900 Basic English Sentences 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Hello. Good morning. I’m John Smith. Are you Bill Jones? Yes, I am. How are you? Fine, Thanks. How is Helen? She’s very well, thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Green. Good evening, Mrs. Brown. How are you this evening? Good night, John. Good bye, Bill. See you tomorrow. Come in, please. Sit down. Stand up, please. Open your book, please. Close your book, please. Don’t open your book. Do you understand? Yes, I understand. No, I don’t understand. Listen and repeat. Now read, please. That’s fine. It’s time to begin. Let’s begin now. This is Lesson One. What’s this? That’s a book. Is this your book? No, that’s not my book. Whose book is this? That’s your book. And what’s that? Is that a book? No, it isn’t. It’s a pencil. Is it yours? Yes, it’s mine. Where’s the door? There it is. Is this book his? What are these? Those are books. Where are the books? There they are. These are my pencils.
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Where are your pens? They’re over there. Are these your pens? Yes, they are. Those are mine. These are your books, aren’t they? No, they aren’t. They’re not mine. These are mine, and those are yours. Those aren’t your pens, are they? Who are you? I’m a student. Who is that over there? He’s a student, too. Is that lady a student? No, she isn’t. Those men aren’t students, either. Am I your teacher? Yes, you are. That man is a teacher, isn’t he? Yes, he is. Who are those people? Maybe they’re farmers. Aren’t they students? I really don’t know. What’s your name? My name is Jones. What’s your first name? My first name is Bill. How do you spell your last name? Jones. J-O-N-E-S. What’s your friend’s name? His name is John Smith. John and I are old friends. Are you John’s brother? No, I’m not. This is Mr. Jones. How do you do? Mrs. Jones, this is Mr. John Smith. Very pleased to meet you. What day is today? Today is Monday. What day was yesterday? Yesterday was Sunday. What day is tomorrow? What month is this? This is January. Last month was December, wasn’t it? Yes, it was. What month is next month? I was in the hospital for several weeks. Where were you on Tuesday? You were here in February, weren’t you?
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No, I wasn’t. Your friend was here a week ago, wasn’t he? Do you have a book? Yes, I do. You have a radio, don’t you? No, I don’t. I don’t have a phonograph, either. Does this radio belong to you? Yes, I think it does. How many sisters and brothers do you have? Don’t you have my hat? Yes, I have both your hat and your coat. Does John have a yellow pencil? Yes, he does. He has a radio, doesn’t he? No, he doesn’t have one. He already has a phonograph, but he doesn’t have a radio yet. What time is it? It’s two o’clock. It’s a few minutes after two. My watch is fast and your watch is slow. Excuse me. Can you tell me the correct time? No, I can’t. I don’t know what time it is. I don’t think it’s four o’clock yet. It must be about three thirty. I get up before six o’clock every day. The restaurant doesn’t open until seven forty five. Will you be here at ten o’clock tomorrow? Yes, I will. We’ll be on time, won’t we? I hope so. What’s the date today? Today is November first, nineteen sixty-three. When were you born? I was born on November first, nineteen thirty-five. Today is my birthday. My sister was born in nineteen thirty-eight. I don’t know the exact date. Where were you born? I was born in a little town not far from here. What do you know about the tenth century? I don’t know anything about that. Let’s talk about something else. Where were you during the month of April last year? I don’t remember where I was then. Where will you be next year at this time What do you want? I want a cup of coffee. What would you like to eat? Please give me a piece of pie. Which one would you like – this one or that one? It doesn’t matter to me.
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I’d like to talk with Mr. Jones or Mr. Smith. I’m sorry, but both of them are busy right now. Wouldn’t you like some coffee? I’d rather have some tea, if you don’t mind. Do you know any of those people? Two or three of them look familiar. All of those people are friends of mine. Which one of those men is Mr. Taylor? Is he the tall man on the left? Do you speak English? Yes, a little. Does your friend speak English? Yes, he speaks English perfectly. What’s his native language? I don’t know what his native language is. How many languages do you speak? My friend reads and writes several languages. How well do you know French? He speaks French with an American accent. My parents speak English fluently. Mr. Jones can read French pretty well. Sometimes I make mistakes when I speak English. I have a lot of trouble with pronunciation. How is her accent in French? What are you doing? I’m reading a book. What’s your friend doing? He’s studying his lesson. I’m not doing anything right now. Where are you going? I’m going home. What time are you coming back? I’m not sure what time I’m coming back. What are you thinking about? I’m thinking about my lesson. Who are you writing to? I’m writing to a friend of mine in South America. By the way, who are you waiting for? I’m not waiting for anybody. How old are you? I’m twenty-one years old. My brother is not quite twenty-five. John is not forty-five yet, is he? Mr. Smith is still in his fifties. I’m two years older than you are. My brother is two years younger than I am. How many are there in your family? There are seven of us altogether. My sister is the oldest. I’m the youngest. Guess how old I am. I’d say you’re about twenty-three. I was thirty on my last birthday.
