Simple Two Word Questions That Make English Conversations Easier!

So I know many of you have this problem.

You're having an English conversation,

the person you are talking to says something,

and you don't know what to say next.

Well, in this English lesson,

I'll help you learn five simple two-word questions

that you can use to make your next English conversation

go a lot more smoothly.

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The first two-word question I want to teach you

is the question "How come?"

In English, we sometimes ask "How come?"

when we want to know why something is the way it is.

Someone might say to you, "The road is closed."

You could respond by asking "How come?"

because you want to know why the road is closed.

Maybe someone says to you, "School is closed tomorrow."

You could reply by asking the question "How come?"

because you want to know the reason why

there will be no school the next day.

Now, you might be wondering why you don't just ask "Why?"

instead of asking "How come?"

That's a good question.

I think because as English speakers,

we like to have a bit of variety.

So if you want to add some variety,

instead of asking "Why?"

you can just use the question "How come?"

The second two-word question you can ask

to keep an English conversation going smoothly

is the question "Why not?"

This is a question that we ask

when someone says that they don't do something

or they don't like something.

Someone might say this to you:

"I don't like going on roller coasters."

And then you could ask "Why not?"

because you want to know why

they don't like going on roller coasters.

Someone might say to you, "I don't like cucumbers."

Not sure who would say that, cucumbers are delicious.

But if someone said "I don't like cucumbers,"

you could then ask "Why not?"

And then, hopefully, they explain to you

why they don't like cucumbers.

So if someone expresses that they don't like doing something

or don't like something,

you can ask them to explain more by using the question

"Why not?"

The third two-word question you can use is the question

"What for?"

In English, we sometimes ask "What for?"

when we want someone to explain

why they're going to do something.

Someone might say something like this:

"I'm going to go to Toronto tomorrow."

You could say "What for?"

because you want to know the reason why

they're going to Toronto.

Someone might say something like this:

"I'm going to buy a second phone."

That would be a little strange, wouldn't it?

So you would probably ask "What for?"

because you want to know why that person thinks

they need to have two phones.

So if someone says something in an English conversation,

something that they're going to do,

and you want more information,

you can use the simple two-word question, "What for?"

Sometimes during an English conversation,

someone will express their opinion

about someone or something, and you want more details.

You could then use the question "How so?"

So someone might say something like this:

"The singer in the band is strange."

You could then ask "How so?"

because you want to know why

they think the singer is strange.

Someone might say something like this:

"The news story that I read yesterday was very scary."

You could then ask "How so?"

because you want more details about that news story

so you can figure out why the person thought

the news story was very, very scary.

So, if you ever are in a conversation

and someone expresses an opinion and you want more details,

you can use the simple two-word question, "How so?"

This next two-word question

is just another way of saying "I don't know,"

and it's the question "Who knows?"

It's a very informal way of saying

that you don't know something.

You would only use this with family and friends.

If someone asked you a question like,

"Will the test be hard?"

you could say "Who knows?"

If someone asked the question, "Will Jim be late again?"

you could respond by saying "Who knows?"

In both situations, it simply means that you don't know.

Now, again, it is informal.

It's not something you would use at work

or in a professional capacity.

But if someone asks you a question

and you don't know the answer,

you could respond by saying "Who knows?"

I also don't know if this will actually help

keep the conversation going,

but it kind of falls in the category

of simple two-word questions,

so I thought I would teach it to you anyways.

Well, hey, thank you so much

for watching this English lesson

about little two-word questions that you can use,

hopefully, to keep an English conversation going.

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and of course, if you have a bit of time

and you want to learn some more English,

why don't you watch another English lesson?

(upbeat music)