25 Phrases Every English Intermediate Learner Must-Know

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Hi everybody. My name is Alisha in this lesson

I'm going to talk about 25 must-know intermediate phrases. Let's get started

These are some intermediate level phrases that you can use in everyday life

You can use them when you travel at work in your studies. So I hope that they're helpful for you

therefore asking and answering questions

so after you learn these phrases check out the link in the description where you can make an account at English class 101 comm and

Practice your English even more. Alright, let's get started. How is it going?

How is it going? You'll notice with how is it going that there's an apostrophe at the end of this?

It's not how is it going or how is it going? If you say how is it going? It sounds too stiff

It doesn't sound so friendly. So we say how is it going? How's it going? How's it going means? How are you?

Like, how are you doing or how is your life going?

So it's like a friendly kind of rougher more casual way to say. How are you? How's it going? How's it going?

How's it going with you?

fine

See, that's the correct response. Has it done fine. Has it gone good has going not bad. How is it going?

How is it going? Okay, let's go on to the next expression. What have you been up to?

What have you been up to? What have you been up to? What have you been up to?

What have you been up to is a more advanced version of like what are you doing?

So what have you been up to means? What did you do since the last time?

I saw you what have you been up to? So what have you been up to? It's like ah, I've been blah blah blah

We're going to talk about this in the next expression. So what have you been up to or what?

Have you been doing is another popular variation? What have you been up to? How have you been?

How have you been? How have you been more?

Naturally, how have you been?

Sounds like how have you been in?

Everyday speech so how have gets reduced to how of how of how have you been? How have you been?

How have you been since the last time I saw you is what this means how have you been?

So that you sound also gets shorter how have you been is kind of what it sounds like if I slow it down a lot

How have you been? How you been? You might also hear too?

So this means since the last time I saw you what has your condition been like good bad

busy in most cases the answer is just good you

Fine fine. Anyway moving along. I've been blah blah blah

I've been this is their reduced form of I have been something something

This is a good response to questions. Like how have you been or what? Have you been up to numbers?

2 & 3 in this episode. So if someone says what have you been up to you can say I've been busy or I've been

Working I've been studying. I've been planting a garden in front of my house

I've been looking for a new car. I've been making videos on the Internet

So I've been blah blah blah

So eyes is short for I have been so this is a present perfect tense expression

I've been something something you can use the progressive form. You can use an adjective here

You can use whatever suits your situation so

Yeah. Hmm. What have you been up to? I've been

Sleeping a lot. How about something something? How about dinner? How about drinks?

How about we do this later? How about something? This is a very

Simple and easy way to make a suggestion to someone. How about blah blah blah

So in fast speech how about sounds like how about how about how about we how about you?

How about I how about so the a sound kind of disappears? How about we see a movie later?

How about we go to the beach this weekend? How about we take a trip to

Guam how about we bake cookies? How about we go on to the next expression? Okay. Sorry

I can't sorry. I can't so sorry. I cannot this is a way to

Refuse an invitation so to say no I can do that thing and I feel bad about it. Sorry

I can't sorry. I can't

So like sorry I can't you can add

Like the thing you are refusing if you like you could say, sorry

I can't go to the beach with you this weekend or sorry. I can't meet you for dinner tonight. I have to work late

Sorry, I can't help you make your treehouse. I broke my leg. That was very specific

sorry, I can't cook dinner tonight because I don't know how to cook when you want to refuse and

You maybe don't want to give specific reasons. You can say sorry. I can't I use this recently

Sorry, I can't go sure sounds good. Sure. Sounds good. So sure sounds good. You can put those two together

Sure means yes, sounds good means like your idea

Seems to be a good thing. Like I'm hearing your idea. It sounds like a nice idea. So this is a good way to

Accept an invitation sure, sounds good or sounds nice. Sounds great. Sounds awesome. Sounds cool sounds

fantastic

You can change your adjective there if you like sure sounds rad

Do you want to something something? Do you want to something something?