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I’m going to be sixty one next Tuesday. What time do you get up every day? I usually wake up early. I get up at 6 o’clock every day. My brother gets up later than I do. After I get dressed, I have breakfast. Usually, I have a big breakfast. I have juice, cereal, toast, and coffee for breakfast. I leave the house at eight a.m. each day. I get to work at nine o’clock every morning. I work hard all morning. I go out for lunch at about 7 o’clock. I finish working at 5:45 p.m. I eat dinner at about 7 o’clock. Before I eat dinner, I read the newspaper for a while. I usually go to bed at about 7 o’clock. What time did you get up yesterday morning? I woke up early and got up at 6 o’clock. My brother got up earlier than I did. Did you get dressed right away? Yes, I got dressed and had breakfast. What kind of breakfast did you have? What time did you get to work yesterday morning/ I left the house at 8 o’clock and got to work at 8:30. Did you work all day? Yes, I worked from early morning until late at night. At noon I had lunch with a friend of mine. I finished working at 5:30 and went home. After dinner I read a magazine and made some telephone calls. I went home to bed at 11:30 p.m. I went to sleep immediately and slept soundly all night. Where did you go yesterday? I went to see a friend of mine. Did you see Mr. Jones yesterday? I didn’t see Mr.Jones, but I saw John Smith. What did you talk about? We talked about a lot of things. I asked him a lot of questions. What did you ask him? I asked him if he spoke English. He said he spoke a little English. Then I asked him if he knew anybody in New York. He said he knew a lot of people there. Finally, I asked him how old he was. He said he would rather not tell his age. He answered almost all of my questions. What time did you use to get up last year? I used to wake up early and get up at 7 o’clock. I used to set my alarm clock for exactly 7 a.m. I never used to oversleep. I used to get dressed quickly every morning. I always used to leave for work at 8:30. I used to start working at 9:00 o’clock every day.
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I used to have lunch every day at the same time. I used to work until nearly 6:00 o’clock each day. I used to have dinner at 7:30 and go to bed early. My brother and I used to go a lot of places together. We used to go to the movies about once a week. We used to have a lot of interesting friends. My brother used to speak French to me all the time. I always used to ask him a lot of questions. Where do you live? I live on Washington Street. What’s your address? I live at 1203 Washington Street . I’m Mr. Smith’s next door neighbor. You live here in the city ,don’t you? I’m from out of town . How long have you live here? I’ lived here for five year. He’s known me for over ten year. I’ve spoken English all my life. I’ve already read that book. Has he studied French very long? Have you had breakfast already? Yes, I had breakfast two hours ago. Where were you yesterday afternoon? I was at home all afternoon. I was writing some letters to friends of mine. What were you doing at about 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon? I was listening to the radio . What were you doing when I called you on the telephone? When you called me, I was eating dinner. When I saw Mr.Jones, he was talking with John Smith. While you were writing letters, I was reading a book. While we were having breakfast, John was talking on the telephone. Can you guest what I was doing this morning? I can’t remember what John was doing yesterday afternoon. I’ve forgotten what he said his address was. I’ve forgotten what time he said he had dinner last night. They called us just as we were having dinner. What color is your book? My book has a dark blue cover. How much does that typewriter weigh? It’s not too heavy, but I don’t know the exact weight. This round table weighs about forty-five pounds. What size suitcase do you own? One of my suitcases is small, and the other one is medium size. I like the shape of that table. How long is Jones Boulevard? That street is only two miles long. Will you please measure this window to see how wide it is? This window is just as wide as that one. The walls are three inches thick. This material feels soft. This pencil is longer than that one.
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Would you please tell Mr. Cooper that I’m here? Take these books home with you tonight. Please bring me those magazines. Would you help me lift this heavy box? Please ask John to turn on the lights. Put your books down on the table. Get me a hammer from the kitchen, will you? Hang up my coat in the closet, will you please? Please don’t bother me now. I’m very busy. Would you mind mailing this letter for me? If you have time, will you call me tomorrow? Please pick up those cups and saucers. Will you do me a favor? Please count the chairs in that room. Please pour this milk into that glass. Excuse me, sir. Can you give me some information? Can you tell me where Peach Street is? It’s two blocks straight ahead. Which direction is it to the theater? Turn right at the next corner. How far is it to the university? It’s a long way from here. The school is just around the corner. The restaurant is across the street from the hotel. You can’t miss it. Do you happen to know Mr. Cooper’s telephone number? Could you tell me where the nearest telephone is? Should I go this way, or that way? Go that way for two blocks, then turn left. I beg your pardon. Is this seat taken? Are you married? No, I’m not married. I’m still single. Your niece is engaged, isn’t she? My sister has been engaged for two months. My grandfather got married in 1921. When is your grandparents’ wedding anniversary? How long have they been married? They’ve been married for quite a few years. Who did George marry? Do they have children? They had a baby last month. My son wants to get married in June. They don’t know when the wedding will be. Their grandchildren are grown up now. She’s a widow. Her husband died last year. Where did you grow up? I grew up right here in this neighborhood. My friend spent his childhood in California. He lived in California until he was seventeen. There have been a lot of changes here in the last 20 years. There used to be a grocery store on the corner. All of those houses have been built in the last ten years. They’re building a new house up the street from me.
