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Starting An English Conversation: Informal Greetings

The document provides guidance on having English conversations, beginning with greetings (either informal like "Hello" or "Hi" or formal like "Good morning/afternoon/evening"), introductions ("My name is ___. What's your name?"), and small talk questions ("How are you?", "Where are you from?"). It suggests simple responses and questions for small talk. Finally, it offers expressions for ending a conversation ("Have a good day!") and saying goodbye ("Bye!", "See you later!"). The overall document focuses on basic polite expressions and etiquette for greeting, conversing with, introducing, and saying farewell to others in English.

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553 views3 pages

Starting An English Conversation: Informal Greetings

The document provides guidance on having English conversations, beginning with greetings (either informal like "Hello" or "Hi" or formal like "Good morning/afternoon/evening"), introductions ("My name is ___. What's your name?"), and small talk questions ("How are you?", "Where are you from?"). It suggests simple responses and questions for small talk. Finally, it offers expressions for ending a conversation ("Have a good day!") and saying goodbye ("Bye!", "See you later!"). The overall document focuses on basic polite expressions and etiquette for greeting, conversing with, introducing, and saying farewell to others in English.

Uploaded by

panxo27
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Starting an English Conversation

Then, any polite conversation starts with a greeting (saying hello). It may be an informal
conversation with a friend or an acquaintance (someone you know, but not very well). Or you
may use a more formal dialogue when having an English conversation with a colleague, a
teacher, a stranger or a government employee.

Informal greetings

Let’s start with informal greetings. Here is how you can say hello:

• Hello!
(A universal greeting that works for every conversation.)
• Hi!
(A neutral and friendly greeting.)
• Hey!
(An informal and relaxed greeting.)

Formal greetings
For a more formal way to greet someone, use the model “good + [time of day]”:
• Good morning!
(Reserved for any time before noon.)
• Good afternoon!
(Typically used between noon and 5-6 p.m.)
• Good evening!
(Any time after 6 p.m.)

Remember that “good night” normally means that you are saying goodbye. It is also commonly
used right before going to bed.

Introductions

What if you have never met the person you are talking to before? Then, after greeting them, it
would be polite to introduce yourself and ask for their name. Here’s how:

• My name is _____. What’s your name?


(This is simple, neutral and always works well!)

Now that you have introduced yourself, use one of the phrases below to respond to someone’s
introduction.

• Nice to meet you!


(The most common)
• Pleased to meet you!
(Simple and polite)
• It’s a pleasure!
(Informal, but nice)
Making Small Talk in English

Great job! You are already having a conversation in English!

After you have exchanged names and greeted each other, you may go on to make some “small
talk.”

• How are you? / How are you doing?


(Neutral)
• How’s it going?
(More informal)
• How are things?
(Informal)
• What’s up?
(Very informal)

A simple answer and a “how are you” in return is enough for a typical conversation in English:

• I’m well. How are you?


• It’s going well, thank you. How are you doing?
• Not bad. And yourself?
• I´m great! And you?

You can ask some questions, such as:

• Where are you from?


• What do you do?

And the answers would be:

• I´m from … (e.g. Chile)


• I´m … (e.g. a teacher / an engineer)
• I work for a big company.

Using Small Talk to End a Conversation

Hey, guess what? Small talk can be used at the end of an English conversation too! Before
saying goodbye, it is polite to say something like…

• Have a good day!


(This works in any situation.)
• Enjoy your day!
(This one is a bit more formal.)
• Talk to you soon!
(This is neutral and does not necessarily mean that you will really talk to the person soon.)
• Catch you later!
(This is very informal and fun.)

And after that, the only thing left to do is…


Saying Goodbye in English

This one is easy. You really cannot go wrong with just a simple “goodbye” or “bye” in spoken
English. You can also use any small talk expression to complement your goodbye. For example:

• Bye! Have a good day!


• Catch you later! Bye-bye!
• See you soon / later / tomorrow!

And, as mentioned at the very beginning of this guide…

• Good night!

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/english-conversation-for-beginners/

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