Do you want to plus an activity? Like do you want to get dinner?

Do you want to go for drinks? Do you wanna ride bikes? Do you wanna make videos for the Internet?

Do you want to study English with me do you wanna I don't know

Do you want to get a Charizard tattoo already has one?

Do you want to is a friendly and easy way to make an invitation?

For some kind of activity when we say this expression. We kind of put the sounds together

so not do you want to but do you wanna do you wanna do you wanna

Do you wanna so it's you can imagine it's like Dee

' why a

waa and and aadya wanna do you wanna not do you want to but do you wanna do you wanna

Go to the next one. I do. What do you call this? What do you call this? So when you don't know the

Vocabulary word for something or you just forget it. You can use this expression. What do you call this?

So again that do you becomes reduced. Do you becomes dia? What do you call this?

So to call something is like to name something. What is the name you use for this thing?

So what do you call this? Like? What do you call?

This what do you call that? What do you call these? What do you call this?

So you can use that when you don't know the word for something when you find something new as well. How do I get to?

Location. How do I get to so how do I get to for example the station? How do I get to this hotel?

Means what is the path I should take to arrive at that destination?

How do I get to the beach room here?

How do I get to my house from here or how do I get to the bar from here?

How do I get to work from here? So how do I get to is a much more natural way to ask for directions?

to some place so don't use how do I go or how do I

Travel I guess but how do I get to a location?

and don't forget your to also remember we use that preposition to

Before the specific place name so a problem that I hear a lot is how do I go to there?

So we don't use to before there because there is not a specific place

How do I get to the station a station is a specific place or a hotel is a specific place?

There is not a specific place so we cannot use to with there. So, how do I get there?

It's fine. No to how do you get to the next one by scrolling down on the iPad?

alright

Let's go to the next one have a nice evening have a nice evening have a nice evening is a way to say

Goodbye at the end of the day learners use. Goodnight

At the end of the day like with coworkers or maybe leaving a restaurant like goodnight

We use goodnight when we're like saying goodbye to our kids or like when we're actually in bed

Like with a spouse or like your partner, or maybe you say it to your children or something like that?

Goodnight, just before you go to sleep when you want to say goodbye at the end of the day

Use have a nice evening. Have a good evening

That's a much more like natural and polite way to say goodbye at the end of the day. Have a nice evening

Have a good one. Have a good one. Have a good one. Have a good one means. Have a good day

So one here, it means day. Have a good day, or have a good time or like have a good experience

Until I see you again. Have a good one, or have a nice one

I think have a good one is probably the most common have a good one so friendly

Kind of polite ish. I suppose you can use this with your coworkers with your friends with your family members

But it does help there's a little bit of distance there. I think have a good one. Okay onward

Can I have item, please? Can I have item please? Can I have something please?

So when you're shopping you can use this to request something from the person working at the store

So can I have that shirt please? Or can I have for example?

200 grams of beef please or can I have that pack of cigarettes, please?

So you can use any item in this pattern

Can I have that thing, please?

You can use singular you can use plural you can use a number here if you want

But can I have and to make this more natural not can I have that thing, please?

But can I have can I have can I have is kind of more natural? Can I have sounds like can I have

Can I have?

this iPad

Yes, oh I got an iPad today number of the noun please

This is used again when shopping and maybe specifically when you're buying things in

quantity, so that means for example, like when you're shopping for food

You maybe need to buy like fresh meat or a fresh fish

for example and you want a certain quantity a certain amount of something you can use number of

The noun please so I used the example before like 200 grams of the beef

Please so you're buying things in bulk when you're buying in bulk

It means you're buying a lot of stuff at one time. You can use an expression like this

Of course, even if you're not buying in bulk, you can use this like two of the blue ones

Please you can use that as well

So this is just a simple pattern to use when shopping number of that noun

Please how do I plus your verb phrase? So we talked about the expression?

