So, what do Native English speakers really say every day? Good morning,
good afternoon, and good evening. Welcome to Smashing English. Before we start this video,
be sure to subscribe because we make new videos all the time,
and I don't want you to miss any. So, with that said, let's get on with the video.
My name is Laura, and I am a native English speaker from the United
Kingdom. Over the last few weeks, I have been taking note of some of
the words and phrases I use almost every day. Hopefully, you can use some of these
if you want to sound more like a native English speaker. But I'm a little tired,
so I've asked a very talented actor to play me in the following recreations. Enjoy!
Morning. Hey, buddy. How's your week going? How's your week been? What kind of a week
have you got this week? What's new with you? I think he did a good job; he looks just like me.
So let's talk about some of those phrases, shall we? These are the ways I normally start
a conversation with people, whether that's my friends or my students. I teach English online,
so I'm talking to people all the time. So I normally start with morning or afternoon. You
don't even really need 'good' in there; a lot of the time I just say 'morning' or 'afternoon.' It's
all in the way you say it. So you don't always need 'good morning' or 'good afternoon.' I say,
'Hey, buddy,' a lot. I don't know if that feels like something you want to say,
but I like 'buddy.' It's gender-neutral; it doesn't matter who you're saying it to. Probably,
it's not great for people of authority, maybe not your boss, but it's a friendly
term. It makes people feel very appreciated, like they're your friend. So with my friends
and people I feel very comfortable with, I say, 'buddy,' 'Hey, buddy, how are you?'
Now, depending on when in the week it is, I will say, 'How's your week going?' or 'How's
your week been?' So if I'm asking this person on a Wednesday, a Tuesday, a Thursday, sometime in
the middle of the week, I will use the continuous, so I'll say, 'How's your week going?' 'How is your
week going?' 'How is that process going?' If it is the end of the week, if it's a Friday, a Saturday,
a Sunday, I will say, 'How's your week been?' 'How's your week been? Tell me about Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. What was that like?' If it's a Monday, I will say,
'What kind of a week have you got this week?' I say this phrase a lot. So on a Monday,
'What kind of a week have you got this week?' And what I mean by that is, 'What things are you going
to do this week? Is it a busy work week? Are you going on holiday? Is it work filled with
chores? Tell me about the week ahead.' Or if I haven't seen somebody in a while, I will say,
'What's new with you?' This is extremely general; I'm asking about all aspects of
their life. 'What's new with you? Tell me the new things in your life; catch me up.'
Now, I'm quite a dramatic person, so I often find myself using very dramatic words. So here
are some words and phrases I use when I find something crazy or unbelievable.
Take it away, Bez! That is mental. I cannot believe it. Stop! Oh, that smells insane.
So let's go over some of these, shall we? We have 'mental,' 'that is mental.'
I use this for things that are just unbelievable, but I might even use it
for food. I don't know. If I try something so nice; I might say, 'Oh, that's mental,
that's so good.' So for things that are almost beyond belief, I will use 'mental,' and also
'insane.' I use 'insane' in the same way. So, 'Oh, I can't believe she did that; that's insane.'
If you're quite a dramatic person like me, maybe you can have these for your vocabulary.
If you're not so dramatic, that's okay, we're all different, and that's what makes us unique.
Now, most of the time, I use contractions like most native speakers when they are
speaking informally. I use contractions, so I say 'I'm,' 'you're,' 'won't.' I always
contract things. However, if I really want to exaggerate that something is unbelievable,
I will stretch out 'can't' to 'cannot.' If I really want to emphasise something,
I will take away the contraction, and I will say, 'I cannot believe it.' 'I cannot,' there's a sense
of drama when you take away the contractions; it feels like you really want to make a point. So,
listen, 'I am not leaving,' that's very different from 'I'm not leaving.' It has more drama to it,
so if you want to be dramatic, take away the contractions; there's a tip.
