Useful Questions and Phrases

Communication skills help us connect with people better and leave a lasting impression. So make sure you know exactly what you are saying, when you are meeting someone for the first time.

When we talk to people on our first meeting, it's important to be able to ask questions and describe things well so that we can give a fairly good idea of what we are talking about. We can do so by saying appropriate phrases and asking sensible questions about name, age, hometown, appearance and personality. Here are a few tips.

1. Could you spell your name please?

"What's your name?" and "How old are you?" are common questions we ask when we try to get acquainted. However there are some more sensible and interesting questions and phrases one should know how to ask or say. Here are a few questions and expressions you can use:

a. "Could you spell your name please?" ~  "It's F-E-L-I-C-I-T-Y"

b. "What does your name mean?" ~ "It means joyfulness"

c. "Am I pronouncing your name correctly?" ~ "Yes, you are."

d. "Do you mind if i asked you your age?" ~ "Certainly not. I'm 52 years old."

e. "He is in his 50's (Fifties)"       {Between 50 to 59 years of age) 

f. "Mr. Chapman is quite healthy for his age"

2. What's your hometown like?

Usually we ask "Where are you from?" to know about people's nationality or their hometown. Let's look at a few more useful questions and phrases.

a. "What's interesting about your hometown?"  ~ "There's a very old temple. It's big and beautiful. Lots of people go there."

b. "What's your hometown like?" ~ "It's beautiful and there are many places to visit."

b. "What's the best way to travel there?" ~ "You should take the train. It's cheap and comfortable."

c. Which is the best season to go there?"  ~ "You should go there in the summer."

d. "What languages do people speak there?" ~ "Mostly people speak Hindi and English."

e. "What's it like out there." ~ "It's a quiet town.There aren't many people there."

f. "What's the weather like?" ~ "It rains quite often in the summer and it's pleasant in the winter. It's not very cold."

3. "She's a little on the plump side."

 When describing people or yourself, it is important to be clear and careful as to not offend someone you are describing. Words like fair, dark, tall, short, thin and fat are used, to describe a person's appearance, however there are more apt and polite ways of doing so. A few examples are mentioned below.

a. "What does she look like?" ~ "She's a bit dark, she has black hair and she's a little on the plump side."

 (Tip: To call someone fat is considered rude so, use plump, chubby, obese or overweight.)

b."He's very tall. He's about 6'5" and he's going bald." 

c. "She's in great shape. She carries herself quite well."

d."She's quite slim.She's a brunette and she wears glasses"

e. "He's quite attractive.He has green eyes,a beard and dark brown hair."

f. "He looks fit. I think he works out in a gym."

4. "What is she like?"

To describe the personality of a person we use words like confident, shy, talkative, interesting, boring, funny, brave, active, lazy, intelligent, smart and stupid. {Tip: The word stupid is considered rude. Use dense, unintelligent or slow instead.)

Here are a some suggestions to help you describe someone's personality.

a. "Does she seem nice to you?" ~ "Yes, and she's gentle and soft spoken. I've never heard her raise her voice."

b "What is she like?" ~ "She's a quiet person. She doesn't talk much. I guess she's an introvert"

c. "Is she fun to hang out with?" ~ "Yes, definitely.She's funny and entertaining. There's never a dull moment with her."

d. "How do you find her?" ~ "Yes, she's interesting and she's fun to talk to."

e. "What kind of a person is he?"~ "He's quite athletic. He plays almost every sport."

f. "What's your opinion about Timothy?" ~ "He's serious and not very friendly. He doesn't seem to like talking to people much."

g. "What do you think about Julia?" ~ "She's hardworking and career oriented."

h. "Who is she like?" ~ "She's like her mother."

Let's review some of those questions and phrases we used. 

1. "What does your name mean?" ~ " It means joyfulness"

2. "Am I pronouncing your name correctly?" ~ "Yes, you are."

3. "What's interesting about your hometown?"  ~ "There's a very old temple. It's big and beautiful. Lots of people go there."

4. "What's your hometown like?" ~ "It's beautiful and there are many places to visit."

5. "What does she look like?" ~ "She's a bit dark, she has black hair and she's a little on the plump side."

6. "She's in great shape. She carries herself quite well."

7. "What is she like?" ~ "She's a quiet person. She doesn't talk much. I guess she's an introvert"

8. "Does she seem nice to you?" ~ "Yes, and she's gentle and soft spoken. I've never heard her raise her voice."

9. "Is she fun to hang out with?" ~ "Yes, definitely.She's funny and entertaining. There's never a dull moment with her."

There are many other ways of asking polite questions and saying interesting things. Later we will post many more topics which will help you become a better communicator. We hope this post has been of some help.Thank you for reading :)