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)