Hi guys and welcome back to love English I'm Leila and today I've got a rather
simple but hopefully, a lesson that will be effective in helping you to sound
more natural in English. I want to go through five phrases that you may
frequently use but actually aren't particularly natural, they're not
necessarily how a native person would speak with some of these phrases it's
not even that the grammar is incorrect it's simply that it's not how we would
speak it's not the natural way of saying this thing or expressing this thing so
I'll give you the sentence that I often hear from non-native speakers and then
I'll give you an alternative a more natural way of speaking in English
before we get started and don't forget to click that subscribe button and of
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to your comments and correct your English so five phrases that both
American and British speakers native speakers don't say
number one this is a very common phrase and quite rightly so it's a great way to
start a conversation on a topic that could interest both of you travel have
you ever been in Spain have you ever been in Spain or have you ever been in
London this is very common and this is actually a grammatical error we don't
use the preposition in when we are talking about travel about movement you
would have to ask the question have you ever been - have you ever been to Spain
have you ever been to London the preposition to is what we use when we
refer to some kind of movement to travel of course you can say I'm in England now
but that suggests you're more permanently in that position in that
place so remember next time you want to ask someone where they have been you
need to use the preposition - it's a great way of starting a conversation
with somebody and learning more about them so don't be scared to use this
phrase just make sure you use the correct preposition have you ever been
to London number two now this is a phrase that I have heard used by
multiple nationalities particularly Italian and it may be there in your
language you're able to use this kind of vocabulary to talk about this subject
in English it just doesn't sound natural when talking about your family do not
use the phrase my family consists of my family consists of my mum my dad and me
it doesn't sound natural consists is a more academic more formal word we're
more likely to use the word consists the verb to talk about science something
more academic water consists of hydrogen and oxygen h2o so when you're talking
about your family you would simply use I have I have a brother and two sisters I
have an older brother and two younger sir
or I live with I live with my mum and dad you might even say I'm an only child
I don't have any brothers or sisters but you wouldn't say my family consists of
again a really good conversation starter so make sure you do say this correctly I
actually have a younger brother tell me a little bit about your family number
three a response to how are you how are things going I'm fine thank you and you
this is actually quite correct and grammatically it's perfect however it
really isn't how I would naturally respond to that question I'd say
something like I'm good thanks and you well thanks not bad actually thank you
and you it doesn't sound very natural to say I am fine thank you and you first of
all you need to contract I'm I am just sounds very very formal and again I am
fine it doesn't really say very much and again just too formal not very natural
and certainly not how native speakers respond to that question if you need
more examples of expressions and phrases to respond to greetings then I'll make
sure to add a link to that video at the end of this lesson number four again
grammatically correct but not very polite you look sick you look tired
now nothing grammatically wrong with these phrases but in British English and
American English it can sound a little bit rude a little bit impolite to tell
someone basically they don't look good so a better way to say this to someone
if you seem a little tired you seem a little under the weather
under the weather is a nice idiomatic expression meaning sick or unwell idioms
are a really good way to soften your language sometimes so you could try that
one you seem a little under the weather how are you feeling in fact I have
recently been sick so if I do appear a little bit under the weather you know
why finally number five and it's another
error with prepositions oh don't you hate them are you married with anyone
are you married with anyone in this case we do not use the preposition married
with I am married with in my case Francesco
that's my boyfriend's name I am married with Francesco we would actually say I
am married - I am married - in my case Francesco
when we use married with it's actually implying that we are married and we have
children so you can say I am married with two children this sounds a little
bit strange you're not married to the children but you have two children with
your husband or wife so I'm married to insert name of husband
or wife and I'm married with two children be careful with this one though
because in English we tend not to ask people directly are you married
it can sound a little bit too direct and especially if you don't know them very
well a little bit too personal so there you have five phrases that we
wouldn't use in English at least in natural spoken English and as well some
conversation tips for you do let us know in the comment section below what help
do you need with having a natural English conversation and don't forget if
you have any other phrases or expressions in English that you are not
sure if they sound very natural or if native speakers would actually use them
then why not ask the question below give us your phrase your expression your
sentence and we will tell you if we think it sounds natural and native thank
you so much for watching don't forget to click on some of these lessons to learn
some new expressions in English and to help you with your conversation skills
thank you for watching bye