50 Common English Phrases To Level Up Your English Vocabulary!

Today you're going to learn 50  common phrases that you can use  

in your daily conversation to  sound very fluent and natural.

And I've saved the best for last, so  make sure you watch until the end.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

First, let's start with some  greetings that you must know  

to understand native speakers  and to sound natural yourself.

How's it going?

How's it going?

How's it going?

This is how a native speaker will say, how are  you to a friend, a colleague, a family member.

How's it going?

And if two people haven't seen each other  for a longer period of time, you can add on.

How's it going?

Long time no see.

Long time no see.

You can reverse them.

Long time no see.

How's it going?

Long time no see.

Here is one that native speakers  love, but it confuses students.

What have you been up to lately or recently?

This is in the present perfect.

What have you been up to?

Up to just means doing.

What have you been up to lately or recently?

And you can use all of these together.

How's it going?

Long time no see.

What have you been up to lately?

You will sound so natural.

Now let's talk about how  to answer these greetings.

How's it going?

It's going.

And then your adjective.

It's going great.

Long time no see.

You can confirm this by saying I know too long.

I know it's been a long time  since we last saw each other.

I know too long.

It's been too long now.

Although what have you been up to lately?

Recently is a long question.

Generally, native speakers will answer  by saying not too much, not too much.

And then for all of these you can add on and you  

and you to get the reply from  the person you're talking to.

Now let's talk about how to say thank you  like a native speaker, thanks so much.

Now notice instead of thank  you, I'm saying thanks.

You need that as it is required grammatically.

Thanks so much.

Thanks a million thanks a bunch.

These are simply alternative  ways to say thank you very much.

Thanks a bunch.

Two of my favorite ways to say thank you are  simply by saying you're the best, you're the best.

I also say you rock, you rock, you rock.

So if you want to sound very  natural, you can use those two.

You can also say I really appreciate it.

Or you could say that's so nice of you,  

that's so kind of you you can use  nice or kind, it doesn't matter.

So if you're enjoying this video, why  don't you show appreciation right now?

Use one of these expressions, whichever one  is your favorite, and put it in the comments.

Thanks a bunch, Jennifer, you rock.

Jennifer, you're the best.

Jennifer, put that in the comments.

To show appreciation for this video and to sound  very natural, how about to say you're welcome?

My favorite, and one that's very common is  simply no worries, no worries, no worries at all.

No worries.

You could say happy to help or My  pleasure or you could say anytime  

notice it's one word, anytime, anytime, anytime.

And I will reply back to your  comment saying thank you with  

one of these natural expressions saying  you're welcome in a very natural way.

Now when it's time to say bye, you can  say take care, take care, take care.

If someone is getting into a vehicle you can  say drive safe or drive safely, drive safe.

Now technically, grammatically you  need the adverb which is safely,  

but native speakers use drive  safe more than drive safely.

So you will absolutely hear both.

Drive safe, drive safely.

You can say talk soon, talk soon or see you soon.

See you soon now.

Let's say someone offers you something like a  drink or a piece of cake, but you want to say no.

You want to decline it, but  you want to do it politely.

You can say I'm good, I'm good, but thanks anyway.

It's nice to add appreciation.

I'm good, but thanks anyway.

No thanks.

I'm good none for me but thanks anyway.

I'll pass, I'll pass, but thanks, I'll pass.

So definitely add on that.

But thanks or but thanks anyway to sound  very polite when you're requesting help,  

you can say, can you give me a hand,  give me a hand, give me a hand.

You can say, do you mind?

And then you need a gerund verb.

Do you mind helping me, helping me out.

Native speakers like to turn help  into a phrasal verb help out.

Do you mind helping me out?

One I use a lot is Got a sack.

Got a sack.

Sack is short per second, which represents a  small amount of time that you can make available.

For me.

Got a sack?

You got a sack.

So let me try these expressions with you.

Got a sack.