How do I get to a place this is how do I?

Something so not yet. But how do I and then use a verb here?

so one thing I hear learners do when they don't know how to do something is they use an expression like

please teach me this thing or

I don't know this

So to make a request

For someone to show you something you can use this pattern

How do I use this computer or how do I turn on this car? How do I sell my kidney on the Internet?

How do I learn English that's what a lot of people say just do it. It's the answer

So, how do I plus your verb? So that's a much better way than please teach me use

How do I learn English? How do I study grammar? How do I read books?

so use just the simple present tense form of the verb in this what again another point to your

Pronunciation point how do I becomes how do I how do I how do I do this? How do I do that?

How late are you open? How late are you open?

This is very useful when you're visiting

Restaurants or bars or like retail shops as well the most natural way to ask what time a store or other?

Establishment finishes is how late are you open? How late are you open?

So if you ask this question, you will get the closing time as the answer

Like, how late are you open? 8, how late are you open 10?

How late are you open midnight or how late are you open or open? 24 hours. The internet is open forever

We have no closing time here in English class 101 we're accessible

Always, how late are you open? So how late are you so that ru is reduced. How late are you open?

Are you sounds like how late are you open? We do not say how late are you closed?

We don't say that you could say when do you close? That's also okay. When do you close?

But how late are you open? Do you have any plans for?

Point in time. Do you have any plans for?

Point in time. Do you have any plans for this weekend? Do you have any plans for tomorrow?

Do you have any plans for tomorrow night? Do you have any plans for dinner?

so choose a point in time or kind of like I did with dinner you can use meals here to

Choose a point in time to ask about another person schedule

Don't forget for in this example. Do you have any plans for?

Point in time. Do you have any plans for Sunday afternoon? Do you have any plans for Monday?

So this is a quick way to ask about a schedule very nice and it's kind of polite as well

Okay on to the next one my body part hurts my body part hurts

This is an important and natural expression to use when you are not feeling well

So instead of like I have a pain in my arm or something or I have a pain somewhere

I hear many learners use that pattern instead use my plus your body part hurts

For example, my arm hurts my head hurts my finger hurts. My stomach hurts my back hurts my face hurts

Because I got punched in it this morning

It's not true. Have you ever punched yourself in the face myself? Yeah, I did it once and I'm never gonna forget

Yeah, I was trying to pull like the blankets up. It was like 6:00 in the morning. I was cold

It was winter

I tried to pull the blankets up and my blanket was kind of like

shiny and slick and I was like half awake and I was like

Damn, so my body part hurts my body part hurts

That's the quickest way to explain that you do not feel well in some way my body part hurts

Don't forget that s my body part hurts my eyeball hurts

My ear hurts my throat hurts, how much is this? How much is this?

This is a cost related expression when you are shopping. How much is this?

How much is that?

You probably don't need to use this so much because in most cases the price is clearly written in stores

but every once in a while you do need to ask or you need to like talk to someone about a price in a

Conversation. So how much is this or how much is that? You can change that?

Of course, you can use the plural here. How much are these how much are those in present tense?

And you can also ask about past tense information. How much was that?

For example, how much was your car or how much was this apartment or how much were those donuts?

It's a very important question. How much did your sandwich cost you could ask that as well?

How much does something cost is another expression you can use but yeah, how much did your sandwich cost?

It looks good

Or how much for a dozen burgers to be sent to my office tomorrow at one o'clock?

What did you say? What did you say?

native speakers use this all the time you can use this to please its

Importance probably more important for you to use this expression and don't feel bad about it

What did you say naturally? What did you say? What did you say?

What did you say is a question about the thing the other person in the conversation?

Just said like you couldn't catch it or you think you misheard something

Or maybe you didn't understand something. They said what did you say?

It's a little more polite than just what so what did you say?

