English Small Talk
Common English Questions with Who and What
Need some help with your English pronunciation in your casual English conversations? We’ve taken some really common questions in English using the words Who & What, and we’ve created some great Speaking Practice for you to listen to, mimic and practice your pronunciation with casual and naturally spoken English. Listening Practice is also included with 3 more dialogues for each section. We don’t study grammar here, just Listening, Speaking and Casual Conversation.
That’s over 50 common English questions with 30 real English dialogues. So, let’s get practicing!
Are you an English teacher? Are you an Intermediate student who is into Self-Study?
Check out our Free Small Talk Questions Package for both English Teachers and Intermediate Students with
Pronunciation Worksheets + Transcripts + MP3 Downloads
[selz link=”http://selz.co/EkXpGip6M” show_logos=”false” background_color=”#6d48cc” text_color=”#ffffff” link_color=”#6d48cc” chbg_color=”#6d48cc” chtx_color=”#ffffff” type=”widget” interact=”modal”]
Where’s the emphasis in English Questions?
Naturally, we only give emphasis to the verbs, as they’re the most important part of the sentence, however you can give more emphasis to make a point:
Naturally: who’d you TALK to just now?
uhm, well, I mean…
Come on, WHO’d you TALK to?
At the beginning, it was just a normal question, now we’re really interested in WHO you were talking to, thus we give it some more emphasis.
Start with common English questions with Who… then continue to the questions with What
Who Questions with Do and Does
[wonderplugin_audio id=”427″]
English Speaking Practice:
Common English Question: American accent.
Beep. Repeat it! Use the accent, tone and speed to sound like a native English speaker.
Common English Question: British accent.
Beep. Mimic! Choose your accent or practice both to understand both Americans and Brits.
Who do you wanna go with?
Who do they think is gonna be there?
Who do you know there?
Who do you follow on Twitter?
Who does he wanna invite?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
Okay guys, who do you want to win? Or should I say who do we want to win since I don’t really care, and I’ll just root for whoever you guys are going for.
I’d love Chelsea to win, but it’s gonna be close for sure.
Side Notes: We do pronounce the ‘to’ in ‘want to win’ because:
Who do you want to win (the game)? = Which team would you like to win this game?
I want this team to win. We separate the verbs here to insert our winner, so we separate want and to in the question.
vs. Who do you wanna win? = Which person would you like to win as a prize?
I wanna win Brad, because he’s adorable. Here we’re actively winning an actual person as a prize (weird) so we keep the verbs together and it turns into “wanna” in the question. Weird, right? Oh, English.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
Hey I heard you were wanting to have a party this weekend, who’d you wanna invite?
I mean, I guess whoever wants to come, really, but you know, the usual crowd, you can bring whoever you want.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
I’m super excited to move up to Dallas, my friend’s got an apartment there and she’s letting me stay for a few weeks while I get my new job sorted out.
Hey, that’s great! So, who do you know up there? Anyone we know?
Actually, you may have met her once when she was down here, Liz? She dated Brian a long time ago.
Who Questions with Did
[wonderplugin_audio id=”428″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
Who’d you go with?
Who’d he meet up with?
Who’d you talk to?
Who’d they go out with?
Who did you end up going with?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
Who’d you get to cover your shift last night?
Well, Kelsey offered, but I had already gotten Jeff to pick it up.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
Hey man how was your vacation last week?
Yeah really good, yeah, we had a really good time.
Oh, who’d you go with?
Shelly and I took the kids. It was their first time flying but they were great. Who’d you end up going to the show with?
Oh, my sister, actually. Some of her plans fell through so we got to go together.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
Last night was so much fun! I wish you could’ve come!
Ah, I know, work has just been so hectic, who’d you meet up with?
Well Brandon brought his wife and Sarah came out with her new boyfriend, it was great, we should try to plan something again in a couple of weeks.
Who Questions with Is and Are
[wonderplugin_audio id=”429″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
Who’s meeting us there?
Who are you seeing later?
Who’s gonna be there?
Who are you flying with?
Who all’s going? *very Southern in the USA / Who’s all going?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
Okay so I’m getting tickets for the movies next Saturday. They’re selling out fast – so who’s in?