And finally, we have 'stop.' A simple 'stop.' I can use this if I don't believe somebody,
'Stop, stop.' Or if I find something really funny, 'Stop,
stop, you're so funny.' So, I use 'stop' a lot. It's a good one if you want to use it.
Now, let's look at some phrasal verbs that always seem to come out of my mouth.
Hold on. Can you help me tidy up? I'll wash up, don't worry. I'll sleep on it. Oh,
I can't log in; what's my password? Look at this. Watch out for this. Ooh, let's catch up.
So first, we had 'hold on.' Okay, I use this instead of 'wait.' I never say 'wait';
I always say 'hold on.' It means just wait there for a second. So, 'hold on,
I just need to do this,' 'hold on, I'm making a cup of tea,' 'hold on,
I'm talking to somebody.' I use 'hold on' all the time.
Then we had 'clean up' and 'wash up.' So, 'wash up' is about the dishes. So, we need to wash up,
'Come on, we can't go to bed yet, we need to wash up.' You don't need to complete that;
you don't need to say 'wash up the dishes,' just 'wash up' on its own. 'Wash up' means
clean the dishes. Okay, then 'clean up' is to do with making the room tidy. So, 'Right,
I need to clean up this room because there's stuff everywhere.' We don't use 'clean up' for
making things clean; that's just 'cleaning.' So, if I clean the room, I get the polish, the duster;
that's 'clean the room.' 'Clean up' or 'tidy up' is making all the things in the right place. So,
'I'm going to take this hairbrush and put it in the drawer; I'm going to make all the surfaces
clear,' that is 'tidy up' and 'clean up.' It's different from cleaning the room, but I use
'clean up' probably once a day because I like to be clean. I like my house to be tidy, so what?
Now, I don't know about you, but I am a procrastinator. Okay, I like to think about
things the next day. I don't like doing things at the time; I like to just, 'ah, I'll just delay
that.' So, I use 'sleep on' quite a lot. So, I say, 'Hm, I'm not sure; can I sleep on it?' Or,
'I don't want to make that decision now; can I sleep on it?' So when you 'sleep on something,'
it means, 'Let me make that decision tomorrow. I want to have a good sleep; I want my body
to digest this information, and I will give you a decision tomorrow. I'll sleep on it.'
'Log in' or 'out' of the computer. This is a daily phrasal verb because I'm always logging in,
I'm always logging out. So, 'log in' means to put your details
into a website and access your account, and 'log out' is to leave your account.
'Look at' is such an important phrasal verb. So, I use 'look at' all the time. We use 'look at' when
you make a choice to put your eyes on something. So, I might say, 'Hey, look at this,' or, 'Hey,
look at this on my phone,' put your eyes on this, 'look at this.' When you take your eyes
and you put it on an object or a person, you are looking at it. It's slightly different from
'watch' because 'watching' implies that you will be doing it for a long period of time.
You're going to watch the movement, watch the progress, you're going to watch as it moves. But
'look at' is just a choice to put your eyes on something. So, I definitely use this every day.
Now, this is a phrasal verb I use every day when I am teaching, 'watch out.' So,
I say, 'Watch out for this mistake.' So when I'm teaching somebody and I want to
tell them to be aware of something, I will say, 'Oh, watch out for your TH,
your TH, it's a little bit not quite right,' so 'watch out for' means 'be aware of.' Just
put your eyes on that; just be aware that you are doing that, 'watch out for it.' Be aware.
And of course, 'catch up.' I love to catch up with my friends;
I love to have a catch up with my friends. So I might say to someone,
'Oh, let's have a catch up tonight,' or, 'Come to my house, and we'll catch up with a cup of tea.'
Now, let's look at the phrases that really show my age. These are very Gen Z phrases,
and they are very influenced by the USA and internet culture. I can't help it; I am a Gen Z.
