Phrases for Small Talk: This English lesson is perfect for intermediate to advanced English learners who want to improve their conversation skills. I’m going to share the exact daily English conversation sentences phrases and expressions that are used during small talk. And if you’re wondering, what is small talk again? It’s a polite conversation about unimportant, everyday topics, but small talk phrases really help you to connect with other people and to get them to trust you and to like you.
Knowing how to make small talk is essential in social situations, but it’s also incredibly important in professional situations as well. When you’re getting to know your colleagues, when you are building rapport with your customers and your clients, when you’re meeting new people at networking events or at conferences, it’s so useful!
So I’m going to share the exact questions and phrases that you need to keep your small talk and your English conversations going. Small talk is such a big part of the English language and of English culture generally. We really like to ease into conversations with a little bit of small talk first rather than dive straight into something deeper and meaningful.
28 Phrases for Small Talk
- I’ve Been Keeping Busy
- Not Bad, Thanks
- How’s It Going with You?
- What Have You Been Up to Lately?
- I’ve Been Busy …
- Nothing Special
- How Is …?
- How Was …?
- I Can’t Believe How Busy/Quiet We Are Today! Can You?
- I know! We’re Really Under the Pump
- I know, I’ve Been Flat Out All Week
- Yeah, It’s Been Dead, Hasn’t It?
- How Has Your Week Been?
- It’s Been Long
- It’s Flown By
- How About You?
- How Long Have You Worked Here?
- What Did You Do Before This?
- It’s a Beautiful Day, Isn’t It?
- Can You Believe All the Rain We’ve Been Having?
- It Looks Like It’s Gonna Snow
- The Weather’s Not Looking Great This Weekend. Do You Have Any Plans?
- How’s the Weather Where You Are?
- How’s This Weather? It’s Been Wild. I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It Before!
- Have You Got Much Planned for the Weekend?
- What Did You Get Up to Over the Weekend?
- What Do You Usually Do in Your Spare Time?
- Have You …?
Small Talk: Start Conversation
The first thing we need to do is start the conversation. We need to create the opportunity for small talk. And did you know that there are some better ways to ask, “How are you?” And this is going to blow your mind. “Good” and “fine” are not the only ways to respond to that question. So when someone asks you, “How are you?” you can try responding with:
1. I’ve been keeping busy.
It’s a really good, really neutral answer. It indicates that you’ve had a lot of things going on in life, but you don’t need to go into all the details about it. It’s just kind of like “I’ve been busy.”
2. Not bad, thanks
It means you are simply saying, “All good”.
3. How’s it going with you?
This is very informal, very relaxed, and casual.
4. What have you been up to lately?
So this question is asking for a little bit more detail, so it’s a bit more genuine. You can ask it if you really want to find out what have you been doing lately, what’s been going on?
5. I’ve been busy …
if someone asks you what’s been going on? or what have you been up to lately. All you need to do is listen for the grammar that they used and reflect it back in your answer. So you would respond using the present perfect or the present perfect continuous.
6. Nothing Special
Or if you want to avoid this question (for example: what’s been going on?) altogether and just move the conversation onto something else, you can say, “Nothing special, how about you?” You might want to ask something a little more specific, especially if you’re talking to someone that you know.
7. How is …?
You can ask them something about their life using “How is …?” So you can say, for example:
- How is work going?
- How’s your family?
This is really great because you’re showing an interest in them. [phrases for small talk]
8. How was …?
You could ask them about something you know that they’ve done recently by asking with: “How was …?” For example:
- How was your trip to Portugal?
- How was the exam?
All you have to do is switch out the noun at the end to complete the question.
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Small Talk: In the Office / At Work
Another really common setting for small talk is in the office. So there are some advanced phrases that could be useful for making conversation in English at work? A really great strategy for small talk generally, but especially at work, is to look for common ground.