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If you buy that home, will you spend the rest of your life there? Are your neighbors very friendly? We all know each other pretty well. A young married couple moved in next door to us. Who bought that new house down the street from you? An elderly man rented the big white house. What beautiful trees those are! What time are you going to get up tomorrow morning? I’ll probably wake up early and get up at 6:30. What will you do then? After I get dressed, I’ll have breakfast. What will you do then? After will you have for breakfast tomorrow morning? I’ll probably have eggs and toast for breakfast. After breakfast, I’ll get ready to go to work. I’ll leave the house at 8:00 and get to the office at 8:30. I’ll probably go out for lunch at about 12:30. I’ll finish working at 5:30 and get home by 6 o’clock. Are you going to have dinner at home tomorrow night? I’ll probably stay home and watch television. When I get sleepy, I’ll probably get ready for bed. Do you think you’ll be able to go to sleep right away? How is the weather today? The weather is nice today. What was the weather like yesterday? Yesterday it rained all day. What will the weather be like tomorrow? It’s going to snow tomorrow. It’s quite cold today. It’s been cloudy all morning. Is it raining now? It’ll probably clear up this afternoon. The days are getting hotter. Today is the first day of spring. What’s the temperature today? It’s about seventy degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon. There’s a cool breeze this evening. How are you feeling today? I don’t feel very well this morning. I was sick yesterday, but I’m better today. My fever is gone, but I still have a cough. My brother has a bad headache. Which of your arms is sore? My right arm hurts. It hurts right here. What’s the matter with you? I’ve got a pain in my back. Which foot hurts? Is it the left one? How did you break your leg? I slipped on the stairs and fell down. I broke my leg. Your right hand is swollen. Does it hurt? It’s bleeding. You’d better go see a doctor about that cut. I hope you’ll be well soon. I get out of bed about 7 o’clock every morning.
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After getting up, I go into the bathroom and take a shower. Then, I shave, brush my teeth and comb my hair. After brushing my teeth, I put on my clothes. After that, I go downstairs to the kitchen to have breakfast. After eating breakfast, I go back upstairs again. Then, It’s usually time to wake up my little brother. He can’t dress himself yet because he’s too young. I wash his face and hands, and then I dress him. He tries to button his own shirt, but he can’t do it. My little brother takes a bath before he goes to bed at night. He always forgets to wash behind his ears. I’m always tired when I come home from work. At bedtime, I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas. I get into bed at about 11:30, and go right off to sleep. What do you think? Is that right? Certainly. You’re mistaken about that. I think you’re mistaken about that. I like hot weather best. Personally, I prefer winter weather. Do you think it’s going to rain tomorrow? I don’t know whether it will rain or not. In my opinion, that’s an excellent idea. Why is Mr. Cooper so tired? Do you have any idea? He’s tired because he worked hard all day today. What do you think of my children? I think you have very attractive children. Please give me your frank opinion. Do you really want to know what I think? Of course I want to know what your opinion is! What do you plan to do tomorrow? I doubt that I’ll do anything tomorrow. Please excuse me for a little while. I want to do something. I imagine I’ll do some work instead of going to the movies. Will it be convenient for you to explain your plans to him? There’s nothing to do because tomorrow is a holiday. What’s your brother planning to do tomorrow? He can’t decide what to do. It’s difficult to make a decision without knowing all the facts. We’re trying to plan our future. That’s a good idea. I’m hoping to spend a few days in the mountains. Would you consider going north this summer? If there’s a chance you’ll go, I’d like to go with you. After you think it over, please let me know what you decide. I’m anxious to know what your decision is. I’m confident you’ve made the right choice. I want to persuade you to change your mind. Will you accept my advice? What have you decided? I’ve definitely decided to go to California. He didn’t want to say anything to influence my decision. She refuses to make up her mind. I assume you’ve decided against buying a new car.