Do you mind helping me out by liking this video,  sharing it with your friends, and subscribing?

It would really help me out.

Now if you're offering help to  someone else, you can say need a hand,  

but notice you do the rising intonation  to make it sound like a question.

Need a hand, Need a hand.

Or you can say it as a statement  and you can say I can give you a  

hand with that and then you can give them a hand.

You can help them out or as a statement  you can say let me help you with that,  

let me help with you with that and then you can  pick up that heavy box and help your friend out.

Let me help you with that.

It's Friday, so let's talk about the weekend.

You can ask someone what  are you up to this weekend?

Again, notice that up to at the beginning.

What have you been up to lately or recently?

And now I'm asking you what  are you up to this weekend?

So what are you up to this weekend?

It's very common to ask any plans this weekend and  again rising intonation to show it's a question.

So do you have any plans this weekend?

I love the expression on the go,  anything on the go this weekend?

It's simply an alternative to plans.

Now if you want to arrange social  plans, you can ask are you free?

Are you free on Saturday?

You can make a statement and  say we should hang out soon.

We should hang out soon.

Hang out is when you interact  with someone socially.

We should hang out soon.

Native speakers love using the verb grab.

Do you want to grab coffee?

Grab dinner.

Do you want to grab dinner sometime?

And then you can add your time reference tonight.

Do you want to grab coffee tonight?

Now, if you're arranging a business  meeting you can still use, Are you free?

You might add the verb to me.

Are you free to meet and then a specific time?

Because a meeting takes place at a very  specific time on Thursday at 2:00 PM.

You could say I'm available on Thursday  at 2:00 PM and then ask, does that work?

Does that work for you?

Or you could ask what works best for you?

What works best for you?

Well, whatever works best for you, Bill.

Now let's say you want to ask for clarification.

You could say sorry, I didn't catch that.

I didn't catch that, sorry, I didn't  catch that, sorry, what does X mean?

And then X is whatever the word is that you don't  

understand or you could clarify by  saying sorry, what do you mean by X?

If you're having trouble understanding  someone, you need to be honest.

You can say could you speak up a little?

Speak up means speak louder.

Could you speak up a little?

I'm having trouble hearing you.

Could you speak up, please?

If they're speaking too quickly, you  can say could you slow down a little?

I'm having difficulty understanding you.

Oh, slow down, slow down, slow down.

Now let's say you want to confirm understanding  

of either something you've said or  something the other person has said.

You can say, do you know what I mean?

So you explain something and then  say, do you know what I mean?

You know what I mean?

Oh, I know what you mean.

Does that make sense to you?

Does that make sense?

Or you can simply shorten that and say  make sense with a rising intonation.

These two you need to put in your vocabulary.

Does that sound good to you?

Does that sound good to you?

And then native speakers will often  shorten that just to sound good.

With a rising intonation, sound good sounds great.

There's one idiom you could use,  and that's to be on the same page.

So you could say are we on the same  page and this is used to say that  

you agree or that you have a shared understanding.

For example, I could say J Force English is  a great resource to help you become fluent.

Are we on the same page?

Do you agree?

Do we have a shared understanding now?

If you do agree, you can  say we're on the same page.

We're on the same page, Jennifer,  

So put that in the comments to show  that you agree we're on the same page.

We're 100% on the same page.

Now you have over 50 expressions  that you can use every single day  

to sound like a native speaker  and to understand one as well.

Now do you want me to make more lessons  where I teach you natural expressions?

If you do, then put you rock.

You rock because that's one  of my favorite expressions.

Put you rock in the comments and  of course, show your appreciation.

Make sure you like this video, share  it with your friends and subscribe  

so you're notified every time I post a new lesson.

And you can get this free speaking  guide where I share 6 tips on how  

to speak English fluently and confidently.

You can click here to download it or  look for the link in the description.

And if you want to sound really natural,  

you should watch this video where I  teach you the most common slang I know.

You'll love it, so watch it right now.