Author: Arthur ‘AJ’ Johansen, 14.10.2020
Here are 3 questions you can ask to sound like English is easy for you: (and 1 bonus phrase to REALLY fit in with native speakers).
“What are you working on right now?”
To a native English speaker, this means you are asking about the major projects they are working on during this time. They have probably been working on them since last week and will continue working on them through next week.
This will give the person a chance to talk for a bit while you listen. Then you can ask more questions if you want, or you can just make follow up comments such as: “Wow that sounds like a lot of work!” And you can finish the conversation with saying: “Okay well, I hope everything goes well with that!” And then you can say “Bye” or simply keep walking to your desk.
“How did that presentation go?”
Asking an open-ended question like this allows the person to tell you more details about what they thought. If they answer with positive statements such as: “I think it went well! There weren’t any problems, so I guess that’s good!” Then you can just say: “Great!”
If they respond with something a little negative like: “I don’t know, I was a mess! I guess it’s good nobody was paying attention anyway.” You can smile and with empathy say: “Oh I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. Anyway, never mind that now, it’s in the past!”
“Do you have any time off coming up?”
‘time off’ = holiday/vacation from work.
‘coming up’ = phrasal verb meaning coming soon, in the near future.
This is simply a question to be curious, and you are not implying that you want to do something with them in the near future. If they simply answer “No.” Or “Unfortunately not.” Then you can empathize with them and say “Oh, that’s too bad.”
If they answer with “Yes, I will be going…” then just listen to their great plans and you can say something like: “That sounds like it will be great!” Depending on how you like their plans, you can substitute great with: “interesting / fantastic / amazing / fun!”
*Only if you are super comfortable with someone and you feel you know them really well:
Bonus: “What’s goin’ on?” (said in a relaxed way with a smile)
This is really just like saying “Hey” or “What’s up?”, because it isn’t an actual question that needs an answer. They could just respond back with “What’s up!” or my favorite: “Same ‘ol, same ‘ol.” and that’s the end of it! (That means: the same old stuff that has been happening is still happening. There is nothing new to talk about.)
Be careful because this is NOT: “What is going on!?” (said with a real questioning tone or a feeling of concern and confusion). That actually sounds negative, and even possibly suspicious, like there has been a problem with that person recently.
Be yourself and be genuinely interested in other people, and you’ll be just fine!
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