35 Friendly English phrases for everyday conversation

One of the most important parts of speaking a new language and speaking English is being able to make friends and come off as very friendly in your everyday conversations. In this video, I will teach you 35 English phrases that are going to be used every day in friendly conversations, whether you're meeting someone new or talking to an old friend. Let's get started with learning some new phrases that will help you become more friendly in your English conversations. It's important when speaking English that you make a friendly introduction, whether you're talking to someone new or you're meeting an old friend. My favorite way to greet someone old or new is to say, hey, how you been? This just means you're asking them how they've been in their life in general. And this phrase is very useful because even if you don't know the person super well, it shows that you care about how they've been feeling lately. You can also say, hey, how's it going? Or you can say, nice to see you. If you are meeting someone that you've met before, it's really good to say, nice to see you. I especially use this phrase, nice to see you, when I see someone that I know in a public place, like maybe at the grocery store or at the park or on a walk. And I just want to tell them that it's nice to see them because I enjoy seeing them. And it just makes a good impression. And even if you're just walking by someone very quickly, you can use this phrase, nice to see you. Remember that Americans love the word awesome and they love the word great and they love the word excellent. So you can replace these words in this phrase. You could say, it's great to see you. It's awesome to see you. Any of these and then come off as super friendly when speaking American English. Two phrases that you have to know when introducing yourself in English or when seeing someone for the first time in a while is, what have you been up to lately? And what's new in your life? These phrases really help start the conversation or kick off the conversation, as we like to say in English. Whenever I got into work at the school I worked at or the office that I worked at, I would see my coworkers on a Monday morning and I would say, hey, how was your weekend? This is just the most common way to greet someone and to get, again, a conversation going so that you have some things to talk about. And I feel like Americans at work are pretty surface level. They'll say, great, very relaxing. Did some yard work or we saw a movie or we went to dinner. But a lot of times we don't give a lot of detail to this question. One phrase that is really essential but is not often taught in textbooks because it's super informal is the phrase, funny running into you here. Now this phrase can be used very seriously or very sarcastically, but it's very informal. It just means it's a coincidence to see you at this place. Now you can say this if you're obviously going to see someone at the place that you see them. For instance, if you told your best friend that you were going to meet them at a restaurant and you two are trying to find each other and all of a sudden you see them and you say, oh, funny running into you here. That means obviously we were going to meet here. But it's just a weird, like casual conversational thing that we say to greet someone. Or if we were not expecting to see our friend, let's say they're going grocery shopping the same time we were going grocery shopping and we see each other in the aisle. We can say, oh, funny running into you here. That means what a coincidence. So oftentimes just saying, oh, it's funny means the same as it's a coincidence or what are the chances that we're here at the same time? Now Americans in English will say up to, to me, what are you doing? What are you up to? We talked about the phrase, what are you up to lately? Another interesting idiom that we use to mean basically the same thing is you could say, do you have anything cooking? We're not talking about cooking in the kitchen here. We're talking about, do you have any plans for the day? So you can say, I'm going to cook up a plan. That means I'm going to come up with an idea of what we should do for the day. So cook up means to plan, to do something. When you see someone really quickly in public, maybe you run into them again and you weren't expecting to see them. If you are just having a very quick introductory conversation and then going your separate ways, you could say, oh, I hope you're doing well. That's a really nice, friendly phrase that you can use in your conversations as well. And you can use this phrase, I hope you're doing well at the beginning of a conversation when you see someone, or you can say it at the end of a conversation as in, I hope you're doing well. Goodbye. Now that we've talked about some basic introductory, polite phrases, let's move on to some phrases that you can use to really start up the conversation and keep the conversation going. And just some phrases that will help you show your friends in English how friendly you are. The other day I was waiting in the drive-through area in Starbucks. If you don't live in the United States, you may not know, we always drive through to get our coffee and we get our coffee at a window. That's incredibly popular here with coffee, food, you