I was born in 1997; I am on the cusp of Gen Z and Millennials, so I'm in that generation that loves
the internet. We always use phrases from TikTok and everything, so these are the phrases I think
that have become a part of my vocabulary because of my age. So if you are a similar age to me,
maybe you want to adopt these ones, or even if you're 87, maybe you want to speak like this;
I don't mind. Whatever you want. That was the best thing I've ever seen in my life! Literally!
And I was like, 'What?' I just feel like... You've got this. I like to emphasise things.
So, 'that was the worst meal I've ever eaten in my life. That was the worst film I've ever seen
in my life. That was the best drink I've had in my life. That was the most fun I've ever had in
my life.' This is a common phrase that comes out of my mouth. Okay, I like to be dramatic. So what?
'Literally.' I know it's grammatically incorrect because 'literally' means in a literal sense, and
I don't always use it like that, but I'm sorry, it just comes out. Okay, I might say something like,
'Oh, I literally died.' A lot of people will be angry with me for this one, but I do say 'like'
a lot. A lot of people now say 'like' a lot, and I am one of those people. Sorry. If you
consume a lot of English-speaking media, I know you know that 'like' is everywhere. People say,
'He was like, "Hi,"' and she was like, 'What?' and I was like, 'Huh?' and it was like, so weird
that people would just, like, do that,' and I couldn't believe, like, the look on her face,
and she was like, So surprised, and it was just, like...' like everywhere.
Okay, I'm trying to say it less, but I... Whatever. So, you will hear 'like' a lot
if you listen to native speakers. Going on from this, I say, 'I feel like' a lot, so I will say,
'I just feel like I want to eat a burger.' So, 'I feel like I want to eat a burger,' or,
'I feel like I need a sleep,' or, 'I feel like at the weekend I will want to do this.' So it's just
my way of starting a sentence to talk about my feelings, or my thoughts, or my vibes at
that point. So, 'I feel like I want to watch a really scary movie, that's what I feel like.'
'You've got this' is another thing I use in my teaching all the time. It's an encouragement,
'You've got this, you can do this, you've got this.' It means you can do this;
you have complete control of this; you can definitely do this; you've got this.
Now, this last category, I'm going to call it the
miscellaneous category because I use these all the time, but they're a bit random. So,
enjoy. 100%. I'm pretty sure. How strange. Fair enough. You know what? Well done you.
'100%' is a really common phrase in my life, and I use it to confirm. So, it's like a way of
saying 'definitely.' So, 'Oh, 100%, I want pizza tonight,' or, 'Should we go get pizza tomorrow?'
'100%' Now, if I'm a little bit less sure than 100%, I might say, 'I'm pretty sure.' 'I'm pretty
sure we have eggs in the fridge, I'm pretty sure.' That's like 80% confident. So, I've got '100%' or
'I'm pretty sure.' Another thing I use very often is 'how' before an adjective, so I might say,
'How weird! How strange! How fun! How cool!' All I'm doing is taking the question, 'How
fun is that?' and shortening it. So, 'How cool is that?' Take away 'is that', and I say, 'How cool.'
'You know what?' I usually say this before I'm going to give a strong opinion. Before I'm going
to confess something, almost. It's an opinion that might be a little bit controversial. It
might be a bit opposite to what I would usually say. But I'm going to introduce
it before I say it. So, I might say, yYou know what? I'm going to go to Paris tomorrow. Yeah,
I am.' 'You know what? I don't like Harry Potter. Yeah, I don't like it.'
And finally, we have, 'Well done you.' 'Well done
you.' This is exactly what it sounds like. It's just a congratulations. So,
I will say, 'Well done you' if someone has done a good thing. 'Well done you.'
I hope that was useful for you. You do not need to sound exactly like me. I just wanted to give
you a bit of a representation of the kinds of words and phrases I use a lot because a lot of
my students are very interested in the English that real people use. So, there you go. That is
some English that a real person uses. Thank you so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed it,
please give it a like. If you would like to follow us on Instagram, you can do so
there. And if you would like an online English one-to-one lesson with me or my partner Bez,
the link for that is down below. Thank you so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. Tata!