Practice Speaking English: How to Give Short Answers About Yourself

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Do you feel stressed out when people start asking you questions about you in English?

Do you get nervous, confused?

Why are you scared?

Well, sometimes it's because suddenly the attention is on you and you have to respond.

So, my name is Rebecca, and in this lesson I'll show you how to solve that problem very easily.

Now, of course, there are all kinds of questions in English, but in this lesson we'll focus

on questions with the verb "to be" in the past, present, and future.

Why only the verb "to be"?

Because the verb "to be" is a very common verb in English, and lots of questions are

asked to you using this verb.

Now, because people ask you a lot of questions, in this lesson I'm only going to focus on

questions that people ask you, so you know exactly how to answer.

These are not how to answer questions about him, or her, or us, or them.

Only about you.

So by the end of this lesson you will know how to answer these questions, and feel much

more confident and comfortable.

Let's get started.

So, first of all, the thing to remember that in English when somebody asks you a question,

especially when it's a yes or no question, you don't usually just say: "Yes." or: "No."

because it sounds a little too short, and could be a little rude, could sound nervous,

could sound angry.

So usually we say a little bit more.

Just because then it sounds a little bit more like a sentence.

This little bit more are...

This is called short answers.

That's what we'll learn now.

So, for example, the question will start something like this: "Are you something?" and we're

going to practice many times so you get it, and your answers...

The options are: "Yes, I am." or: "No, I'm not."

This and this, these are called short answers with the verb "to be".

"Yes, I am.", "No, I'm not."

This is, of course, contracted a little bit, but don't analyze it.

Just repeat it after me so that it comes out of your mouth very easily.

So, now I'm going to ask you some questions about you, and wherever you are, I want you to answer.

If you're in a library, say it quietly.

Or say it in your mind, but better if you can actually pronounce it and say it.

So I'm asking you: Are you married?

You could say: "Yes, I am." or: "No, I'm not."

Really, tell the truth about you.

Next: Are you American?

So you probably said: "Yes, I am." or: "No, I'm not."

Are you having dinner right now?

"Yes, I am.", "No, I'm not."

Are you a student?

"Yes, I am.", "No, I'm not."

Are you at the library?

What did you say?

"Yes, I am."

And some of you said: "No, I'm not."

In case you realized, these are general questions, these are a little bit academic, and now we

come to the more professional questions somebody might ask you at work.

Are you a manager?

And you could say: "Yes, I am." or: "No, I'm not."

And last: Are you attending any meetings this week?

Even if you're not, just pretend.

Give me an answer.

"Yes, I am.", "No, I'm not."

So, in the present tense these are the only two options you have, these are the only two

things you have to learn: "Yes, I am.", "No, I'm not."

Next we'll look at how to answer these questions in the past.

So, in the past our question will be: "Were you something?"

And the answer will be: "Yes, I was." or: "No, I wasn't."

Say it after me: "Yes, I was.", "No, I wasn't."

So, let's look at some imaginary questions.

These are general, these are to do with the academic world, and this has to do with work

or at your job. Okay?

So: Were you busy yesterday?

So you could say: "Yes, I was." or: "No, I wasn't."

Were you in London last year?

You could say: "Yes, I was."

Maybe you were.

Or: "No, I wasn't."

Okay, next: Were you ready for your last English test?

I hope you're saying: "Yes, I was because I watched engVid."

Or: "No, I wasn't. I have to watch more engVid."

Or: Were you doing your homework when I called?

"Yes, I was." or: "No, I wasn't."

Now: Were you on the phone?

"Yes, I was." or: "No, I wasn't."

And last: Were you at the conference last week?

And you're saying either: "Yes, I was." or: "No, I wasn't."

So you see how it's building, right?

How it changes, of course it changes because first we talked about the present tense.

-"Yes, I am."/"No, I'm not."

Then we talked about the past tense: "Were you?"

so your answer changes: "Yes, I was."/"No, I wasn't."

And last we're going to talk about the future tense.

So, in the future our question is: "Will you be something?"

And the answer is: "Yes, I will."

or: "No, I won't."

Again, don't analyze it.

Just accept and remember that the positive answer is: "Yes, I will.", negative answer:

Now let me ask you some questions;

some general ones, some academic ones, and some professional ones.

So: Will you be at home tomorrow?

What did you say?

"Yes, I will."?

Remember you have to say the whole thing.

Don't leave out the ending.

I want to hear: "won't".

Next: Will you be going to the party on Saturday?

So maybe you said, let's pretend there's a party on Saturday:

or: "No, I won't."

Will you be in the coffee shop?

"Yes, I will.", "No, I won't."

Will you be studying for the exam tonight?

or: "No, I won't."

Will you be at work on Friday?

or: "No, I won't."

Will you be applying for the job?

So maybe you can say: "Yes, I will."

or: "No, I won't."

Now, what was the point of these short answers?

The whole point of the short answers is that you don't have to repeat the whole question.

So, when we said: "Yes, I will" it means:

"Yes, I will be applying for the job",

but we don't have to say the whole thing. Okay?

So by giving these short answers, they're like shortcuts that make it much easier for

So, are you feeling better now?

Are you feeling more relaxed?

Are you feeling less nervous?

I hope you're saying: "Yes, I am."

So, how are you going to feel more and more confident?

Here are some ways you can do that.

First of all, subscribe, please, to my YouTube channel.

I have so many lessons like this that can help you-all right?-to get better and better in English.

Next, to practice this, go to our website, www.engvid.com and there you can do a test

on this, a little quiz just to review it.

And while you're there, you can look around and you will actually find hundreds of other

lessons at beginner levels, intermediate, advanced, all kinds of topics;

grammar, vocabulary, whatever you need more help in;

and you can continue to upgrade and improve your English.

Thanks very much for watching, and good luck with your English.