Guess what. This lesson is all about conversational phrases in American English. And
maybe you're wondering, can I find a lesson like this in a book?
Not exactly, how come, you may ask, how come? Indeed,
let's check it out. Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you
from New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael. All rye,
Thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from Happy English
and I help people speak English better. This is Happy English Podcast, Episode
seven oh seven. American Conversational Phrases. For this English lesson, I'm going
to show you how to sound more American by using words and phrases that will
make your English conversations sound well less like a textbook. By the end of
this lesson, you'll be able to use and understand this English. Let's dive
in the first one is guess what. We use guess what to let the
other person know that we have some news or other new information. The response
to guess what is usually what or I don't know what. Here are some
examples. Hey Joey, guess what, uh what? I met a nice
guy at a party last night. Hey Joey, guess what I don't know
what. I've decided to go to night school. Hey Joey, guess what
what I'm off tomorrow. Sometimes the response to guess what is your guess.
In other words, when you hear guess what, you may try to guess
what the other person's news is. Hey Joey, guess what. Let me
guess you have a new boyfriend. How did you know? Jack told me?
Hey Joey, guess what? Uh, you have a new boyfriend?
Not exactly, but I did meet a nice guy at a party last night.
That's awesome. The next conversational phrase is not exactly. We use not
exactly when we want to softly or indirectly tell someone they're wrong. In situations
like this, Americans tend to speak in an indirect way. Not exactly is
a good phrase for doing that. For example, Hey Joey, I heard
you were going to start your own business. Not exactly, but I'm just
thinking about doing something new. Hey Joey, are your kids going to go
to summer camp again this year? Not exactly. They're having summer camps online
this year. Let me ask you something. Is the company going to lay
off anyone? Not exactly. It seems like they're just going to cut people's
hours. Does that make sense? In the previous example, Jack said,
does that make sense? This phrase? Does that make sense? Is a
conversational way to say do you understand? Parents usually use do you understand?
When they scold their children. A boss or manager will use do you understand
when they scold an employee? Sounds heavy? Right? Does that make sense?
Is less direct and a more conversational way to check understanding. Let's look
at some examples. When you want to add numbers in Excel, just highlight
the cells and click this button. Does that make sense? Ah? Makes
sense? Thanks? It's easy to get to the library from here. Just
take the M three or M four bus and get off at forty second street.
Does that make sense? That makes sense? Thanks? After you put
the cash in the ATM, the machine will verify the amount for you,
and then if it's okay, just click okay? Does that make sense?
Sorry? I don't get it. Shouldn't I put the cash in an envelope?
First? No, you don't have to. How come? How Come?
How Come is a casual way of asking why. Sometimes why can sound
too direct or strong, so in conversations we prefer to use how come.
For example, I'm not going to the party tomorrow. Oh no, how
come? I just found out I have to go to a meeting tomorrow night.
I don't want to go to that restaurant. How Come because the last
time I was there the service was lousy. We can also use how come
when we form a question, and it's easy too. You just put how
come in front of a sentence. Here are some examples. How Come you
are not going to the party tomorrow. I just found out I have to
go to a meeting tomorrow night. How Come you don't want to go to
that restaurant because the last time I was there the service was lousy. The
next one is you bet. We use you bet to mean sure or yes
as a conversational response to a yes or no question or a statement. Let's
look at some examples. You want to go to the diner, you bet?
Are you ready for your vacation? You bet? Ah, this pizza
is good? You bet. The next one is gotcha. Gotcha is the
casual conversational pronunciation of I got what you said, I got what you said,
I got what you said said. Gotcha? Gotcha means I understand.
Here are some examples. Just go straight down fifth and turn left on forty
second. Gotcha, press the power button for ten seconds and restart the PC.
Gotcha. When you make tea, take out the tea bag before adding
the milk. Gotcha. The next one is I blew it. When you
blow something, you make a mistake with that thing. I blew it means
I made a mistake or I messed that up. For example, how did
you do on the interview? I blew it. Did you have fun on
your blind date? Nah? I totally blew it. How is your math
exam? I think I blew it. The last one for today is it's
up to you. We use it's up to you when we want to tell
someone that they can decide what to do. It's up to you means you
can decide. Let's look at some examples. Should we go to the park
or down to the beach, It's up to you. What do you want
to watch on Netflix? I don't know. It's up to you. What
kind of pizza do you want to order? Oh, it's up to you.
Keep in mind the best way to remember this and any vocabulary is to
take the word or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true for you
or true in your world and then memorize your sentences. Guess what that's it
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