Information Sheet 1.3-4

Information Sheet 1.3-4: Expressing appropriate response

Appropriate response

An important part of communication is listening to someone speak and then responding to what the person says. Responding appropriately requires that you think before you speak.

Ways to Respond During a Conversation Besides “Uh huh”

When you’re listening to someone in a conversation, how do you show that you’re… listening? Most often, people make some sounds (e.g. “uh-huh” or “mmhmm”) or use some words (“interesting!”) to do this.

Linguists call this “backchanneling,” and it’s a very important part of a conversation. In fact, how you backchannel can even change how someone tells you a story!

The problem is that people learning English as a foreign language often pick one form of backchanneling and stick to it. For example, one of our tutors noticed that a student used “uh-huh” during an entire conversation.

This is the most common response that comes naturally to most of us and it’s often overused which in turn makes the listener sound insincere. And, depending on your body language, you can come off as uncaring or like you’re not even listening! For example:

Liam: So I went to a pizza restaurant today…
Alejandro: Uh-huh.
Liam: …and I ordered a cheese pizza…
Alejandro: Uh-huh.
Liam: …but they took half an hour to make it!
Alejandro: Uh-huh.

Liam is complaining, but Alejandro responds only with “uh-huh” which makes it sound like he doesn’t care.

There are better ways to respond in a conversation than just “uh-huh.” So, let’s learn some useful English phrases that can make our responses sound more natural!

Phrases to Show You’re Interested

In a conversation, you usually don’t just want to show that you’re listening even though that’s the most important part. It’s also a good idea to show your conversation partner that you’re interested in what they’re saying.

The following reactions will show your partner that you really want to know what they have to say:

Interesting!
Nice!
Cool!
Wow!

While these are all great ways to show interest, there are some slight differences. For example, saying “wow!” shows that you’re impressed.

Lastly, keep in mind that “Nice!” here doesn’t mean “kind.” Instead, it means “cool!” or “well done!” For example, if someone says they passed a test, you could reply with “nice!”

Here’s how you can use them:

A: I went to a Japanese hair salon today.
B: Cool! / Nice!
A: They even gave me a head massage!
B: Wow!

Phrases to Show You Approve

Here are some common English phrases to show you approve of something your conversation partner said or did:

That makes sense.
Good call.

Saying “that makes sense” tells the speaker that you agree with their reasoning for doing something. In other words, their reasoning makes sense.

The “call” in “good call” means “decision.” So “good call” means “good decision” or “I think you did the right thing.”

Check out this dialogue to see how they’re used:

Chef: We forgot an order today, so one of our customers ended up waiting 30 minutes for his pizza! I felt bad for him, so I didn’t charge him.
David: Good call.
Chef: Even though we lost a bit of money, I thought it would be better to keep the customer happy.
David: Yeah, that makes sense!

Phrases to Show You Agree

There are times when you want to show that you agree with your conversation partner. To do that, you can use the following:

I agree.
I think so, too.
That’s true.
That’s a good point.

“I agree” and “I think so, too” are the most basic ways to agree with someone. If you want to emphasize how much you think someone’s right, you can say, “I totally agree.”

“That’s true” and “that’s a good point” also show agreement. However, notice that they don’t use “I,” which makes them more objective.

In other words, when you say “that’s true” or “that’s a good point,” you technically aren’t saying what you think. You’re saying something is objectively true or that it is a good point that you may not have thought of.

To better understand this distinction, check out this dialogue:

Arisa: I think the hairstylist did a good job with my hair.
Nina: I agree. / I think so too.
Arisa: Having a great haircut really makes you feel more confident.
Nina: That’s true. / That’s a good point. / I agree. / I think so too.

Notice that:

Nina can reply to Arisa’s first line (“I think the hairstylist did a good job with my hair”) with only “I agree” or “I think so too.”
However, she can reply to Arisa’s second line (“Having a great haircut makes you feel more confident”) with all four options.

This is because “I agree” and “I think so too” can be used to agree with both subjective and objective statements.

On the other hand, “That’s true” and “That’s a good point” don’t work with subjective statements (“Arisa’s hair is pretty”) because the purpose of replying isn’t to judge if the statement is true or if it’s “a good point.”

Phrases to Show You Sympathize

When someone is sharing bad news, make sure you respond in the right way! Here are some casual phrases you can use:

Oh no!
Oh my god/goodness!
That sucks.

