Shopping in English: Master Conversations for Stores, Malls & Online | Complete English Course

And welcome to today's class. Our topic today is shopping. Yes, do you like getting things? Do you even like just going around to see new things and enjoying the things you have to buy? Then you'll definitely enjoy this topic. All right, so let's learn some words that will help us have conversations about things to buy, things to get, things we wish to have, and things we just need for ourselves. All right, so let's get started. Our first word is a boutique. Have you heard of this word before? A boutique is a small shop selling fashion goods or accessories. A boutique is a noun because it's a place. It's where you go to buy the things you want to wear and the things you want to use to complement what you're wearing. It could be your earrings, your bracelet, your handbags, other things that aren't necessary clothes that help you look. Those are what we mean by accessories in this context. All right, now how do you use a boutique to make a sentence? She's the buyer for a stylish boutique in Dublin. All right, so you mean that she goes she goes to a boutique in Dublin. In this particular boutique, there are so many nice outfits. There are so many nice things that you can wear. That is what we say stylish. A boutique and a salon are conveniently located in the ground. All right, so that you're around your neighborhood. You're around your area. It's very convenient to get in and out of the place. It's not far. It's something that's difficult to use or to access. Now some people might ask what's the difference between a shop and a boutique? A boutique is a small shop. All right, a boutique is a kind of shop. Especially if you want to sell fashion goods, jewelry, and shoes, even bags. All right, while a shop, we have different types of shops. We have candy shops where they sell candy. A bakery shop, that's where you bake bread, cake, donuts, or other pastries. Toy shop, gadget shop, a place where you sell gadgets. So that's the difference between a store and a boutique. Okay, a store is just a place where items may be kept. In a store, you can decide. You can have a store in your home where you keep food items. Okay, you can have a store at your workplace where you keep things. Books, for example. But when you say boutique, we're talking about a place to buy clothes, especially their other accessories like bags, etc. Next, we want to talk about supermarkets. The supermarkets. Now what is a supermarket? A supermarket is a large self-service shop selling goods and household items. In the supermarket, you can get so many things. Things that you can eat, things that you keep in the house, toys, books, what have you. You can get fresh produce, meat, bakery, dairy products, and so many other things. Now, in other words, a supermarket can be a mall. Mall has a similar meaning to supermarket. Outlets and even markets. A supermarket is a noun. It's a name of a place where things are sold. So it is not a verb. Now someone might ask, what is the importance of a supermarket? Why is a supermarket so important? Your answer could be, a supermarket is very important because it provides almost all the goods of daily and regular needs to the consumer. That means a consumer just gets into the supermarket and gets everything or she needs. A consumer is a person that uses a product. A person that uses a product. A person that eats. If it's the apple that was in the supermarket, if you buy it to eat it, you are a consumer. All right? Meanwhile, a producer is the person that provides it and makes it available. For an apple, a producer is the farmer who planted the apple. Or if it's books, then you have people that work in the bookshop. Then the person that uses the book is a consumer. So consumer doesn't mean that you only eat it. As long as you use it, wear a coat, you are a consumer of that good. You're a consumer of that product. So like we said, an advantage or an importance of a supermarket is that it provides almost all the things a consumer needs under one roof. So you don't have to go from shop to shop, go to the bookstore to get some books, go to the toy store to get some toys, go to the get into the supermarket and get all the things you need. All right? Now, how can we use the word supermarket to make a sentence? We can say, you went to a supermarket to buy a toothbrush. And that is very correct. Went being the verb. And then supermarket being the place. After a six-hour banquet, pupils visited a Chinese supermarket to store on food from home. So when they were done with their activity, they went to the supermarket. So this supermarket is the Chinese supermarket. That means most likely get so many things that are made from China. Toys and household items that are made or that were made in China. Being that this supermarket is the Chinese supermarket. So have you been to a supermarket before? Do you prefer shopping at a supermarket or at an open market? What's your choice? All right. Our next word is trolley. Trolley is a large metal basket or frame on wheels used for transporting heavy or large items such as supermarket purchases or luggage at the airport or railway station. So a trolley is that thing that helps to carry your things when you're shopping or to carry your things when you want to get into your hotel room. You put it in the trolley and then you push it. This makes it easier for you to move it from one place to another. A trolley is where you want to make a large purchase. When you want to buy so many things, then you most definitely need a trolley. So when next you get to the supermarket and you want to buy so many things, you can simply