When you find something in common with the person that you’re talking to, you’ll see that making conversation becomes easier because you have this shared interest. It’s something that you both want to talk about. The tricky part is finding that common ground in the first place.
9. I can’t believe how busy/quiet we are today! Can you?
So first, try talking about work with your colleagues.
10. I know! We’re really under the pump
Their response could be, “I know! We’re really under the pump.” That is an Australian phrase that describes when you’re feeling a lot of pressure, and it’s quite a difficult situation, like when you’re busy at work. You’re under the pump.
11. I know, I’ve been flat out all week
You could also use this phrase when you work tough for a whole day. Here “flat out” phrase means when you are very busy working or going at your maximum pace.
12. Yeah, it’s been dead, hasn’t it?
But if the opposite is true and it’s actually been quite quiet, you could say, “Yeah, it’s been dead, hasn’t it?” So “dead” in this expression means quiet, not busy, there’s nothing to do.
13. How has your week been?
At work you can always start somewhere simple and just say, “How’s your day been?” or “How’s your week been?”
14. It’s been long
To respond you’d say,
- It’s been long.
- It’s been busy
- It’s been hectic
15. It’s flown by
Which means it’s gone quickly.
16. How about you?
Now, when you’re answering a question like this, don’t forget to follow up with, “
How about you?” This is going to keep the conversation going, and you can just tack that question onto the end of almost any sentence just to keep that back-and-forth happening for a little longer, keep things going. Pass the conversation back. [phrases for small talk]
17. How long have you worked here?
If you work at a bigger company, you might find yourself in the staff room at lunchtime heating up your lunch in the microwave and there’s a colleague there that you don’t know, you’ve never met them before. What could you ask? “How long have you worked here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.
18. What did you do before this?
You can also ask him/her about their past job using this phrase, “What did you do before this?”.
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Small Talk: About the Weather
Probably the most iconic small talk topic is the weather. People love talking about the weather, whether it’s bad or whether it’s good. It’s an easy and surefire way to start a conversation, to get it going.
19. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?
You could start just by saying, “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
20. Can you believe all the rain we’ve been having?
21. It looks like it’s gonna snow
You can talk about current or future weather as well: “It looks like it’s gonna snow.”
22. The weather’s not looking great this weekend. Do you have any plans?
This is a great way to transition your conversation from the weather to the weekend. [phrases for small talk]
23. How’s the weather where you are?
If you’re talking with someone in a Zoom meeting or over the phone, you could say, “How’s the weather where you are?” Or you could even add a little comment like:
- Is it cold?
- I’ve heard it’s been really chilly
24. How’s this weather? It’s been wild. I’ve never seen anything like it before!
And if there’s been some unusual weather like a heatwave, a cold snap, or some wild storms, that’s even better! You could say something like, “How’s this weather? It’s been wild. I’ve never seen anything like it before!”
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Small Talk: About Hobbies
Asking about free time and hobbies is another really great strategy.
25. Have you got much planned for the weekend?
So you could start by asking about the weekend: “Have you got much planned for the weekend?” So here when I say “the weekend,” I’m asking about the weekend coming up, the closest one in the future, the next weekend.
26. What did you get up to over the weekend?
You can ask about the one that’s just finished with this phrase.
27. What do you usually do in your spare time?
To ask about someone’s interests or their hobbies, you could say, “So what do you usually do in your spare time?” But you need to make sure that you’re listening and that you follow up to show your interest as well.
28. Have you …?
Another idea is to ask about a recent experience, and to do that of course, we need to use a good old-fashioned question in the present perfect tense. So start with “have you …?” and then add on just about any activity that you can think of, For example:
- Have you read any good books lately?
- Have you seen any good movies lately?
- Have you tried that new restaurant down by the beach?
Conclusion
Awesome work! You have just learned 28 great phrases and expressions that are useful in small talk conversations in English. [phrases for small talk] So what’s the best way to practice and remember them? Of course, it’s to practice using them in English conversations.
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