English Conversation

A	Greeting	1.      Formal 2.      Informal	-    Good morning -    Good afternoon -    Good evening -    How are you today? -    It’s very nice to meet you -    How nice to meet you -    How’s it goin’? -    What’s new with you? -    What’s happening? -    What’s up?
B	Relax and Chat	1.       Typical conversation starters 2.       Other questions 3.       Weather 4.       Making comment on something present 5.       Opening complaint 6.       Asking for a small favor	-    Excuse me, but is anyone sitting here? -    Forgive me for asking, but do you know when the train left? -    I’m sorry for troubling, but could I borrow your umbrella? -    Have you got the time, please? -    Do you come here often? -    Have you heard about …….. ? -    Lovely day, isn’t it? -    Those are lovely rose. -    Can you believe it? The price of …… has gone up again! -    Could you please, watch my suitcase for a moment?
C	By the way that reminds me	Changing the subject in a conversation	-     Oh, by the way ……. -     That reminds me of ….. -     Speaking about …… -     There is something else I meant to say …… -     I just thought of something ……
D	Sorry to interrupt	Interrupting a conversation and then returning to the topic	-     I’m sorry to interrupt … -     Sorry to break in, but …. -     Sorry, may I interrupt you for a moment …. -     Excuse me …. -     Pardon me …. -     Sorry, but did I hear you say … -     Hang on … -     Hold on … -     Sorry, but …
E	It was nice talking to you	Bringing a conversation to close	-     OK, then … -     So … -     Well,  I suppose … -     Well, anyway … -      Hope you don’t mind, but … -     I’ve got to go now. -     I guess I ought to get back. -     I must get back to work. -     I’d better let you go. -     Thanks for your time. -     Once again, thank you very much. -     So, I’ll see you soon. -     See you sometime soon, I hope. -     Look after yourself. -     Take care.
F	Telephone closing	Closing phrases for telephone conversation	-     Listen, I can’t talk now. -     Someone’s just come in. -     Someone wants to speak to me. -     May I call you back later? -     I’ll have to go. -     Well, thanks for calling. -     Talk to you later. -     Well, it’s been good talking to you.
G	Pardon?	Asking for repetition	-     I’m sorry I didn’t catch the last part -     Sorry, what did you say? -     Could you repeat that, please? -     Just a minute, say that again.
H	Is that clear?	Questions to check whether the other understands what you are saying	-     OK? / Right? -     Is that clear? -     Are you with me? -     Get it? -     Do you see what I mean? -     Am I making sense? -     Do you understand me?
I	In other words	Reformulating what you said	-     What I said was … -     Basically, what I meant was … -     In other words ... -     That is to say …
J	Buying time: fillers	Common fillers and hesitation devices	-     Well, … -     Umm … / er … -     Actually … -     Sort of -     What I would say is … -     Let’s say … -     I see what you mean -     Let’s put in this way … -     Hang on

Some other expressions can be seen at: Zoltan Dornyei and Sarah Thurrel (1992) Conversation and Dialogues in Action. Prentice Hall International (UK)

As handout of English for Nutrition Study Program, written by Nafisah Endahati, M.Hum.