Learn 10 Easy 3-Word Questions in English

Hi.

I'm Rebecca from engVid, and in this lesson you're going to learn 10 easy questions

that you can use in all kinds of everyday situations.

Now, they are really easy so they will not only help you to understand what people are

saying, but you can also start to use them yourself.

Why?

Because all these questions have only three words.

All right?

And I think, and I know, and I believe that you can learn them.

Okay?

So let's look at what they are.

Let's go.

Number one: "What's the matter?"

Okay?

If someone says: "What's the matter?"

it means: "What's the problem?

What's...?

What's wrong?"

Okay?

Now, don't look on this side.

This is not the answer, this is not the explanation.

These we're going to use later when we do our quiz.

So just listen to me to understand what the questions mean first of all.

Okay?

So: "What's the matter?" means: "What's the problem?

What's wrong?"

Number two: "Do you mind?"

Now, when do we say: "Do you mind?"

What does that mean?

"Do you mind?"

"Do you mind?"

means: "Do you have any objection?

Do you have any...?

Do you not agree with me for some reason?

Do you not accept what I'm about to do?"

"Do you mind?" means:

"Do you have any problem with what I'm going to do, or say?" or something like that.

Okay?

"Do you mind?"

Number three: "Have you heard?"

Now, some of these are full grammatical questions.

Okay?

For example: "What's the matter?" is completely and grammatically correct.

Some of them that you'll see down here are actually just shortened versions of a fuller

question, but because they're used so often people do shorten them.

Okay?

So keep that in mind also.

So: "Have you heard?"

If somebody just says: "Have you heard?"

why would they say that?

Have you heard what?

So in what situation do we use this?

Usually people will say: "Have you heard?" when there's some sort of big news.

Now, it could be big news in terms of world news, it could be big news in terms of in

your office, it could be big news in terms of your family.

But whatever it is, it is considered by the person who's asking you this to be big news

that you either probably have heard about and do know about, or should know about.

Okay?

So then the person asks you: "Have you heard?"

And if you say: "No. Why? What?

What are you talking about?" then they tell you.

And if you do know, then you say: "Yes, I know, I heard."

if it's bad news.

Or: "Yes. I heard. She won the lottery. Wow."

Okay?

So it could be good news or bad news.

Next...

Of course the way they'll ask the question will vary.

If they say: "Have you heard?"

that's good news.

They say: "Have you heard?"

that's not so good news.

Okay.

The next one: "Care for another?"

Again, this is one of those where we're shortening it.

Okay?

So: "Care for another?"

Another what?

Well, it depends on the situation.

Usually we're talking about food or drink.

So somebody might be saying: "Care for another drink?"

"Care for" means: "Would you like? Do you want?"

So: "Do you want another drink?",

or "Do you want another piece of cake?",

or "Do you want another dessert?",

or "Do you want another slice of pizza?"

So somebody might just say: "Care for another?"

instead of saying: "Do you want another something?"

Okay?

And the last one here is: "Who is it?"

Now, that sounds pretty straightforward, but in some languages we don't use...

They don't use "it" so much.

So when we're talking about: "Who is it?" are we talking about an animal or a thing?

No.

Because we said "Who", so we're talking about people.

Usually this question we ask when let's say somebody knocks on the door, we say:

"Who is it?"

Okay?

Or let's say you have a phone call and somebody else answers, and then you...

You ask...

They say: "You have a call", or "You have a phone call."

And you say: "Who is it?"

Okay?

That means: "Who is calling?" or "Who is at the door?"

Depends on the situation.

All right.

So, let's review these five, and then you can learn five more.

Let's do these.

So if somebody wants to say: "Would you like another drink?"

then what would they use?

Which expression could you use for that meaning?

You would say: "Care for another?"

Number four.

Okay?

If you want to ask somebody: "Who's calling?"

what could you say?

You would say:

"Who is it?"

Okay?

If you want to say: "What's wrong?"

What's another way to say: "What's wrong?"

Look at it.

Which one of these?

For: "What's wrong?" we would usually say

number one: "What's the matter?"

Okay?

"What's the matter?

What's the problem?

What's wrong?"

Okay?

"Can I use this chair?"

So you're asking somebody: "Could I use this chair?"

And what might you say after that?

"Is it okay with you?"

What's another way to say: "Is it okay with you or do you have any objection?"

We would say number two:

"Do you mind?"

Okay?

And the last one: "Do you know the latest news?

Do you know what happened?

What people are talking about, what you should know?"

That is number three:

"Have you heard?"

Okay?

Next we're going to do five more so that you can start to use these easy and snappy questions.

Okay, number six: "Leaving so soon?"

So when do we say: "Leaving so soon?"

Again, this is one of those shortened questions, because the full question would probably be:

"Are you...?"

Or: "Why are you leaving so seen?" or "Are you leaving so soon?"

But we just say: "Leaving so soon?"

