By Last updated August 16, 2022 Hotels. Business meetings. Taxis. You may know how to use English in these places. You may know the right English phrases to book a room for the night, to make a business deal, to use transportation. But other conversations can be more⌠personal. Conversations between friends are something your textbook or English class may not have prepared you for. The truth is, casual conversations in a language youâre still learning can be even more difficult than formal conversations. After all, in formal situations you know you need to be polite. You can find out what phrases to use, and memorize them. In casual conversations, it isnât as important to use particular phrases. For example, you donât have to say, âHello, how are you?â every time you meet a friend. But there are still certain phrases for informal conversation that are useful to know. Conversations also tend to follow certain patterns, even when the people having them know each other well. Below are some examples of how to make small talk, make plans and have personal conversations, shown through example dialogues between two friends in English. Download This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. Download 6 Typical Conversations Between Two Friends in English Greetings and Small Talk Some people think of small talk unimportant, expected conversation as being shallow not honest or ârealâ. But itâs something that we do to make each other comfortable. For example, asking about someoneâs job or how theyâre doing is a way of showing that you care, and these questions can lead to more personal and interesting conversation. Itâs true that close friends may not use small talk as much as people who donât know each other well. But there are still times when using small talk with friends makes sense. For example, if you meet an old friend who you havenât seen in a long time, or if youâre meeting with a friend who you just donât see every day. Letâs look at a couple of conversations below to see what those situations might sound like. Conversation 1 Conversations Between Friends Here, weâre actually going to look at a video clip that contains two conversations. This clip can also be found on FluentU with interactive captions and a transcript with playable audio. Letâs read along to the conversations in the above video Sam Oh? Bob! Bob Hey Sam! Good to see you! Sam Howâs it going? Bob Yeah, good. Working a lot. And you? Sam I went back to school. Bob Good for you! Mike and Jim Jim Mike? Mike Jim? Jim What have you been up to? Mike Working a lot. Jim That sounds hard. Mike Howâs the family? Jim Everyone is good. Thanks! Now, letâs look at some useful phrases from the dialogues above. Useful Phrases âGood to see you!â This is a nice way to greet someone when you havenât seen them in a while. âHowâs it going?â This is a common greeting in English, like âHow are you?â Donât be surprised if you say this to someone and they donât respond, or say âYeah, howâs it going?â back. Bob replies to this question with âYeah, good.â This might seem a little weird because Sam didnât ask a yes or no question. But in this case, âyeahâ doesnât have any special meaning. Itâs just a way to acknowledge Samâs question and move on. âGood for you!â This is a nice way to congratulate a friend on their successes or accomplishments. Conversation 2 Meeting Up with a Friend at a Restaurant Small talk can happen with close friends who you see regularly and with friends you donât see as often. Hereâs an example of a conversation that could happen between two friends who know each other pretty well. Nathan Hey, Alicia? Alicia Oh hey, I didnât see you there. Did you already get a table? Nathan Yeah, right over here. Alicia Iâm glad we had time to meet up. Nathan Me too. So, whatâs going on? Alicia Oh, not much. You? Nathan Not much. Hey, how did your interview go? Wasnât that today? Alicia Oh, yeah. I think it went well. I donât know if I got the job yet, but they said they would call in a few days. Nathan Well, Iâm sure you did great. Good luck. Alicia Thanks. Iâm just happy that itâs over. I was really nervous about it. Nathan I can understand that. I get nervous before interviews, too. Alicia Well, thanks for being supportive. I appreciate it. Nathan Sure, no problem. Useful Phrases âIâm glad we had time to meet up.â If youâre meeting a friend you donât see every day, this is a nice way of saying that you appreciate them making an effort to see you. Other ways of saying this could be, âThanks for making time to see meâ or âWe should do this more often.â âWhatâs going on?â Like with âHowâs it going?