name it. And the person was just kind of staring at me, you know, waiting for someone else to make the coffee and hand it to me. And they said, how's your day been? So again, this is just a very casual, informal way to get a short conversation going just so it's not awkward, you know, just staring at someone waiting for your coffee. Instead of just being quiet, you might want to say, hey, how's your day been? And it comes off as really friendly and most people will just say fine, but sometimes they'll say, oh, it was really hectic and busy and you have a short little friendly conversation. Remember that Americans love positivity, we love compliments. So instead of just saying, you look good or I like your shoes, you can say, you look fantastic today. I think this is a great phrase to compliment someone, especially if you're dressed up for an occasion. For instance, if you are going to a wedding and you're meeting your friends, getting ready to go, you could say, you guys look fantastic today. It's a really nice way to compliment the way that someone looks and it's definitely not over the line or it's not too much. It's a really nice compliment to give. The most common idiom that we use in English to say, can I help, is to say, can I lend a hand? And usually it's when someone is cooking in the kitchen or if someone's fixing something or if they're painting a room, it's very hands on work when you say, can I lend a hand? Some of my English learners get confused when I say help out, they're like, what's the difference between help and help out? Help out is generally used when you have something to do with your hands. So if someone again is cooking or doing something around the house, you could say, can I help out instead of, can I just help? It's equivalent in this case, but you would only really use help out if someone is doing something again with their hands that requires a lot of work. Or you could say, can I help out with your kids right now? That means, can I do something for them? If you're having a conversation with a friend and they're telling you about a tough situation, maybe someone in their family is sick, you can say, is there anything I can do to help? This is the phrase that we use in English. And I often think that even if there probably isn't something that you can do, it's always polite to ask. It always shows that you care to say, is there anything I can do to help out? Especially if someone has someone sick in their family or some sort of family emergency. I live pretty close to my grandmother and as she's getting old, whenever I talk to her on the phone, I always ask, is there anything I can do for you, grandma? That means, is there anything that you need help with? So again, this is another phrase just to offer your help, even if they don't need it at all. It's really polite to say this. One thing in any language or any culture that makes someone feel very important is if you ask their opinion. If you want to ask someone's opinion in English, use the phrase, I need your opinion on. You could even ask their opinion on something very simple, like, I need your opinion on this shirt. Do you like it? Or, I need your opinion on what I should serve for dinner tonight. It just shows that you value the way that someone thinks and even if you don't take their opinion or their opinion doesn't turn out to influence your decision, I think it makes people feel really good that you at least ask and care. If someone gives you a really good opinion, you could say, what a great idea. What a great idea. We should totally have mac and cheese for dinner tonight. This is another way to just compliment someone's thinking. Another great phrase to show that you care in English is to say, I'm here if you ever need to talk. Again, if someone has something tough that's happening in their life, maybe they're going through a breakup or a divorce and they just say, you know, things have been really tough lately. Even if they don't want to talk about it at that time, you can say, well, I'm always here if you need to talk. That means I'm here to listen. I'll try to help you out. But again, sometimes it's just so nice to have someone to talk to and tell your problems to. Even if they can't solve them for you, it just feels better to say them to somebody. Some of my students will say, teacher, can you advise on, and this is not correct in English. This is not the common way to ask for advice. A really casual, polite way to ask for advice is to say, I really need your advice on. So when I was in college, my friends would say, oh, I'm dating this new guy, but he doesn't like the same movies that I do. And they would say, I really need your advice on what to do. Do you think we should still date? This is just a really nice way to ask for advice. And again, it shows that you value the person's opinion that you're asking advice for. And again, it shows that you value the opinion of the person you're asking advice from. When someone gives you that advice, or they help you out, or they do a favor for you, a really casual, friendly way to say thank you is to say, thanks a bunch. I say this all the time in my English conversations as well. Another phrase that I really like to teach that I think is kind of unique to English is to say, oh, you are a lifesaver. This means that whatever you just did