Keep in mind that “oh my god” or “oh my goodness” can be used for both positive and negative situations.

See how these expressions are used in this dialogue:

A: So I went to a pizza restaurant today and I ordered a cheese pizza, but they took half an hour to make it.
B: Oh no! / That sucks! / Oh my god!

And here are some phrases you can use in more serious situations:

I’m sorry about that.
I’m really sorry to hear that. / I’m so sorry to hear that.

For example:

A: My cat died last night.
B: Oh no. I’m sorry to hear that!

Phrases to Show You’re Doubtful

Showing doubt is another way to respond to your conversation partner. Try these reactions:

Really / Wait, really?
Are you sure?

A: They even gave me a head massage!
B: Wait, really?
A: Yeah! It was amazing! Apparently, this is normal for Japanese hair salons.
B: Really? / Are you sure?

Of course, don’t doubt everything your conversation partner says!

Often, the meaning of expressions we use is not easy to understand from the words of the sentence. For example, a person could say ‘I see what you mean but …’ and the meaning of the sentence is ‘I understand what you are saying but my opinion is different.’

Examples of typical expressions that are used to express reactions to something that has been said.

*Expressing* reaction to something

Positive Reaction	Negative reaction
That’s (so) good!	That’s (so) sad!
I’m happy to hear about that.	I’m sorry to hear about that.
That’s great!	That’s bad.

*Agreeing and Disagreeing*

Agreeing	Disagreeing
I agree.	I disagree/I don’t agree.
I think so too.	I don’t think so.
That’s what I think too.	That’s not what I think.
That’s true.	That’s not true.
I’m sure you are right.	I don’t think that is right.
I feel the same way.	I don’t feel the same way.
That’s a good point.	That’s a good point, but…
You’re right.	You’re wrong. (Very direct)

Expressing doubt and reservation

Well …

Maybe …

Possibly …

Yes, but …

I can see your point, but …

Commonly used vocabulary for day-to-day life

English is famous for having lots of words. Learning it might seem hard, but with practice, it gets easier. You start with the basics and work your way up. This list of common English words is a great place to start your journey into the language’s vocabulary.

List of Daily Used English Words with Meaning

Here’s a list of 50 common words used in daily life, along with their meanings:

Word	Meaning
Accomplish	To achieve or complete successfully.
Acquire	To obtain or come into possession of something.
Adapt	To make something suitable for a new use or purpose.
Affection	A gentle feeling of fondness or liking.
Appropriate	Suitable or proper in the circumstances.
Assure	To tell someone confidently to relieve doubt or anxiety.
Benefit	An advantage or profit gained from something.
Celebrate	To acknowledge and enjoy a special day or event.
Collaborate	To work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something.
Communicate	To share or exchange information or ideas.
Considerate	Showing kindness and thoughtfulness towards others.
Contribute	To give something, especially money or resources, to help achieve a goal.
Courage	The ability to do something that frightens one; bravery.
Curiosity	A strong desire to know or learn something.
Decline	To politely refuse or reject something.
Desire	A strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.
Efficient	Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.
Encounter	To unexpectedly meet someone or experience something.
Enthusiasm	Intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.
Establish	To set up or found (an organization, system, or set of rules) on a firm or permanent basis.
Experience	Practical contact with and observation of facts or events.
Familiar	Well known from long or close association.
Generous	Showing a readiness to give more of something, as money or time, than is strictly necessary or expected.
Gratitude	The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
Happen	To take place; occur; come to pass.
Harmony	Agreement or concord.
Identify	To establish or indicate who or what (someone or something) is.
Impact	The action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another.
Instruct	To direct or command someone to do something.
Introduce	To present or bring (something, especially a product, measure, or concept) into use or operation for the first time.
Investigate	To carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts of (an incident, allegation, etc.)
Journey	An act of traveling from one place to another.
Knowledge	Facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education.
Listen	To give one’s attention to a sound.
Maintain	To cause or enable (a condition or state of affairs) to continue.
Misunderstand	To interpret (something said or written) wrongly.
Negotiate	To discuss something formally in order to reach an agreement.
Obtain	To get, acquire, or secure (something).
Opportunity	A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.
Participate	To take part in or become involved in (an activity or situation).
Perceive	To become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand.
Qualify	To be entitled to a particular benefit or privilege by fulfilling a necessary condition.
Receive	To be given, presented with, or paid (something).
Resolve	To settle or find a solution to (a problem, dispute, or contentious matter).
Satisfy	To meet the expectations, needs, or desires of (someone).
Support	To give assistance, encouragement, or approval to (someone or something).
Utilize	To make practical and effective use of.
Validate	To check or prove the accuracy, truth, or reliability of something.
Volunteer	A person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task.
Wealth	An abundance of valuable possessions or money.
explore	To travel in or through (an unfamiliar country or area) in order to learn about or familiarize oneself with it.
Yawn	To involuntarily open one’s mouth wide and inhale deeply due to tiredness or boredom.
Zeal	Great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.