Me, for sure! Who’s planning on driving?
I think I can, I can take 5 in my car. Who else wants to?
I don’t mind driving, I can take 4 pretty comfortably.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
Hey, who’re those new people in the hallway? I’ve never seen any of them before.
Who are you talking about? Oh, them. They’re the new summer interns, we should probably go introduce ourselves.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
So, who’s that new girl I keep seeing on your facebook feed? Y’all look really happy together.
Oh, yeah, that’s Michelle, the girl I’ve been dating. Speaking of, who’s this mystery man we keep hearing about?
Oh, don’t worry about that, we just dated for a little while, nothing serious.
Who Questions with Was and Were
[wonderplugin_audio id=”430″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
Who on earth was that?
Who were they talking to?
Who was the VIP last year?
Who were thinking about?
Who was that guy I saw you with?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
Did you ever see Step-Brothers?
Oh yeah, I love that movie. Who were the two guys in that one? I can never remember their names.
Will Ferrell and John C Reilly. They’re hilarious together.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
Who was that on the phone?
Oh, it was just my dad, he wanted to know what time we were coming home.
Oh, what did you say?
I told him in about half an hour.
Okay, cool.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
Who were you thinking of inviting to the party this weekend?
I dunno, a few people said they couldn’t come, so I can probably open up the list a little. Why, who were you thinking about bringing?
Just a few friends from work, they’re pretty cool, they’ll get along with everybody.
Who Questions with Have and Has
[wonderplugin_audio id=”431″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
Who’s he been spending all of his time with?
Who’ve they been hanging out with?
Who’s he been dating?
Who’ve you been talking to?
Who’s she been working for?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
Did you hear about Leslie? Someone told me that she got fired last week.
Who’ve you been talking to? That’s not true at all. She’s at work right now.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
I mean, I don’t wanna start a fight with my sister, cuz I think she’s just been under a lot of stress with her roommate.
Yeah, that sucks, who’s she been living with?
Uhm, Teresa, that girl she met at training?
Ah yeah, that’s right. I remember her.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
I haven’t seen Brian in forever.
Yeah, me neither. Who’s he been hanging out with?
I have no idea, but I think he’s been avoiding me on Facebook for a few weeks.
Who Questions with Would
[wonderplugin_audio id=”432″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
Who would we contact if we had a problem?
Who would she choose to replace her?
Who would you pick for the job?
Who’d wanna get together next week?
Who would be there? Anybody I know?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
Hey, did you hear about Lindsay? She’s moving to New York next week.
I know! It’s crazy, I’m a little disappointed that she’s leaving so soon, but I mean, who wouldn’t go for an opportunity like that?
Transcript Dialogue #2:
I really can’t decide who should cater the wedding. Who would you go with?
I think I’d go with the woman who makes all the tapas for the appetizers, then maybe we can find someone who makes something a little more substantial for the main courses.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
Okay, so you should be all set, your credit card will be in the mail tomorrow.
Thanks very much, and who would I contact with if it doesn’t come in?
You’ll need to contact customer service for Credit Card members, I’ll give you the number now.
Wanna grab this entire post in an easy to download Question Pronunciation Package?
Get it here: [selz link=”http://selz.co/EkXpGip6M” show_logos=”false” background_color=”#6d48cc” text_color=”#ffffff” link_color=”#6d48cc” chbg_color=”#6d48cc” chtx_color=”#ffffff” type=”button” position=”default” interact=”modal”]
What Questions with Do and Does
[wonderplugin_audio id=”433″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
What do you want? *a little direct in most situations use What would you like? to be polite
What does she need?
What does this mean?
What do you think?
What do they like?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
I really can’t decide between these two. What do you think?
I’d go with the black one. It’s perfect.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
Hey, I’m headed to the store, what do you want?
Just a few things, I wrote a list, it’s on the fridge.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
Hi, sorry, could you tell me what this means here? What do you think?
I think it’s talking about the new project we’re starting next week.
What Questions with Did
[wonderplugin_audio id=”434″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
What did you mean by that?
What did she call you for?
What did they buy?