ask, where can I get the trolley, please? Now a trolley is a noun. It's a name of a thing that is used to move other things. Examples of how to use a trolley in a sentence. He pushed their empty luggage trolley a little faster. Okay, so maybe he was pushing it and he was working so fast. All right, and sometimes that can make the things that are inside the trolley to out of the trolley. All right, so maybe that has happened and the person is explaining, oh well, he pushed their empty luggage trolley a little faster. Now, empty here means, empty is used as an adjective. It's used to describe this trolley. Now, luggage is described as a trolley. This particular trolley is a trolley that is used to carry luggage. Okay, it's not the one we see at the supermarket. It's the one we use when we get into probably our hotel or you want to travel in, you have the airport, you have so many bags, so many things and then you get the luggage trolley, put the things in the luggage trolley and push it. Empty here means that there was nothing in the luggage trolley. There was nothing. I guess that's why it made it possible for the boy to push it faster. You will never need to push a trolley or stand in the checkout queue again. Okay, maybe for some reasons it's been taken care of. You have someone to assist you and then a friend is telling you or a loved one is never mind about that. I've taken care of that. You'll never need to push a trolley or stand in the queue. A queue is a line of people waiting for something. Maybe you're waiting to get a ticket. You're waiting to buy a meal at the restaurant. You're waiting at the gas station to buy a fuel. That is a queue. So, when we talk about queue, that is what we mean and now that is what we mean by trolley. We also have bags that are referred to as trolley bags. Those bags that have wheels so that you don't necessarily have to carry them. All you need to do is push them. Do you have a trolley bag? Have you ever used a trolley at an airport? Yes, I have or no, I haven't. Have you ever used a trolley at a supermarket? Yes, I have or no, I haven't. What is your answer? Next, we have shop around. Shop around means... Now, shop around is afraid. You have two words like this. So, it's afraid and it's not a complete sentence. That's why it's afraid. Shop around is look for the most suitable item or service for the lowest price. Okay, now when you say I went to shop around, I wanted to shop around. It doesn't mean that you paid. All you did was to look around. Maybe you went to a boutique and you looked at the red dress, looked at a blue dress, looked at a yellow dress and you didn't like any of them. You left. You can say I shopped around today. I shopped in the boutique today. Okay, some people also call this window shopping. Okay, just look at the items and you don't necessarily purchase them. You don't buy them. When you buy them, you have to pay money for it and you have to collect it. But when you just looked around and I'll look somewhere else, you have to shop. You can also shop around online. You can use your cell phone, your laptop, your computer and you look at the online markets. Amazon, Jumia, eBay. You look at the different things. Let's say for example, you want to buy a washing machine and on Amazon, you can see you see a washing machine for $100 and on Aliexpress, you see a washing machine for $80. You're comparing the prices. You're trying to price that is friendly. That is another word you can use when you want to say cheaper, meaning that you have to pay less money. Now, everybody wants to pay less for something, right? That means you get to save money. So that is what we mean when we say shop around. Do you like to shop around? I enjoy shopping around. Now, most times I might not pay but just looking at it and doing that, oh, something as nice as this is out there. And if I have the money, I could get it. But if I don't have the money, I could go back. When I have the money, I could come for it. Now, how do we use the phrase shop around to make incentives? You will shop around for a better price, all right? You should shop around for a better price. Instead of just jumping at the first price, see, wait a minute, look at all the places, weigh your options, and then you get a better price and save some money. Sometimes, going around and looking for things that aren't sales, that's another way to get what you intended to buy at a reasonable price, all right? Maybe they've been in the store for a long time and the owner decides to slash the price. Maybe it's Mother's Day and the person is doing Mother's Day sales or an anniversary sales. That is another way you can buy something at a lower price, at a cheaper price, at a cheaper rate. Now, the next sentence is, you should shop around a bit before making a decision, okay? I asked Emily to shop around while she was in Paris. My mother shopped around. Now, you can see that I added ed in shop, changing the tense of the word. I shopped around. I am shopping around. This is a phrasal verb. In this phrase, we have a verb. So, the verb's tense can be changed depending on the time it's being used. If it's in the past, then it can add ed. If it's in the present, in the continuous tense, the present continuous, it's happening at the moment, it can then add in. She is shopping around for the best wedding ring. All right. Our next phrase is queue up. Again, this is a phrase because it has two words and it doesn't make a complete sentence. Queue up. Queue up means to join a number of people who are waiting for or to do something. So, they're either waiting for something or they're waiting to do something. Okay? You get to the bank, you go to withdraw