Yeah, anytime you need to confirm something that someone else said you can use

What did you say try to use a nice intonation with this also? What did you say? What does that mean?

What does that mean and native speakers use this too? Like we don't understand everything like sometimes everybody needs an explanation

So what does that mean is a great way to ask for it. What does that mean in fast?

Speech is what does that mean? What does that mean?

So the th in that becomes like an S or a Z sound, what does that mean?

So it connects to that sound it does what does that mean? What does that mean? So what does that mean?

it's like you don't understand something that's written or maybe you don't understand the implications implications means like the

Like the background information of a situation. So what does that mean or you don't understand something someone else said?

But they're gone

So you can't say what did you say?

You asked someone else. What does that mean? What that person just said? What does that mean?

So what does that mean is another really important expression for learners, especially I don't feel so good

I don't feel so good

So if you don't want to specifically say like my stomach hurts or my arm hurts or my head hurts

You can say I don't feel so good

So this tends to be used more for like stomach problems. So I don't feel so good. I ate a huge lunch

I don't feel so good. Or maybe you ate something bad. I don't feel so good. We often use

I don't feel so good when we actually feel very bad very suddenly like in the examples

I mentioned when we eat something and our body is not happy with it. And we suddenly feel sick. We might use the expression

I don't feel so good. I need to go home

So you can use this to talk about like a sudden and unpleasant feeling in your body. I don't feel so good

I need to go to location

I need to go to location I need to go to location is useful for

About Aaron's. So Aaron's is like small tasks. You need to do throughout the day

We also use this expression when we need to visit the restroom urgently so you can say I need to go to the restroom

That's great. That's a very natural and polite way to talk about visiting the restroom

Otherwise when you're talking about your daily tasks, you can say I need to go to the bank

I need to go to the store. I need to go to the carwash

I need to go to the pet sitter and pick up. My neighbor's poodle. What becomes very specific

so you can talk about your

Responsibilities with need - yes, you can substitute have - here I have to go to the bank

I have to go to the store. Keep in mind also when you want to use the negative form

I don't have to or I don't need to you can but make sure you use it with something. You don't have a

responsibility to do I hear lots of learners use expressions like I don't have to

Go to the bar today, for example, like if going to a bar is part of your regular

responsibilities like you work at a bar or like

Part of your business is at a bar fine

But if it's just something you occasionally do it sounds really unnatural to use. I don't have to go to the bar today

so we use this in the negative form for things we can naturally and reasonably be expected to have

Responsibility to do so keep that in mind when you use the negative form. Ok onward

I have to I have to so my previous one was I need to go to a place if you want to just talk in

general about

Responsibilities you can use I have to I have to get up early in the morning

I have to study for my tests. I have to think of a new hairstyle for my cat

Yesterday I had to past tense

I had to buy new clothes because my director was making fun of me for wearing shirts and they were falling apart on

Camera because that's how much I love shopping. Yeah, so past tense

I had to buy new clothes yesterday, or I had to go out in the rain yesterday

So again, I had some responsibility to do that. So past tense had to when are we leaving?

when are we leaving I included this here because it's a

Common question surprisingly like when are we leaving not?

When do we go? That's one that I hear sometime like when do we go or

When we go or something like that, don't use those. Oh

Sorry, mr. IPad. Um, the question is when are we leaving? So we use this when we're at an event?

We're at a party where maybe at work whatever you're going somewhere else with another person or with a group

When are we leaving? When are we leaving this place? In other words so natural pronunciation?

When are we leaving? When are we leaving becomes? When are we leaving?

Okay. So those are 25 must know intermediate phrases

I hope that those are helpful for you many of the phrases that I introduced here are in present tense

But remember you can use them in past tense and in future tense - so don't stick only to present tense

Make sure to go outside of present tense and think about the different ways that you can use these expressions

To talk about the past and the future

Okay, so that's everything for this lesson. Thanks very much for watching

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Stephens