Speaker 1: Let's go to the beach. Yeah, sounds like a plan.
Did you ever notice that when someone makes a suggestion
in English, native speakers often answer with a very short phrase,
things like sounds good or that works. These responses are
everywhere and spoken English at work, with friends, and even
in text messages. Today, let's look at some very common
response phrases native speakers use to respond to ideas, plans,
and requests, and how each one sounds just a little different.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine seventy seven.
Conversational response phrases in English. Today, we'll look at four
very natural response phrases that help you sound relax, cooperative,
and fluent in everyday conversation. And let's start with sounds good.
Sounds good is probably the most common response phrase, and
spoken English, sounds good means I agree, and we use
sounds good when we agree with a suggestion and feel
positive about it, like if your friend says, let's meet
at the cafe at ten, you can simply say sounds good.
Or at work, your coworker says, yeah, i'll send you
the file this afternoon, you can reply sounds good. Thanks.
Sounds good, is friendly, easy, and it works in almost
any situation. Next, let's look at that works or that
works for me. That works is very similar to sounds good,
but it often focuses on schedules or conditions. Like if
someone says, hey, can we move the meeting to Friday morning?
You might respond yeah, that works for me? Or a
friend asks is seven okay for dinner? You can reply yeah,
that works. This phrase means that fits my schedule or
that's acceptable for me. It sounds practical and natural. Now
let's talk about no problem. No problem is commonly used
when someone makes a request, especially when you're happy to help.
For example, your coworker says, can you cover my shift tomorrow?
You might say sure, no problem. Or if a friend says, hey,
thanks for picking me up at the train station, you
can reply, ah, no problem. No problem sounds relaxed and friendly.
It tells the other person this is easy for me
to do. And finally, let's look at sounds like a
plan sounds like A plan is used when people agree
on something or the next step in a process. Like
if you've been working on something all day, your coworker
might say, ah, let's stop for the day and continue tomorrow.
You can respond sounds like a plan. Or if your
friend says I'll call you when I get home and
then we'll decide what to do tonight, you can say, yeah,
sounds like a plan. This phrase often feels a little
more complete than sounds good, like the plan is settled,
and here's a conversation tip. These phrases often stand alone.
You don't need a full sentence. Instead of saying yes,
that is acceptable for me, Native speakers usually say that works.
Short answers like this make your English sound much more natural.
Sounds good, that works, no problem, sounds like a plan.
All of them are short, natural responses. Native speakers use
them constantly, and now you can too. And keep in mind,
the best way to remember English like this and any
other word or phrase in English, is to take that
word or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true
for you or true in your world, and then memorize
your sentences. Sounds good, right, Hey, Thanks for listening, and
remember learning another language is not easy and it's not impossible,
but I'm here to help you on your journey.
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