really helped me out. Even though it's a bit dramatic usually to say that, but it just is a very good way to show your gratitude. It's polite, and it's just used in casual conversations all the time. You're a lifesaver. Thank you for the piece of gum. I had stinky breath. In a more formal situation, let's say you're in an office or you're in school, and someone explains something to you, and they do a good job explaining it, you can say, I really appreciate your help. This is a great way to show your gratitude for anyone's help in any sort of conversation. I really appreciate your help on this project. I could not have finished it without your expertise and knowledge. That means the person had really good skills to help you in whatever project you were working on. Another phrase that's going to be so great to use in conversation if someone is in a tough situation is to say, I'm always here to help. Or if someone just doesn't need help, and they're working really hard, and you're kind of like, I want to offer my help at least, you can say, hey, I'm always here to help just so you know. This is just a nice way to say that you're going to be a good friend and a helpful friend. Another variation of this phrase that is also very friendly in conversation is to say, I'm always happy to help. I know that some people don't like help in the kitchen because they like things a certain way, or they're a very good chef. You could say to them, I know you like your kitchen in a certain way, but I'm always happy to help. It's very friendly to at least offer your help. Now let's move on to talk about some phrases that we can use at the end of our conversation. If you want to thank someone, you can say you've been a really big help, and you can use this phrase if someone helps you with a task, they help you lift something, or they even just give you good advice. If you had a nice conversation with someone that you have known for a while, and you talked about your lives, you talked about what's going on, you can say, I'm so glad we ran into each other. I'm glad that we could catch up. The phrase to catch up with someone means that you are talking about things that are going on in your lives, and maybe you haven't seen each other in a while, so you had a lot to catch up or tell about. If you want to emphasize that you should talk again or meet up again, here are some more really useful phrases. You can say, let's keep in touch, that means instead of going a long time without talking to one another, let's keep in touch. I'm so glad we saw each other today, it was really great to catch up, let's keep in touch. You can use all these friendly phrases in the same conversation. Another common way to say this in English is you could say, let's grab coffee sometime. That means let's just meet very casually at a restaurant. Another way, if you haven't seen someone in a long time, is you can say, I've missed hanging out with you. Now, you could use this at the beginning of your conversation, you could say, I've missed hanging out with you, or you can say it at the end of the conversation, however long your conversation is, it just depends. Most textbooks will say that English uses the phrase, it's a pleasure to meet you, which is very formal, but you can also just say, it's been great meeting you, or it was great meeting you. Another phrase that we often use at the end of a conversation with an old friend is you can say, I've really missed you. I'm glad you're back from your vacation, I've really missed you. And another very positive, very friendly, very appropriate compliment you can give someone is you can say, you are glowing. That means you look very happy and your outside appearance matches how happy you are. We often say this to pregnant women in the United States, but you can actually use it just for anyone in general, if they look very happy, you are glowing. After you have a conversation with someone, and maybe they tell you about a lot of positive things that have been happening in their life, or a lot of good accomplishments, you can say, wow, it sounds like your hard work has really paid off. Your hard work has really paid off. You're just complimenting somebody's hard work and you're saying it paid off, meaning they have a lot of good things going on in their life, not just due to luck, but due to the hard work that they've been doing. It's really common in an email when speaking English to say, best, Kayla, or whatever is at the end. In conversation, it's more common to say, I wish you the best. That means, even though I won't see you, I don't know when I'll see you next, or maybe you just met someone and you're talking about your future plans. Now you want to just say, I wish you the best. That means I hope that good things happen to you. And finally, going back to those positive words like awesome, fantastic, wonderful, you can say, I hope you have an awesome time, or I hope you have a wonderful time, or I hope you have a fantastic time. This is just wishing the person luck in whatever they're going to do next. Now that you know 35 very friendly conversational phrases to use in your English, I want you to go to englishwithkayla.com and check out my English course as well. I want to teach you more natural English phrases, just like these ones, and I'll see you guys in the next video. Bye!