some money, and the other people there have to queue up. You get to the ATM, that's the automatic teller machine that dispenses cash, and the other people there also have to queue up. Now, you can say I queued up at the supermarket. I was asked to queue up at school. Other examples of how to use the phrase queue up. You should queue up to buy the ticket. All right? So, maybe this is a ticket for a very interesting show, a very interesting match, and there's so many other people that are interested in doing the same thing you have in watching the show or in watching the match, and then the line was so long that someone said you should queue up. All right? Don't stand around. Queue up. That's the way you can get the ticket. I have to queue up for a bus every day. So, do you have to stand in line just to get on a bus? Instead of saying I stood in line, I waited at the line to say queue up, and that gives you a better vocabulary for your sentence. All right. Also, queue up is a phrasal verb, meaning that one of the words in this phrase is a verb, and the word that is a verb is, can you guess? Correct. The word that is a verb is queue. So, if you say the people are queuing up to do something, or very correct, by adding ing, that means it's happening presently. Okay? They queued up. It's still correct, because the word queue is a verb. Now, what are other words or other phrases that we can use for queue up? Line up. That is still a way to say it. Stand in line. I stood in line just to wait for the yummiest pizza in my city. Obviously, other people are interested in buying that pizza. Next, we have shopping spree. Shopping spree. Have you heard someone say, I went on a shopping spree? A shopping spree is a short period of time in which someone buys a lot of things. So, when you go on and on and on, and then you buy a lot of things, you went on a shopping spree. Have you ever been on a shopping spree? Definitely get to spend a lot of money. Another word for shopping spree is splotch. That means just so much cash left your pocket. All right? That's a word that has a similar meaning for shopping spree. Now, we can hear people say, oh, I can't help it. I keep going on a shopping spree. I keep having to buy so many things. So many things I want. Not necessarily things I need. That's where the word extravagance comes in. Someone just likes spending so much money. It feels like a hole was dug in their pocket. Now, when you hear a hole is dug in my pocket, it means the person can't stop spending money. Are you someone like that? Do you always spend money? Or no, you're not extravagant. You're very careful with money. You only spend money if it's necessary. Definitely do not have it in your pocket. All right. Examples of how to use the shopping spree in a sentence. We became friends and went on a shopping spree in Oxford Street. So this is an activity that friends can do. This is an activity that friends can do in the bathroom. They walk around, look at different shops, and they buy different things. And sometimes we just walk around. I don't necessarily buy. I just look around and say, oh, I might come get this next month when I get my salary. Or I might come get this for my mom when it's her birthday. A change of scenario has this dude driving his whip and heading out on a shopping spree. So maybe something amazing happened. Maybe he won a lottery. I don't know. But he got into his whip, which is another word for vehicle, car. And he drove out to buy so many things. So if you went on a shopping spree, you wouldn't come back with just a dress or just a purse. No, you didn't go on a shopping spree. You just bought something. But when you come back with 10 dresses, 5 handbags, 7 pairs of shoes, 5 lipsticks, 6 necklaces, you certainly went on a shopping spree because you bought a whole lot of things. All right? So do you have a friend that can't stand shopping? Some people say when they feel stressed or when they feel sad, they go on a shopping spree. It helps to make them feel better. Does that happen to you? Yes, it does. Or no, it doesn't. All right? Next we have Black Friday. Have you heard of Black Friday? I can't wait for Black Friday. It's a day to Black Friday. I need to save up for Black Friday. Are you that person? Now, what does that mean? Black Friday is the day after Christmas as a holiday of Thanksgiving, regarded as the first day of the Christmas shopping season, on which retailers make really special offers. All right. So this day has been set aside for sellers to slash the prices of what they are selling. And when these prices have been slashed, when these prices have been reduced, it simply means that so many people would be looking to buy things, even when they don't need it at the moment, just because it comes with a lower price, so that is what Black Friday is all about. And this comes up during the Christmas season. Now, we know that during Christmas, so many people would like to buy things for their loved ones, for their employees, for their employers, for their classmates, for people around them. Because Christmas is a season of giving. So they certainly want to gift people, buy presents, put it under the Christmas tree, right? And Christmas, for those that may not know what it is, is a celebration that is done by Christians. A Christian is a person who believes in a God that has a son named Jesus. All right? So are you a Christian? Do you practice? Do you observe the Christmas holiday? Now, if you do, do you buy things during Black Friday? Black Friday is a day, okay? It's a day. So it's a noun, not a verb. Are you a retailer? Are you a person that sells things? A retailer is a person that buys things from the main