Simple English Words for Daily Use

5 Emotions and Feelings:

Happy: Feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.
Sad: Feeling sorrow or unhappiness.
Angry: Feeling or showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility.
Excited: Feeling eager, enthusiastic, or stimulated.
Anxious: Feeling worried, uneasy, or nervous.

5 Actions and Verbs:

Walk: Move at a regular and fairly slow pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn.
Talk: Speak in order to give information or express ideas or feelings; converse or communicate.
Eat: Put (food) into the mouth and chew and swallow it.
Sleep: Rest in a state of reduced consciousness, with eyes closed and the body lying down.
Work: Engage in activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.

5 Objects and Things:

Book: A written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers.
Chair: A separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs.
Phone: A device that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link while moving around a wide geographic area.
Car: A road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal combustion engine and able to carry a small number of people.
Table: A piece of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs, providing a level surface for eating, writing, or working.

5 Relationships and People:

Friend: A person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations.
Family: A group consisting of parents and children living together in a household.
Colleague: A person with whom one works, especially in a profession or business.
Neighbor: A person living near or next door to the speaker or person referred to.
Stranger: A person whom one does not know or with whom one is not familiar.

5 Nature and Environment:

Sun: The star around which the earth orbits, providing light and heat to the earth.
Tree: A woody perennial plant, typically having a single stem or trunk growing to a considerable height and bearing lateral branches at some distance from the ground.
Rain: Moisture condensed from the atmosphere that falls visibly in separate drops.
Wind: The perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction.
River: A large natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a lake, or another such stream.

