means going to a restaurant, or a fast food place, or maybe even a hotdog

stand. It just means that together you decide to eat. So: "My friend and I

grabbed a bite to eat. We caught up." So, the next expression is: "to get

caught up" or "to catch up", or in this case: "caught up, catch up, caught up".

One's the past tense. This is the past; "catch up" is the present. "We caught

up". What does it mean to "catch up" or to "caught up"? Well, it means you learn

what is new in the other person's life. Okay? So, maybe when you meet a friend,

you say: "Oh, what's new? What's happening in your life?" This is how we

catch up with each other. So, I found out all the new things about my friend,

about her job, about her love life — we caught up.

And then what happened? So, we finished our meal. And then: "I wanted to make

plans to meet up again." If you remember, in the first part of this

video, we had this expression: "to meet up". So, here, we are using it again. It

just means to hang out, to meet informally, to just get together. "I

wanted to make plans to meet up again. My friend will let me know" or "will

keep me posted when she is free". So, we often talk about: "let someone know". In

this case, I put "me", but I could say: "Let me know", "let you know", "let...

let him know", "let her know". And the same goes for: "Keep me posted", "keep

you posted", "keep him posted", "keep her posted". So, what does it mean?

Well, when we tell someone: "We will let them know", it means that we will talk

to them again about this in the future, once we have more information. So right

now, we don't know everything, but once we have that information, we will tell

the person. So, in this case, my friend doesn't know when she can meet up, so

she tells me: "She will let me know", meaning: She will update me or give me

the information in the future once she has that information; once she knows her

schedule. And, again: "Keep me posted." We could say that as well. "My friend

will keep me posted." Meaning: Once she knows her schedule, she will tell me.

"Keep me posted."

So, we've covered a lot of different expressions today. Yay, us. These

expressions are, again, very common. If you're telling somebody a story, or if

you're talking, you know, about what happened yesterday — you might use these

because we use them a lot when we're talking about our friends, our

acquaintances, and what we're up to. So, practice these expressions. And if you'd

like to practice more, you can visit us at www.engvid.com. And there, you can

actually find a quiz where you can answer questions about these different

expressions to make sure you know them really well. You can also subscribe to

my channel. Don't forget to ring the bell. By subscribing to my channel, you

can find a lot more videos on expressions, on slang, on vocabulary,

and much more. You can also... I know I'm saying a lot now, but you can also

check out my website at www.teacheremma.com. And there, you will

also find some more resources. So, thank you again for watching; and until next

time, take care.