producer and then retails it, resells it. A retailer is a middleman. It's a the producer and the consumer. And like we said, a consumer is the person that uses the product. So are you a retailer? Do you like it when it's Black Friday because you're going to have so many sales? Or are you that consumer that just can't wait for Black Friday so you can buy so many things? Sometimes some people hold on to Black Friday before they buy what they want. Do you think that that's a nice choice? Or should you just buy something immediately needed? Now, how can we use the word Black Friday, or rather the phrase, because we have two words in there? How to use it to make a sentence? My friends wait desperately for online sales on Black Friday. Emphasis on desperately. They can't wait, all right? They eagerly want it to be Black Friday so they can buy so many things at cheaper rates. So when you're desperate for something, you can't wait for that thing. You can barely wait. That is what it means. The other sentence, every year there are more crowds during Black Friday than the previous year. Is that true? Have you noticed it? In the previous year, there weren't so many. But then, next year, and I guess that's because everyone likes, everyone would want to get something at a pocket-friendly rate. In other words, save some money. All right, so that is what we mean when we say Black Friday. What Black Friday is, that is what Black Friday is all about, all right? So when next you are having a conversation and someone says, I can't wait for Black Friday, you know when it is. It's a period when retailers offer special deals. You have 50% discounts, 70% discounts, and so on. All right, a mall is a large enclosed shopping area from which traffic is excluded, all right? At a shopping mall, you can see a collection of independent retail stores. So at a shopping mall, you get to see other stores. You can also see a supermarket in a mall. A mall has a lot of things, a lot of activities that can be done in it. It could have game centers, health centers, pharmacy where you buy drugs, and so many other things. So that is the difference between the mall and the supermarket. A mall is larger, is bigger than a supermarket. In the mall, you can have a supermarket. Now, how do you use the word mall to make a sentence? We ate ice cream at the mall. We are going to do a shopping mall in this area. Now, mall is a noun, so we don't change its tenses. It remains the same. So have you been to a mall before? What is the biggest mall in your city, in your streets? Do you have a shopping mall in your neighborhood? Yes, I do. All right. Next, we have window shopping. Now, I knew that so many people would do this. I mean, just to feed your eyes, just to have you to look at. You can window shop with your phone, window shop while you work around the mall, or when you walk. To walk, when you're on your way to work, you can just look around to see what they have in shops. Window shopping is the activity of looking at what's displayed in a shop, in shop windows, especially without intending to buy anything. All right. So you look, and you don't really intend to buy. You don't have to plan to buy that thing you're looking at at that moment. All right. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're not going to buy it, but at that particular moment, you are not planning to buy it. Have you ever window shopped before? Some people say they don't like shopping because it tempts them. It makes them buy, or want to buy things they didn't plan to buy. So they just look away. Do you look away when you see something really nice? Or do you take a moment to look and wonder how nice it is when you wear it? All right. Now, how do you use window shopping to make sentences? You don't have to leave the comfort of your living room to go window shopping. All right. So maybe this advice is coming from a friend who's telling a friend, well, I don't think you need to leave. You can just shop from the comfort of your room. You can buy something from an online store. All right. And then it will be delivered by a delivery man. Or do you prefer to go to the store to buy your goods? Some people don't like shopping online. They say that they feel they might not get the exact size, or they might be cheated. What's your reason? Do you have a reason? Now, how do we do window shopping? The next sentence. If you haven't already determined what your sweetheart likes, you might want to take her window shopping to get a general idea. So maybe this is a person that wants to get an item or someone he loves. All right. So he doesn't have an idea. He doesn't know what to get her. And he doesn't want to make a mistake. So instead, he takes her on window shopping. They have a window shopping time. Takes her window shopping. And then while she's looking at the things in the shop, he can get an idea of what she likes. Does your spouse take window shopping? Or does he know exactly what you like? And doesn't necessarily need to go through all of that. All right. And that is it for window shopping. Now, this is also a phrasal verb, window shopping, because shopping is a verb. So you can say, I window shopped yesterday. All right. And that is still very correct, because you just only changed the tense. Okay. Our next word is bargain. I had to bargain at the market today. Things were so pricey. Have you heard someone say that before? What exactly do you mean by that? We're going to find out with this slide. Now, bargain is a thing bought or offered for sale much more cheaply than is usually expected. So this is an example. Maybe you went to buy something at a supermarket. And then what you had in mind was $20. You