Conversational English - Asking "How about...?"

Hi, my name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson, I'm going to show you a very easy way to ask

a question in English by using a simple, casual expression, which is "How about...?"

Now, you can use this in lots of different ways, which I'm going to describe to you,

but the important thing to remember is that it is a casual, informal kind of question,

so don't use it in formal situations, but you can certainly use it with your friends

or at work with your colleagues, okay?

So how do we use this expression?

Well, you can use it to invite people.

You could say to someone, "How about a movie?"

"I'd like to go somewhere.

How about a movie?"

Or "How about a game of tennis?"

Instead of asking the full question, "Would you like to play a game of tennis with me?"

you could just say, "How about a game of tennis on Saturday?"

Right?

Or, "How about dinner on Thursday?"

Okay?

So you can use this for invitations.

You can also use it to refer to people.

Let's say we need someone to help us with this report, right?

"How about James?"

Or "We need someone to look after the baby tonight.

How about your parents?"

Okay?

Okay.

Next one.

"Time."

You can use it to refer to time, when you're making arrangements that have to do with time.

"How about meeting next week?"

"How about seeing the doctor tomorrow at 3 p.m.?"

"How about going out for dinner on Thursday at 8 p.m.?"

Right?

Or you could just say, "How about Thursday at 8?"

Would that be convenient for you?

Right?

Okay?

That's for time.

"How about transportation?" when you're referring to different kinds of transportation.

"How about taking a cab?"

"How about going by subway?" or "How about going by bus?"

Right?

You can also use it to refer to places.

"How about Oxford University?

Have you considered applying there?"

"How about Paris?

Have you ever been there?"

Okay?

So you could use it to refer to places as well.

But also to food and drink.

"I'm hungry.

How about a pizza?"

"How about some dessert?"

Right?

So you can see that this little expression, "how about", is very handy, and you can use

it in lots of different situations, but again, in a casual environment.

So let me give you a couple of situations, and then you tell me what you would say.

So suppose somebody said, "Hey, it's already 2 p.m.

I'm really hungry.

How about lunch?"

Right?

Good.

Next one.

"I feel like going out.

How about a movie?"

Okay?

Next example.

"Let's get together next week for some coffee.

How about Thursday?"

Okay?

See how we use that one?

Next example.

"We're late for the meeting.

How about taking a cab?"

All right?

And last one.

"We need to get some medicine soon.

How about the pharmacy on Maple Street?"

Okay?

So you can see that these examples and the ones that we talked about on the board, that

there's a very easy way in which you can start to ask questions in English without too much

complicated grammar.

All right?

If you'd like to do a quiz on this and many other subjects in English, please visit our

website, www.engvid.com.

Thanks for watching.