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It took him a long time to make up his mind. You can go whenever you wish. We’re willing to accept your plan. He knows it’s inconvenient, but he wants to go anyway. According to Mr. Green, this is a complicated problem. She insists that it doesn’t make any difference to her. Are you going to go anyplace this year? If I have enough money, I’m going to take a trip abroad. How are you going? Are you going by boat? It’s faster to go by plane than by boat. What’s the quickest way to get there? Altogether it will take ten days to make the trip. I hope you have a good time on your trip. I’m leaving tomorrow, but I haven’t packed my suitcases yet. I’m going be air. I like flying. My brother took a trip to Mexico. It was a six-hour flight. How many passengers were on the train? His friend was injured in an airplane crash. Would you like to go for a walk? Let’s go out to the airport. The plane landed ten minutes ago. I’m going shopping because I need to buy some clothes. If this shirt doesn’t fit, may I bring it back later? What size shoes do you wear? That suit looks very good on you. This dress is made of silk, isn’t it? I’d like to try on this sweater. I’m interested in buying a new car. What’s the price of that electric iron? How much is this rug? Is this toothpaste on sale today? That’s a beautiful leather wallet, but it costs too much. How much do I owe you? That will be eighteen dollars and seventy-five cents. Do you have change for a twenty-dollar bill? The clerk helped me find what I wanted. What would you like to eat? I’d like a bowl of tomato soup, please. The waiter seems to be in a hurry to take our order. Which would you rather have steak or fish? I want my steak well done. What kinds of vegetables do you have? I’ll have mashed potatoes and green beans. Would you please pass the salt? They serve good food in this restaurant. Are you ready for your dessert now? This knife is dirty. Would you bring me a clean one, please? May I have the check, please? You have your choice of three flavors of ice cream. We have vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. We invited two guests to dinner, but they didn’t come. How long did the movie last? The feature started at 9 o’clock and ended at 11:30.
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They say the new film is an adventure story. A group of us went out to the theater last night. The new play was good and everybody enjoyed it. By the time we got there, the play had already begun. The usher showed us to our seats. The cast of the play included a famous actor. After the play was over, we all wanted to get something to eat. There was a big crowd and we had difficulty getting a taxi. The restaurant was filled, so we decided to go elsewhere. My brother wants to learn how to dance. We don’t go dancing very often. Which would you rather do go dancing or go to a play? I’m not accustomed to going out after dark. I’d like to make an appointment to see Mr. Cooper. Would you like to arrange for a personal interview? Your appointment will be next Thursday at 10 o’clock. I can come any day except. Thursday. He wants to change his appointment from Monday to Wednesday. She failed to call the office to cancel her appointment. I’m going to call the employment agency for a job. Please fill in this application form. Are you looking for a permanent position? I’m going to call a plumber to come this afternoon. I couldn’t keep the appointment because I was sick. I’m a new employee. I was hired yesterday. Please call before you come, otherwise we might not be home. Let’s make a date to go shopping next Thursday. Will you please lock the door when you leave? I went to see my doctor for a checkup yesterday. The doctor discovered that I’m a little overweight. He gave me a chest X-ray and took my blood pressure. He told me to take these pills every four hours. Do you think the patient can be cured? They operated on him last night. He needed a blood transfusion. My uncle had a heart attack last year. They had to call in a heart specialist. What did the doctor say? The doctor advised me to get plenty of exercise. The doctor said I look pale. If I want to be healthy, I have to stop smoking cigarettes. The physician said smoking is harmful to my health. It’s just a mosquito bite. There’s nothing to worry about. You’re wanted on the telephone. What number should I dial to get the operator? I want to make a long distance call. Pick up the receiver and deposit a coin in the slot. I tried to call Mr. Cooper, but the line was busy. You must have dialed the wrong number. I dialed the right number. But nobody answered. The telephone is ringing. Would you answer it, please? Would you like to leave a message? Who is this? I don’t recognize your voice.
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Would you please tell Mr. Cooper I called? Is this Empire 5-4093? I have to hang up now. Put the receive closer to your mouth. I can’t hear you. Would you mind calling back sometime tomorrow? How long has it been since you’ve heard from your uncle? When was the last time he wrote you? I can’t recall how long it’s been. I’m always disappointed when I don’t get any mail. I feel guilty because I haven’t written her lately. What time is the mail delivered on Saturday? The postman always comes at 2 o’clock. I wrote to my uncle last night. I couldn’t put it off any longer. I enclosed some photographs in my letter. I didn’t know whether to send the letter airmail or not. How long does it take for a letter to get to California? Don’t forget to put stamps on the letter before you mail it. He went to the post office to mail a letter. I dropped the letter in the mailbox on the corner. How did you sign the letter? Did you write, “Sincerely yours”?
