How to Talk about Shopping in English: Everyday Phrases, Phrasal Verbs, & Idioms (Everyday English)

- Hello, this is Jack from tofluency.com.

And welcome to this English lesson where you're going to learn English phrases related to

shopping.

And be sure to stay until the end because I'm going to share three idioms that I just

love related to this topic, too.

So, we're going to talk about shopping in grocery stores.

Shopping at shops where you can buy clothes, and also online shopping, too.

Now these phrases are very useful because they are commonly used in everyday English.

And if you go to an English-speaking country, they're going to be very helpful for you.

But you can also just use these in everyday conversation with your friends.

So let's start with a key difference between two common phrases.

Do you know the difference between to go shopping and to do the shopping?

To go shopping and to do the shopping?

Well, generally speaking, to do the shopping relates to food.

To do the shopping.

Whereas to go shopping is more of a general term.

That's just a subtle, a small difference between two commonly used phrases.

Let's now look at some phrases you can use if you go to a clothes store.

Now let's just imagine you are in the UK.

You go into a shop with a friend.

Now the first question the person is going to ask you, the person who works there, is

this.

Can I help you find anything?

Can I help you find anything?

99% of the time I'll say, no thank you, I'm just browsing.

I am just browsing.

So to browse means to look around the store at the different items, but you don't really

have an idea of what you want to buy.

So just to brows around the store.

But if you do need help with something and you've gone there for something specific,

you can say, yes, I'm looking for a new cotton sweater.

I am looking for, I'm looking for a new cotton sweater.

Now the shop assistant will say something like, okay, just go over there, you'll find

them.

Or, they're at the back of the store.

You can't miss them.

So, you go to the place where the sweaters are.

And just to note, in British English we say jumper instead.

A cotton jumper.

But you go to the store, you find this jumper, this sweater, and you take a look at it and

you think, this is good.

But there's a problem.

You wear medium sweaters but there's only large and small.

So this is what you can ask.

Do you have this in medium?

Do you have this in medium?

Or if you want a different color, do you have this in blue?

Do you have this in blue?

So the store assistant helps you.

They find you a medium blue sweater.

And now it's time to see if it's going to fit you.

If it's going to fit you.

And this means if it's going to be the right size.

Now, you can also say, if it's going to suit you, which just means if it looks good on

you.

So there is a difference there.

If it fits you, it means the size is correct.

If it suits you, it means it looks good on you.

But you need to know this.

You need to try it on, to try it on.

So, you ask the assistant, where are the changing rooms?

Or, can I try this on?

Can I try this on?

So you go to the changing rooms, you try on the sweater, and you look at yourself in the

mirror.

But you also ask you friend, you say, does this fit?

Does this fit?

Or, do you think this looks good?

Do you think this suits me?

Your friend might say things like, it's a little big.

It's a little big.

Or, it's a little baggy around the shoulders.

It's a little baggy around the shoulders, which means there's too much room around the

shoulder area.

Your friend might also say, I think you would look better in the pink one.

I think you would look better in the pink one.

So you get the pink one, you like it, and now it's time to think about if you're going

to buy it.

So then you check the price tag.

You say, I can't afford that.

I can't afford that, which means I don't have enough money to buy this.

It's not in my budget.

However, your friend points out to you that it's currently 50% off.

The sweater is currently 50% off, so you think, okay, I can get this.

That's fine.

So you take the sweater to the cash register.

But there are other people around the cash register and you're not sure if they're waiting

to buy something.

So you can ask them, are you in line?

Are you in line?

Or in British English, are you in the queue?

Are you in the queue?

As you buy the sweater, the assistant will say, would you like your receipt in the bag?

Would you like your receipt in the bag?

And you can simply say, yes please, or no thank you.

Later that day, you go home, you put on your new sweater, you look in the mirror, and you

think, I'm not sure I like it.

I'm not sure I like it.

So you tell your friend, I think I'm gonna take this back.

I think I'm going to take this back.

Which just means I think I'm going to return it.

I think I'm going to return it.

Let's talk about shopping in supermarkets now, or in American English they're called

grocery stores.