What did you get up to?
What did he want?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
I can’t believe you’ve been shopping all day. What’d you buy?
Oh just a few things really, we had lunch and that took up most of the day. What’d you get up to?
Nothing really, just ran a few errands, I might go out later if you’d like to come.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
Hey, just looking over the list you sent me, what did you mean by “party stuff”? What kind of party stuff?
Oh, just a few things, like, balloons, decorations and stuff, don’t spend more than about 20 dollars.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
Hey, dad just called.
Oh, what’d he want?
He just asked when you’d be home, I said about 3 or 4.
What Questions with Is and Are
[wonderplugin_audio id=”435″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
What’s going on this weekend?
What’s her name again?
What’re you doing?
What’re you thinking about?
What’re you talking about?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
Hey, what’s going on with school? Everything alright?
Oh yeah, sure, school’s great actually, what’s really been stressing me out is work.
Oh no, what’s up? You can talk to me about it, if you want.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
What’re you up to this weekend?
Ah, the usual, me and the girls like to get together to go to this early morning fitness class, then we grab some lunch together to catch up. Actually, uh, what are you two doing next week for the holiday?
We took Wednesday and Thursday off and we’re actually going to Mexico!
That’s awesome! So what’re the kids doing? Are they going with you?
Oh they’re staying with my parents, for sure.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
Hey, whatcha doin’? *very casual
Oh, I’ve gotta go to training at this new school in the district, but I can’t find the address.
Oh, what school are you talking about?
It’s Lincoln Elementary.
Oh, that’s the new one they built by the grocery store, it’s really easy to find.
What Questions with Was and Were
[wonderplugin_audio id=”436″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
What was it you needed me to do?
What was up with him?
What were their names?
What was she gonna do?
What were they thinking?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
What was the name of that guy we met last week?
Oh, the one we met while we were having dinner?
Yeah, yeah, he was hanging out with Jenn by the bar, ah, what was his name?
Oh, Evan.
Evan! That’s right.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
I’m sorry, I’m completely blanking, what was it you needed me to do next? I wrote it down, but I can’t find the list.
Oh yeah, what was it… oh yeah here it is, I need you to organize the filing cabinet.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
What were they thinking, building those new apartments next to the airport?
I mean, I’m sure they were just thinking about making more money. It’s so loud though.
What Questions with Have and Has
[wonderplugin_audio id=”437″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
What have they been up to?
What has she been doing?
What have you done?
What have you been working on?
What has he been talking about?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
Hey, sorry I’m a bit late, I had to spend some extra time at the office.
No problem. What’ve you been working on?
We’ve had to completely revamp our project this whole week, but, glad it’s over now.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
Oh my god, when Matt finds out, he’s gonna kill me.
Wait, what’re you talking about? What’ve you done?
Uh, I kind of binge-watched the entire season of Narcos, uh, we were supposed to watch it together.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
I saw Danny and Sarah last weekend, for the first time in ages!
Oh yeah, what have they been up to?
They’ve been really busy since their honeymoon, they actually both started new jobs in the city.
What Questions with Would
[wonderplugin_audio id=”438″]
Speaking Practice: Common English Questions:
What would you do?
What would happen?
What would they think?
What would she say?
What would I do?
Transcript Dialogue #1:
What do you think would happen if I just stopped going to work? Think they’d notice?
Haha, yeah I think they would definitely notice. What would you do instead?
I dunno, be super lazy around the house. Start a bakery, anything.
Transcript Dialogue #2:
What would you do in this situation?
What would I do? I’d stay, and I’d try to make the situation better, but I don’t know the whole story so it’s hard to say.
Transcript Dialogue #3:
What would your sister say if I asked her for some business advice?
Oh, she loves giving advice, you’d have no problem talking to her.
Teachers and Intermediate Students! Grab our free Questions Pronunciation Package here:
[selz link=”http://selz.co/EkXpGip6M” show_logos=”false” background_color=”#6d48cc” text_color=”#ffffff” link_color=”#6d48cc” chbg_color=”#6d48cc” chtx_color=”#ffffff” type=”widget” interact=”modal”]
Thanks! Mark and Kat
