simple but hopefully, a lesson that will be effective in helping you to sound

more natural in English. I want to go through five phrases that you may

frequently use but actually aren't particularly natural, they're not

necessarily how a native person would speak with some of these phrases it's

not even that the grammar is incorrect it's simply that it's not how we would

speak it's not the natural way of saying this thing or expressing this thing so

I'll give you the sentence that I often hear from non-native speakers and then

I'll give you an alternative a more natural way of speaking in English

before we get started and don't forget to click that subscribe button and of

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the love English community that way you'll be one of the first to be

notified when our lessons are uploaded and of course we'll be able to respond

to your comments and correct your English so five phrases that both

American and British speakers native speakers don't say

number one this is a very common phrase and quite rightly so it's a great way to

start a conversation on a topic that could interest both of you travel have

you ever been in Spain have you ever been in Spain or have you ever been in

London this is very common and this is actually a grammatical error we don't

use the preposition in when we are talking about travel about movement you

would have to ask the question have you ever been - have you ever been to Spain

have you ever been to London the preposition to is what we use when we

refer to some kind of movement to travel of course you can say I'm in England now

but that suggests you're more permanently in that position in that

place so remember next time you want to ask someone where they have been you

need to use the preposition - it's a great way of starting a conversation

with somebody and learning more about them so don't be scared to use this

phrase just make sure you use the correct preposition have you ever been

to London number two now this is a phrase that I have heard used by

multiple nationalities particularly Italian and it may be there in your

language you're able to use this kind of vocabulary to talk about this subject

in English it just doesn't sound natural when talking about your family do not

use the phrase my family consists of my family consists of my mum my dad and me

it doesn't sound natural consists is a more academic more formal word we're

more likely to use the word consists the verb to talk about science something

more academic water consists of hydrogen and oxygen h2o so when you're talking

about your family you would simply use I have I have a brother and two sisters I

have an older brother and two younger sir

or I live with I live with my mum and dad you might even say I'm an only child

I don't have any brothers or sisters but you wouldn't say my family consists of

again a really good conversation starter so make sure you do say this correctly I

actually have a younger brother tell me a little bit about your family number

three a response to how are you how are things going I'm fine thank you and you

this is actually quite correct and grammatically it's perfect however it

really isn't how I would naturally respond to that question I'd say

something like I'm good thanks and you well thanks not bad actually thank you

and you it doesn't sound very natural to say I am fine thank you and you first of

all you need to contract I'm I am just sounds very very formal and again I am

fine it doesn't really say very much and again just too formal not very natural

and certainly not how native speakers respond to that question if you need

more examples of expressions and phrases to respond to greetings then I'll make

sure to add a link to that video at the end of this lesson number four again

grammatically correct but not very polite you look sick you look tired

now nothing grammatically wrong with these phrases but in British English and

American English it can sound a little bit rude a little bit impolite to tell

someone basically they don't look good so a better way to say this to someone

if you seem a little tired you seem a little under the weather

under the weather is a nice idiomatic expression meaning sick or unwell idioms

are a really good way to soften your language sometimes so you could try that

one you seem a little under the weather how are you feeling in fact I have

recently been sick so if I do appear a little bit under the weather you know

why finally number five and it's another

error with prepositions oh don't you hate them are you married with anyone

are you married with anyone in this case we do not use the preposition married

with I am married with in my case Francesco

that's my boyfriend's name I am married with Francesco we would actually say I

am married - I am married - in my case Francesco

when we use married with it's actually implying that we are married and we have

children so you can say I am married with two children this sounds a little

bit strange you're not married to the children but you have two children with

your husband or wife so I'm married to insert name of husband

or wife and I'm married with two children be careful with this one though

because in English we tend not to ask people directly are you married

it can sound a little bit too direct and especially if you don't know them very

well a little bit too personal so there you have five phrases that we

wouldn't use in English at least in natural spoken English and as well some

conversation tips for you do let us know in the comment section below what help

do you need with having a natural English conversation and don't forget if

you have any other phrases or expressions in English that you are not

sure if they sound very natural or if native speakers would actually use them

then why not ask the question below give us your phrase your expression your

sentence and we will tell you if we think it sounds natural and native thank

you so much for watching don't forget to click on some of these lessons to learn

some new expressions in English and to help you with your conversation skills

thank you for watching bye