So this is when somebody is leaving a situation early, like maybe somebody's leaving a party

before it's over or somebody's leaving a dinner, or somebody's leaving a seminar or a conference,

and they're leaving a little bit earlier than it's supposed to end.

So you just ask, because you...

Usually you ask somebody you care about or you care about why they're leaving,

so you just say: "Leaving so soon?"

Okay?

Especially if it's more at...

In a personal situation.

All right?

Now, so somebody might say:

"Yes. I have to catch a flight",

or "I have to get to bed early", or something like that.

That would be the answer.

Okay?

Now, number seven: "Have you met?"

So when do we say: "Have you met?"

This "you" is referring to usually two people, or two or more people.

So let's say you go into a situation and there's...

Let's pretend right now there are two friends, and you want to know...

You are friends of each of these people, but you don't know if they know each other.

So when we say: "Have you met?" we're saying: "Do you know each other?

Have you had a chance to meet each other?"

Right?

So... And if not, then you are going to introduce them.

All right?

So you start by saying: "Have you met?"

All right, there we go.

Now, the next one is really interesting.

"What's the scoop?"

This question actually comes from the world of journalism, because in journalism when

a reporter gets the scoop it means he gets the story, he gets the latest story.

And every reporter wants to get the scoop and get their news out on their channel before

anyone else.

So, a scoop is like the story, the latest news, the latest story.

So when you ask somebody: "What's the scoop?" it means, like:

"What happened? What's the latest?

What's happening or what happened?"

Okay?

What's the scoop?

All right.

The next one, number nine: "Do you follow?"

Now, "follow" can have different meanings.

"Follow" can mean that you walk after somebody else.

Okay?

Somebody's following you, let's say.

You don't want that to happen.

Okay?

Somebody... When you're going home at night, you don't want anybody going after you

or following you.

But this doesn't have anything to do with that.

This means: "Do you understand?"

Because "to follow" is also a mental activity, it means to understand what's happening.

So, for example, I could ask you: "Do you follow the meaning of these questions?

Do you understand?"

Usually this is not going to be asked in the beginning.

So let's say somebody's giving some instructions or giving a lesson and there are a number

of steps, in the middle, they ask: "Do you follow?

Do you follow?

Are you following?"

Okay?

So that means: "Do you understand?"

And the last one is a very interesting question, and that's: "What's the catch?"

So what do we mean by saying: "What's the catch?"

Sometimes you hear about something and it sounds too good to be true.

Like, okay: "You can...

We are giving you..."

A company puts an ad in the newspaper and it says: "We are giving you a thousand dollars."

What?

That sounds really good.

But usually it's a little too good to be true, so then we might ask: "What's the catch?"

So maybe in this advertisement which said: "We're giving you a thousand dollars", in

small...

In small writing at the bottom it said: "When you buy a house from us."

Okay?

So the catch, the hidden problem, the hidden condition was that when you buy a house from

this company, they will give you a discount of a thousand dollars, so it's like they're

giving you a thousand dollars.

But: "What's the catch?"

means that when there's some sort of a situation that sounds like it's ideal, and really lovely

and beautiful, but there's some hidden disadvantage in that situation.

And so you're asking: "What's the catch?"

Okay?

Or somebody tells you...

Your friend tells you:

"Hey. I got this job, and they're going to send me here and they're going to do this, and

they're going to do that, and they're paying me so much money."

And it sounds like almost too good, so you say: "What's the catch?"

It's like: "Oh, well, I have to do this stuff which is not legal."

It was like: "Oh, okay. Well, then, you better not."

Okay?

So, there are all kinds of situations in which we can use this.

Okay?

Now, let's try to match them up.

So which question can you use when you want to say: "Do you know each other?"

Okay?

You have two friends: "Do you know each other?"

What do we say?

Did you find it?

We asked: "Have you met?"

Okay? Good.

All right.

What's the hidden problem?

What's that hidden condition?

Which expression or question asks that?

It's here,

number 10. Right?

"What's the catch?

What's the hidden problem?

What's the hidden disadvantage?"

If you want to ask somebody: "Do you understand?"

what's another way we can ask that?

Which one?

This one, it's:

"Do you follow?"

Okay?

Good.

"Are you going home already?"

How can we ask that?

Do you know?

Yes, number six:

"Leaving so soon?" Okay?

Again, it doesn't mean you're going home.

It's just an example.

You could be just leaving.

We don't know where that person is going.

And the last one: "What's happening?", or "What happened?", or "What's the latest?",

or "What's the story?"

What's that one?

The one that's left, number eight: "What's the scoop?"

All right?

So I hope that these 10 questions are easy enough-and I think they are-that you could

actually start using them yourself.

It's important to understand them, but it's also important to start using the common expressions

that native speakers use in everyday life.

So, if you'd like to practice this, please go to our website: www.engvid.com.

There, first of all you can review these by doing a quiz on our website.

You can also look around, because we have hundreds of other lessons on all kinds of

areas of English, like grammar and vocabulary, and writing, and exam prep, pronunciation,

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Okay?

Bye for now.

Good luck with your English.