Learn how to ask for simple information
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Asking for Simple Business Information in English. Becky here. |
| John: Hi, I'm John. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for simple information. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| John: It's between Linda and John Sullivan. |
| Becky: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Do you know Mr. Lee's telephone number? |
| John Sullivan: Yes, his office number is 555-1234. |
| Linda: Yes, I tried that earlier, but he wasn’t in. Do you happen to know his cell phone number? |
| John Sullivan: Yes, it's 555-5678. |
| Linda: I'll try there. Thank you very much! |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly. |
| Linda: Do you know Mr. Lee's telephone number? |
| John Sullivan: Yes, his office number is 555-1234. |
| Linda: Yes, I tried that earlier, but he wasn’t in. Do you happen to know his cell phone number? |
| John Sullivan: Yes, it's 555-5678. |
| Linda: I'll try there. Thank you very much! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Although the Internet has become essential to business, phone calls are still very important also. How should you answer a business call in the US? |
| John: When you answer a call, you should state your company's name and then your name, followed by asking if you can help the caller. |
| Becky: What if you’re the one who called? |
| John: If you make a call, you should also identify your company and yourself before asking any questions. If you make an internal call, it might be more informal. |
| Becky: That’s because internal calls sometimes have caller ID, so you may not need to introduce yourself and can instead just say a short greeting before asking any questions. |
| John: Some companies give their employees business cell phones that the company will pay for, so they should never be used for any personal calls. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: to know [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to be aware of something |
| John: to know [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: to know [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: telephone [natural native speed] |
| Becky: a machine that allows you to speak to other people in a different place |
| John: telephone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: telephone [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next up is... |
| John: number [natural native speed] |
| Becky: symbol representing a quantity |
| John: number [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: number [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, there’s... |
| John: office [natural native speed] |
| Becky: a place where people work, usually on computers |
| John: office [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: office [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: to happen [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to take place, to occur |
| John: to happen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: to happen [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And lastly... |
| John: cell phone [natural native speed] |
| Becky: a portable telephone |
| John: cell phone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: cell phone [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: office number |
| Becky: The first word "office" is a noun and refers to a workplace where administrative work is performed. The second word "number" is short for "phone number." |
| John: The phrase together refers to the telephone number of the office. For example, you can say “Can you tell me your office number?” |
| Becky: You can switch out "office" for any other number you need. For example "hospital number" or "Mark's number." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| John: Not in |
| Becky: "Not" is an adverb that is used to make sentences negative. "In" is a preposition that means "inside." This phrase is a quick way of saying that a person isn't in a certain place, such as the office. |
| John: This is a slightly informal phrase, but it's fine to use it in most situations, also in the contracted form. For example, “The doctor isn't in right now.” |
| Becky: In this case, “is not in” became “isn’t in.” |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for simple information. An easy way to ask for simple information is with WH question words. Let’s review them. |
| John: They are “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” “who,” and “how.” |
| Becky: Using these six words, we can make many different questions. Let’s give a sample sentence for each one, starting with “what.” |
| John: You can say “What time does the meeting start?” |
| Becky: A question with “where” could be “Where is the meeting?” |
| John: An example with “when” is “When will the meeting start?” |
| Becky: Using “why” you could ask “Why were you late this morning?” |
| John: With “who” you can ask about people, for example “Who will be at the meeting?” |
| Becky: “How” is usually to ask about method, condition, or quality. |
| John: For example “How does the fax machine work?” |
| Becky: To make these questions softer and more polite, you can begin the sentence by saying “Do you know?” |
| John: For example “Do you know when the meeting will start?” or “Do you know who will be at the meeting?” |
| Becky: Now let’s see how to answer simple questions and give information. |
| John: Most of the simple questions we just saw can be answered by using a sentence made by a pronoun followed by a “to be” verb and the answer. |
| Becky: Listeners, in the lesson notes, you can find a table complete with the personal pronouns and the verb “to be.” Let’s practice, for example, what can you answer to “When is the meeting? |
| John: You could say “It’s at two p.m.” |
| Becky: If someone asks “Where is your office?” you could answer “It’s on the third floor.” |
| John: Remember that for questions about the future, such as “When will the meeting start?” and “Who will be at the meeting?” we need to use the modal verb “will.” |
| Becky: This follows the pronoun, and goes before the verb. |
| John: For example “It will start at two p.m.” or “Mr. Baker will be at the meeting.” |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| John: See you! |
Comments
Hide