Sound natural when speaking English - Two common English greetings you might not know!
Have you ever been greeted by a native English speaker and not understood what they have said?
Don't worry. There are two greetings that always confuse my students.
The funny thing is, these phrases are used all the time by English speakers. I would even say that these phrases are the most common greetings we use in the UK.
Problem is, in traditional English classes learners aren’t always taught these popular greetings.
Whaaat?! It sounds crazy, I know, but it’s true.
Learners read and practise ‘textbook English’ and we all know this is quite unnatural and the reason why new learners sometimes sound like robots.
So, this is my attempt to help you sound more natural.
Let’s start with greeting 1
"How’s it going?"
Tip: People NEVER say this in its longform - How is it going?
Tip: It sounds more like thins – "How-zit going?"
Q: What does it mean?
A: How are you?
Q: How do I reply?
A: “Good thanks”, “Good”, or “Fine thanks”.
Greeting 2
"What’ve you been up to?"
Tip: People rarely say it in its longform – What have you been up to?
Tip: It sounds more like this – "Wha tav you been up to?"
Q: What does it mean?
A: What have you done recently?
Q: How do I reply?
You can use the present perfect tense, which is the same tense the question is asked in.
A: “I have + Past participle verb"
E.g. "I have changed jobs", "I have been to the movies", "I have moved house."
Or you can use the past simple tense.
E.g. "I went to the cinema yesterday", "I tried a new restaurant last weekend", "I booked my holiday to Spain this morning."
Of course the best way to sound more natural is to practise with a native speaker so feel free to book a class with me ;)
1 marzo 2019
