Hi, Bob the Canadian here.
Welcome to this English lesson
where we're going to talk about
10 very common English questions that English speakers
either use or hear as they go through their day.
The other week, I thought to myself
I should keep track of all the questions that I hear
and all the questions that I ask as I go through my day.
And I should turn it into an English lesson.
And this is it.
(upbeat music)
Question number one that I hear almost every day
is the question how did you sleep?
This is a question that you would hear at home.
It's a question that family members would ask of each other.
So a lot of times in the morning when I get up,
Jen will say to me, "Hey, how did you sleep?"
And I'll reply by saying, "Oh, I slept great."
Or, "I'm a little grouchy right now
because I didn't sleep very good at all."
And I will also ask Jen the same question.
I will ask my kids the same question as well.
How did you sleep?
It's just a nice way to start a conversation in the morning.
It kind of helps you get a sense
of what kind of mood the other person is in
before you start to talk to them about other things.
So question number one that I hear almost every day,
how did you sleep?
The second question is also a question
that you use in the home.
And it's a question that starts with have you seen my...
And then it might end with car keys or phone.
I'm guilty of asking this question quite a bit.
I'll say to Jen in the morning, "Have you seen my car keys?
Have you seen my phone?"
Notice I don't use this question.
I don't say where are my car keys or where is my phone?
Because when you use that question,
it almost implies that the other person
should know where they are.
So a polite way to ask about where something is
that you lost yourself is to use that phrasing.
Have you seen my car keys?
Have you seen my phone?
I ask one of those two questions almost every morning.
The third really common question that I hear in the morning,
because Jen asks me this question a lot,
is the question are you running late?
Sometimes in the morning I get up
and I have a shower and I have breakfast
and I'm trying to find my keys or find my phone
and time is ticking.
That means that I'm starting to become late for work.
When I'm in that mood, when I'm moving fast
and looking for stuff to try and get out the door
sometimes Jen will say, "Hey, are you running late?"
Basically what she's saying is
are you starting to become late for work?
Have you spent too much time getting ready to go
and are you now going to be late for work?
So another question you will hear quite often
in the home would be the question are you running late.
There's another question that Jen usually asks me
before I leave the house, and it's the question
when do you think you'll be home,
or what time do you think you'll be home?
My work day ends at around 4:00, 4:30,
but it's not always over at the same time every day.
Sometimes I have errands to run after work as well.
So Jen sometimes is curious about when I'll be getting home.
So she'll ask one of two questions.
What time do you think you'll be home?
Or when do you think you'll be home?
The fifth most common question I hear every day
is a question that I hear at work.
And I hear this question when I walk in the door,
and I hear it multiple times.
And it's the question how's it going?
It usually starts with the word hey.
We like to say, "Hey, how's it going?"
And I know there are a lot of videos
that English teachers have made saying
that you should use other phrases when greeting people,
that hey, how's it going is really common
and you should have some variety when you say hi.
But the reality is, this is the phrase
that English speakers that I know use all the time.
When I walk in the door at work, when I see my boss,
he says, "Hey, how's it going?"
And I say, "Pretty good, how are you?"
When I see someone at work, when I see a colleague,
I say, "Hey, how's it going?"
And they usually respond by saying, "Oh, pretty good.
How are you?"
So even though it's a super common phrase
and maybe you would like some variety
in your English speaking, it's still very, very common
for English speakers to say hey, how's it going?
The sixth super common question that I hear at work
is the question can you give me a hand with something?
At my job, sometimes it takes more than one person
to do certain parts of the job.
And sometimes people need help.
In English, when you give someone a hand,
when you give someone a hand with something,
it means you're helping them.
So if someone says can you give me a hand
with something later today?
It means they need some help.
You can also use this question
if you want to be really nice.
If you see someone doing something
and you think they need help, you can say,
can I give you a hand with that?
Or can I give you a hand?
So the sixth most common question that I hear at work
is can you give me a hand with something.
The seventh most common question that I hear,
and this is another question that I hear often at work
is the question do you have a minute.
When someone says to you do you have a minute?
It usually means that they want to talk to you.
Sometimes it means that they need help with something
but usually it means they want to talk to you.
If my boss walks up to me and says,
"Hey, Bob do you have a minute?"
It means he wants to talk to me about something.
If I see a student who has late work
and hasn't handed it in, I might say to them,
"Hey, do you have a minute?"
It means that I want to talk to them.
So the seventh most common question that you'll hear
is do you have a minute?
The eighth most common question is another question
that I hear a lot at work.
And I usually hear it at lunchtime
or I ask this question at lunchtime.
And it's the question, how's your day going?
Or how's your day going so far?
This is just a really polite way to begin conversation
with colleagues at lunch.
I work with really awesome, nice people.
So we really enjoy talking about each other's day
as we eat lunch together.
So the eighth most common question that I hear
in my day as an English speaker, how's your day going?
Or how's your day going so far?
How's your day going so far?
I hope pretty good.
The ninth most common question that I either hear or ask
is the question how was your day?
This is a question that I ask at home.
This is a question that I ask Jen almost every day.
And Jen asks me the same question.
When I get home from work, as soon as I see Jen,
I usually say, "Hey, how's it going?
How was your day?"
So I greet her with how's it going, again.
And I say, how was your day?
And Jen will explain a little bit about how her day went.
And then she'll say to me, "How was your day?"
And I will tell her a little bit
about what happened at school and what happened at work.
So the ninth most common question that I hear
and that I ask and that happens almost every day in my life,
and I think it's a really important one,
is the question how was your day?
So I said I was going to help you learn
10 common English questions that I hear or use every day,
but it's actually going to be 11.
There's going to be a bonus question.
The two last questions are the two questions
I hear at the end of the day.
The first question is, what time are you going to bed?
Jen and I usually go to bed somewhere between 10 and 11,
but it's not the same time every night.
So sometimes when I'm done watching TV
or done reading a book or we're done
playing a game or something,
I'll say to Jen, "What time are you going to bed?"
And Jen sometimes asks me that question as well.
Sometimes I'm playing a game on my computer at 10 o'clock
and she'll say, "Hey, Bob, what time are you going to bed?"
And then the other question is the last question
that Jen usually asks me.
And it's the question did you set the alarm?
So at the end of the day
it's important to set your alarm clock.
Sometimes I forget to do that.
So it's really nice to have Jen there
to ask me that question.
Hey Bob, did you set the alarm?
Well, hey, thank you so much for watching
this English lesson about common English questions
that English speakers either hear or use
as they go through their day.
I hope you enjoyed this lesson.
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if this lesson helped you learn a little bit more English.
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(upbeat music)