Now, a phrase I love to use is this, to do the big shop.

To do the big shop.

For example, I'm gonna do the big shop later.

What do you want?

I'm going to do the big shop later, what do you want?

Now, to do the big shop means to buy lots of food so it's going to last you for the

week or for 10 days, or maybe even two weeks.

But sometimes you go to the grocery store and you just want to pick up a few things.

So I'll often text my wife, I'm just going to nip to the grocery store to pick up a few

things.

Do you want anything?

So nip to the grocery store.

This is a British term, and it just means, go quickly.

To go to the grocery store quickly and to pick up a few things, to get, to buy a few

things.

If you're looking for soda but you don't know where it is, you can simply ask, excuse me,

where can I find the soda?

Where can I find the soda?

And then when you want to get some meat or anything from the deli counter, you can ask

this.

Could I get, could I get five steaks and three pounds of ground beef?

And then the person will prepare this for you, hand it over, and then ask, anything

else?

Anything else?

Nope, that's all, thanks.

That's all I need.

That's all.

And then when it's time to check out, this is when you often engage in a little bit of

small talk.

Now, there are certain grocery stores in America where people who work there are very good

at this.

They ask you some good questions.

Just like, how's your day been going so far?

Or, how's it going?

How's it going?

And then usually you have a little conversation about what you've done that day and if you're

having a good day or not.

This is small talk.

Now, I made a video on small talk, so I'll leave a link to that at the end of this lesson.

The checkout person might ask you, would you like paper or plastic?

Would you like paper or plastic?

Now in America, they still use plastic bags in a lot of grocery stores.

Now I know in the UK, this isn't as common, and most people take reusable bags.

But in America, it's still quite common here.

So, if they say, would you like paper or plastic?

They're talking about the type of bag to give you.

And when you go back home, your wife, your husband, your partner, whoever it is will

ask you, did you get the coffee creamer I asked for?

And I always forget something.

There's always one thing that I forget.

So then I'll say with this intonation, no, I forgot.

I'm sorry.

I forgot it.

Now before I share my idioms, I also want to briefly discuss online shopping.

Most of the things here, looking around, I have bought online.

This light, the camera, the tripod, this light, the microphone, this microphone, my computer.

No, the computer I bought in a shop.

But most things I buy online these days, including flight tickets, hotel reservations, clothes,

shoes, business stuff.

And if you want to tell someone that you've bought something online, you can just say,

I bought it online.

I bought it online.

Or, I got it online.

I got it online.

Another phrase you might hear related to this is, have you checked the prices online?

Have you checked the prices online?

So this is when you do a little search to see if the item you want to buy is cheaper

online.

And then also, this is something I quite often say.

Are you online shopping again?

Are you online shopping again?

Okay, it's idiom time, and the first one is this.

This is a perfect fit for you.

This is a perfect fit for you.

Now before, we talked about how if something fits you, it means it's the right size, but

we can also use this for different situations.

For example, that job is a perfect fit for you, which just means, everything about that

job suits you or is suitable for you.

The next one is to be like a kid in a candy shop.

To be like a kid in a candy shop.

Now if you think about children who go to the candy shop or the sweets store, in the

UK, they're very excited.

They have all this energy.

They're very enthusiastic.

So, if you say, you're acting like a kid in a candy shop, it means that this person is

acting very excitable.

They are very enthusiastic about something.

And my favorite, which I think is from the UK, is to be all over the shop.

To be all over the shop, which just means to be disorganized.

So you might say, this presentation is all over the shop.

There's no structure to it.

I don't know what it's about.

This presentation is all over the shop.

Okay, so those are the commonly used phrases and idioms related to shopping.

What I want you to do now is firstly, like this video, and also share it with your friends.

And then leave me a comment with more phrases related to shopping.

So more idioms, commonly used phrases, anything that you might hear someone say when they're

talking about this subject.

And then, while you're here, why not watch another one of my videos?

I'll leave the small talk video on your screen, as well as one of my recent videos, too.

And if you don't have my book, The 5-Step Plan for English Fluency, go to the description

and download it for free now.

Okay, thanks again for watching.

Bye bye.