wanted to buy a t-shirt for $20. But on getting to the store, on getting to the supermarket, you found out that it's now $50. Well, some people would say you can't bargain in a supermarket. The prices are fixed. But in the open market, normal markets where you can buy sauce or other things to cook, you can meet a butcher. A butcher is a person that sells meat. And you wanted to buy some meat. But the price the butcher is saying is quite expensive. Then you start to bargain. You say, oh, can I get $20 instead of $30? And he says, no, things are so expensive now. All right. You can give me $28. And you're like, oh, my goodness. I really do not have the amount. All right. Let me give you $25. What you're doing is bargaining. Now you have the price for that. Okay. So now that we know what bargaining is, have you bargained for the market or just buy at the exact price you were told? Do you feel shy? Some people say they feel shy. Because it might make them feel as if they don't have money. I don't feel shy. I always want to get my money's worth. I want to get fees for the price they should be. I don't want to feel cheated. How about you? Do you feel shy? So bargaining is a verb. It's something done. All right. It's an action made by something. A reduced amount. Now let's take a look at how to bargain. She likes to bargain when she shops. Okay. Now, in this sentence, in this content, it was used as a noun. Okay. But you can say I was bargaining for $10. I don't have $20. And in that sentence, it's being used as a verb. Everyone loves a good game. And buying a great looking product at a very low price is always joy. I don't know about you, but that is so much joy when you know that you got it for the best price. You weren't cheated. Everybody's happy. And that's it. So that is what we mean by bargaining. Okay. I bargained today. She doesn't like to bargain. She doesn't like the price of something. That is why I rather go to the market instead of letting you go to the market. All right. It's practice time. All right. Fill in the blanks with the correct word. We've learned so many words. Find out which one suits the sentence. Blank thirst before you buy your car. My friend and I went on a blank guestbook. We got luxury bags, shoes, and coats. They spent the afternoon shopping at the blank. At the cheap price, the car is a blank. The blank has a poor choice on dresses. All right. So do you know what the answers are? Then go ahead and answer the questions. All right. Great job. If these were your answers, then you did an amazing job. I am super proud of you. Shop around first before you buy a car. My friend and I went on a shopping spree yesterday. We got luxury bags, shoes, and coats. They spent the afternoon shopping at the mall. Now, if you said shopping at the supermarket, right. Shopping at the boutique, right. All right. Because these are places you can buy things. So the sentence is still correct. At that cheap price, the car is a blank. All right. Now, in this content, what gain is used as a word. The boutique has a poor choice of dresses. I wouldn't like to go to a boutique that doesn't have a nice choice of dresses. I wouldn't want to buy something I would regret. All right. So these are the right answers. Well done. Now, let's have some more activities, shall we? And the answer is, yes, we shall. Shopping malls. Complete these sentences with the words listed below so we have options. The sweater should have five buttons, but there are only four. One is black. One is expensive. One is missing. One shrink. One is refund. Don't wash your new clothes in hot water. They might be black and too small. Now, which word suits that sentence? Yes. Bring it back. We will blank your money. What word should we use for that sentence? That pen costs $15.99. It is black. Hmm. $15.99 for just a pen? What do you think it is? What word do we use when we need to spend so much money to buy something? All right. Try your hand. And let's see if you get all the answers right. Fantastic. If these were your answers, then you are super amazing. This sweater should have five buttons, but there are only four. One button is missing. Missing is a word we use to say something isn't where it should be. It's missing. I need to find it. Don't wash your clothes in hot water. They might shrink and be too small. When something shrinks, that means it has juice inside. Its size is smaller. And yes, shrink is a word. Yes. Bring it back. We will refund your money. When you buy something and you weren't satisfied with it. Some boutiques and shops have a no refund policy. That means they wouldn't give it back. Sorry. While some say, oh, well, it's fine. If you don't like it, bring it back. Give back your money. And some would say, okay, let's exchange it. Let me give you something else for that same price. And I wouldn't give you the money, but I'll just give you another of my products. But here they have a refund policy. They said, yes, bring it back. We will refund you. We will give you back your money. That pen costs $15.99. It is expensive. The word expensive is used when you spend so much money on something. All right. And now this pen is expensive because once you can get a pen for a dollar, two dollars, some cents. All right. And that is why a pen that costs $15.99, we say it is rather expensive. All right. Well done. You did an amazing job today. Now that you have loads of words for the topic shopping, go ahead and have a conversation about the last shopping spree you went on, the first boutique you saw when you traveled to a new country, or the supermarkets you can't wait to get into. All right. It's now time to say goodbye. Goodbye now and have a lovely day.