â the other person might not always reply to this question. If they do, theyâll probably either actually tell you whatâs going on, or just say, âNot much.â In the conversation above, Nathan and Alicia both say ânot muchâ is going on with them, but then they end up talking about Aliciaâs interview. This is pretty common. A person might sometimes even reply ânot much,â and then immediately start talking about all the things that actually are going on. âI can understand that.â This is a good phrase to acknowledge a friendâs feelings or opinions. âSure, no problem.â This is a casual way of saying âYouâre welcomeâ when someone thanks you. Making Plans with Friends To see your friends in the first place, you have to make plans with them. Here are a couple of conversations that show how that could go. Conversation 1 Inviting a Friend for a Movie John Hello, Bob! Bob Hi, John! John Are you free this weekend? Bob I think so, why? John Want to see a movie? Bob Sure. John Great! Useful Phrases âAre you free this weekend?â This is a friendly, common way to open a conversation when youâre going to ask someone to do something with you. Conversation 2 Making Plans for a Get-together In the conversation above, Bob and John decide to see a movie together. But they donât decide on what to see, or an exact time. Hopefully theyâll talk about this laterâotherwise they wonât know what theyâre doing! Below, weâll look at a more detailed conversation about making plans. Trudy Hey, so Iâm having a party at my place next weekend. Do you want to come? Lee Sure! That sounds like fun. Who else is coming? Trudy Letâs see. I think itâs going to be Jerome, Talia, Anna, Juan, Celeste, Michelle and possibly Jamie. Itâs not really going to be a party, more like a small get-together. Iâm cooking dinner, and we can just hang out. Lee What time should I be there? Trudy Oh, anytime between 6 and 7 would be fine. Lee Can I bring anything? Trudy Oh, donât worry about it. I have everything covered. Lee Can I at least bring a bottle of wine? Trudy Well, Iâm not going to say no to wine. Iâm sure that would be appreciated. Lee Iâll do that, then. Thanks for inviting me. Useful Phrases âThat sounds like fun.â If someone invites you to an event, or just invites you to do something with them, this is a nice way to say âyes.â âCan I bring anything?â In the and some other English-speaking areas, this is a polite question to ask if someone invites you to a dinner, party or holiday event where thereâs going to be food. Itâs usually appropriate and sometimes even expected! to ask this question even if the person who invited you is a close friend or family member. Having Personal Conversations with Friends Once youâve made plans and greeted your friends, all thatâs left to do is just⌠well, be a friend. Friends go to each other for help, for advice and when they want to share their opinions and experiences. Conversations that are more personal are usually less structured and follow fewer rules. But there are still phrases that English speakers tend to use a lot in personal conversations, and there are still certain speech patterns we follow to show support for our friends. Letâs look at some examples. Conversation 1 A Friendâs Advice Makayla Hi, Gemma. You look terrible! Gemma Hey, Makayla. Mmm, I havenât slept. Makayla Are you OK? Whatâs the matter? Gemma Well, you know that photo I sent to Clare on Friday night? Makayla Yeah? Gemma Well, she sent it to Justin. Makayla Oh no! How could she do that? It obviously was only for her. Gemma I know! I thought sheâd find it funny. Makayla Well, it was quite funny. But you didnât expect her to send it to anyone. Gemma No, of course not! Especially not Justin! Oh, itâs so embarrassing! Makayla Ah well, donât worry. I know how you feel, though. Gemma And what if he puts it on Facebook or something? What if my mum sees it? Makayla No no, donât worry. He wonât. Itâs not that interesting for him or anyone else, to be honest. Gemma But what if he does? Makayla He wonât. But maybe ask Clare to speak to Justin⌠Get him to delete the photo? Gemma Yeah, maybe. But that might just make him even more interested. Makayla Yeah, true. Gemma What do you think I should do? Makayla Mmm⌠Iâd just try to forget about it if I were you. Gemma But Iâm so annoyed with Clare! Makayla Maybe speak to Clare, tell her how you feel. She shouldnât be sharing peopleâs private photos. Gemma Okay, yeah. Thanks for the advice, Makayla. Iâll talk to her. Makayla Good idea. And donât worry. Just be careful and donât send any more embarrassing photos! Gemma Yeah, I know, I know. I wonât. Note The dialogue above is in British English. The only difference in how this conversation might go in American English is that Gemma would probably say âmomâ instead of âmum.