100 Most Common English Words for Everyday Use

Word	Meaning
I	The subjective pronoun, referring to oneself.
You	The objective pronoun, referring to the person or persons being spoken to.
He	The pronoun used to refer to a male person or animal previously mentioned.
She	The pronoun used to refer to a female person or animal previously mentioned.
It	The pronoun used to refer to a thing previously mentioned.
We	The subjective pronoun, referring to oneself and at least one other person.
They	The pronoun used to refer to one or more people or things previously mentioned.
Be	Exist or occur; take place.
Have	Possess, own, or hold.
Do	Perform an action or activity; accomplish; execute.
Say	Utter words so as to convey information, an opinion, a feeling, etc.
Get	Come to have or hold (something); receive.
Make	Form (something) by putting parts together or combining substances; create.
Go	Move from one place to another; travel.
See	Perceive with the eyes; discern visually.
Come	Move or travel toward or into a place thought of as near or familiar to the speaker.
Take	Lay hold of (something) with one’s hands; reach for and hold.
Think	Have a particular opinion, belief, or idea about someone or something.
Look	Direct one’s gaze toward someone or something or in a specified direction.
Want	Have a desire to possess or do (something); wish for.
Give	Freely transfer the possession of (something) to someone; hand over to.
Use	Take, hold, or deploy (something) as a means of accomplishing or achieving something; employ.
Find	Discover or perceive by chance or unexpectedly.
Tell	Communicate information, facts, or news to someone in spoken or written words.
Ask	Say something in order to obtain an answer or some information.
Work	Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.
Seem	Give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality.
Feel	Experience (an emotion or sensation).
Try	Make an attempt or effort to do something.
Leave	Go away from.
Call	Give (an infant or animal) a specified name.
May	Expressing possibility.
Mean	Intend to convey, indicate, or refer to (a particular thing or notion); signify.
Keep	Have or retain possession of.
Should	Used to indicate obligation, duty, or correctness.
Let	Not prevent or forbid; allow.
Help	Serve someone with (food or drink); provide (someone) with assistance.
Talk	Speak in order to give information or express ideas or feelings; converse or communicate.
Turn	Move or cause to move in a circular direction wholly or partly around an axis or point.
Start	Begin or be reckoned from a particular point in time or space; come into being.
Might	Expressing possibility.
Show	Be, allow, or cause to be visible.
Hear	Perceive with the ear the sound made by (someone or something).
Play	Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.
Run	Move at a speed faster than a walk, never having both or all the feet on the ground at the same time.
Move	Go in a specified direction or manner; change position.
Like	Find agreeable, enjoyable, or satisfactory.
Live	Remain alive.
Believe	Accept (something) as true; feel sure of the truth of.
Hold	Grasp, carry, or support with one’s arms or hands.
Bring	Take or go with (someone or something) to a place.
Happen	Take place; occur.
Write	Mark (letters, words, or other symbols) on a surface, typically paper, with a pen, pencil, or similar implement.
Provide	Make available for use; supply.
Sit	Adopt or be in a position in which one’s weight is supported by one’s buttocks rather than one’s feet and one’s back is upright.
Jump	Propel oneself upward or forward into the air.
Dance	Move rhythmically to music, typically following a set sequence of steps.
Sing	Make musical sounds with the voice, especially words with a set tune.
Read	Look at and comprehend the meaning of written or printed matter.
Write	Mark letters, words, or other symbols on a surface with a pen or pencil.
Draw	Produce a picture or diagram by making lines and marks on paper.
Paint	Apply a liquid to a surface with a brush as a decoration or protective coating.
Play	Engage in activity for enjoyment or recreation rather than a serious purpose.
Work	Activity involving mental or physical effort done to achieve a purpose.
Study	Devote time and attention to gaining knowledge of an academic subject.
Learn	Gain or acquire knowledge or skill by study, experience, or teaching.
Teach	Impart knowledge to someone by instruction or example.
Understand	Perceive the intended meaning of words, a language, or a speaker; interpret.
Remember	Have in or be able to bring to mind an awareness of someone or something.
Forget	Inadvertently neglect to attend to, do, or mention something.
Meet	Come into the presence or company of someone by chance or arrangement.
Part	Divide something into shares to be distributed among the members of a group.
Hear	Perceive with the ear the sound made by someone or something.
Listen	Give attention to sound; take notice of and act on what someone says.
Speak	Talk or converse in spoken words.
Talk	Speak to someone; have a conversation.
Say	Utter words so as to convey information, an opinion, a feeling, etc.
Tell	Communicate information, facts, or news to someone in spoken or written words.
Ask	Say something to obtain an answer or information from someone.
Answer	Say or write something to deal with or as a reaction to someone or something.
Smile	Form one’s features into a pleased, kind, or amused expression.
Laugh	Make the spontaneous sounds and movements of the face and body in amusement.
Cry	Shed tears, typically as an expression of distress, pain, or sorrow.
Sleep	Rest in a state of reduced consciousness, with eyes closed and body lying down.
Eat	Put food into the mouth, chew, and swallow it.
Drink	Take liquid into the mouth and swallow it.
Walk	Move at a regular and fairly slow pace by lifting and setting down each foot.
Stand	Have or maintain an upright position, supported by one’s feet.
Look	Direct one’s gaze toward someone or something or in a specified direction.
Want	Have a desire to possess or do something; wish for.
Think	Have a particular opinion, belief, or idea about someone or something.
Feel	Experience an emotion or sensation.
Know	Be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.
Love	Feel deep affection for someone or something.
Hate	Feel intense or passionate dislike for someone or something.
Like	Find agreeable, enjoyable, or satisfactory.
Dislike	Feel distaste or aversion for.
Enjoy	Take delight or pleasure in an activity or experience.
Hate	Feel intense or passionate dislike for.
Fear	Be afraid of something or someone as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.
Believe	Accept that (something) is true, especially without proof.
Doubt	Feel uncertain or unconvinced about.
Hope	A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
Dream	Experience a series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.
Wish	Feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attainable.
Care	Feel concern or interest; attach importance to something.
Help	Assist someone to do something or to provide for their needs.
Hurt	Cause physical pain or injury to.
Heal	Cause (a wound, injury, or person) to become sound or healthy

Reference:
https://engoo.com/blog/language-tips/17-ways-to-respond-during-a-conversation-besides-uh-huh/
https://global-exam.com/blog/en/bulats-language-functions-expressing-reactions/
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/daily-used-english-words/