â Also, Americans tend to use âquiteâ less than British people. Useful Phrases âAre you okay?â / âWhatâs the matter?â The above two phrases are good for checking on your friends if it seems like something might be wrong. âWhat do you think I should do?â It isnât always obvious when youâre looking for advice, in any language. If you want to know what a friend thinks you should do in a situation, just ask like this! âI know how you feel.â This is a good general phrase for showing sympathy, and it might not always be used literally. For example, we have no idea if Makayla really does know how Gemma feels. But what Makayla seems to be saying is that Gemmaâs feelings still matter, even if the situation itself isnât that bad. However, you may want to be careful of using this phrase if someone is telling you about a situation that you obviously canât understand personally. In a case like that, it could seem rude and self-centered. Instead, you can say, âThat sounds terrible.â Conversation 2 Talking About Opinions on a Book Friends can help you when youâre having problems. Theyâre also there to listen when you just want to talk about your feelings and opinions. Nina So I donât know what you thought about the book, but I had a lot of mixed feelings about it. Sean Oh, really? Like what? Nina Well, I thought the main characterâs situation was interesting, but his attitude toward women bothered me. Sean I can see that. It definitely seemed like he had some problems with women. Nina I would have liked to understand how that started. I mean, the book didnât go into too much detail about why he felt that way. Sean I agree with that. I think the author could have handled that part better. I did enjoy the descriptions, though. Nina Oh yes, the writing was beautiful! That just made me more disappointed in the character. Sean Well, this is just my opinion, but maybe the character would have been easier to understand if the writing had been simpler. It seemed like the author spent a lot of time on the descriptions, when he could have spent more time on the characterâs thoughts. Nina Iâm not sure if I agree with that. I just think that the writing could have been more thoughtful while still being beautiful, if that makes sense. Sean That does make sense. I think maybe the problem for me is just that not much actually happened. Nina Youâre right about that. There wasnât much of a story. Sean I still enjoyed parts of the book, though. Nina Oh, I did, too. And I appreciate hearing your point of view. Useful Phrases âI donât know what you thought aboutâŚâ This is a nice way to let someone know that you would be open to hearing their thoughts. âI can see that.â This is a good way to acknowledge someoneâs thoughts, whether or not you agree with them. âI agree with that.â / âIâm not sure if I agree with that.â âIâm not sure if I agree with thatâ is nicer than âI donât agree with you.â ââŚif that makes sense.â This is a common way that people end sentences when giving their opinions or explaining something. Often, this has the meaning of âDoes that make sense?â or âDo you understand what I mean?â Apart from all these phrases, there are thousands more that native speakers use on a daily basis. You donât have to learn all of them at once, but you can start with the ones included in this awesome video from FluentUâs English YouTube channel FluentU English will only teach you things native speakers use, so you can be sure your conversations will be natural. Subscribe to the channel today and enjoy all the goodies it has to offer. Your friends will be amazed at your conversation skills! Good friendships are rewarding and worthwhile, no matter what language you speak with your friends. Hopefully, the above conversations between two friends have given you a better idea of how to be a good friend in English. Download This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. Download
Thenature of dialogue can differ depending on the conditions and circumstances in which it occurs. It can also lead to different outcomes depending on these conditions and on the nature of dialogue. If we argue that dialogue is indeed a source of change, the nature of this change will depend on the nature of the dialogue creating it. Saythe dialogue out loud Cut small talk when writing dialogue Keep your dialogue brief and impactful Give each character a unique voice Add world-appropriate slang Be consistent with the characters' voices Remember who they're speaking to Avoid long dialogue paragraphs Cut out greetings Show who your character is Mistakes to avoid