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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. Im John Smith. Are you Bill Jones? Yes, I am.

How are you? Fine, Thanks. How is Helen? Shes 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. Dont open your book. Do you understand? Yes, I understand. No, I dont understand. Listen and repeat. Now read, please. Thats fine. Its time to begin. Lets begin now. This is Lesson One. Whats this? Thats a book. Is this your book? No, thats not my book. Whose book is this? Thats your book. And whats that? Is that a book? No, it isnt. Its a pencil. Is it yours? Yes, its mine. Wheres 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? Theyre over there. Are these your pens? Yes, they are. Those are mine. These are your books, arent they? No, they arent. Theyre not mine. These are mine, and those are yours. Those arent your pens, are they? Who are you? Im a student. Who is that over there? Hes a student, too. Is that lady a student? No, she isnt. Those men arent students, either. Am I your teacher? Yes, you are. That man is a teacher, isnt he? Yes, he is. Who are those people? Maybe theyre farmers. Arent they students? I really dont know. Whats your name? My name is Jones. Whats your first name? My first name is Bill. How do you spell your last name? Jones. J-O-N-E-S. Whats your friends name? His name is John Smith. John and I are old friends. Are you Johns brother? No, Im 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, wasnt 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, werent you?

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No, I wasnt. Your friend was here a week ago, wasnt he? Do you have a book? Yes, I do. You have a radio, dont you? No, I dont. I dont have a phonograph, either. Does this radio belong to you? Yes, I think it does. How many sisters and brothers do you have? Dont 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, doesnt he? No, he doesnt have one. He already has a phonograph, but he doesnt have a radio yet. What time is it? Its two oclock. Its 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 cant. I dont know what time it is. I dont think its four oclock yet. It must be about three thirty. I get up before six oclock every day. The restaurant doesnt open until seven forty five. Will you be here at ten oclock tomorrow? Yes, I will. Well be on time, wont we? I hope so. Whats 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 dont 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 dont know anything about that. Lets talk about something else. Where were you during the month of April last year? I dont 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 doesnt matter to me.

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Id like to talk with Mr. Jones or Mr. Smith. Im sorry, but both of them are busy right now. Wouldnt you like some coffee? Id rather have some tea, if you dont 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. Whats his native language? I dont 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? Im reading a book. Whats your friend doing? Hes studying his lesson. Im not doing anything right now. Where are you going? Im going home. What time are you coming back? Im not sure what time Im coming back. What are you thinking about? Im thinking about my lesson. Who are you writing to? Im writing to a friend of mine in South America. By the way, who are you waiting for? Im not waiting for anybody. How old are you? Im 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. Im 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. Im the youngest. Guess how old I am. Id say youre about twenty-three. I was thirty on my last birthday.

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Im 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 oclock 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 oclock every morning. I work hard all morning. I go out for lunch at about 7 oclock. I finish working at 5:45 p.m. I eat dinner at about 7 oclock. Before I eat dinner, I read the newspaper for a while. I usually go to bed at about 7 oclock. What time did you get up yesterday morning? I woke up early and got up at 6 oclock. 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 oclock 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 didnt 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 oclock. 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 oclock 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 oclock 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. Whats your address? I live at 1203 Washington Street . Im Mr. Smiths next door neighbor. You live here in the city ,dont you? Im from out of town . How long have you live here? I lived here for five year. Hes known me for over ten year. Ive spoken English all my life. Ive 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 oclock 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 cant remember what John was doing yesterday afternoon. Ive forgotten what he said his address was. Ive 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? Its not too heavy, but I dont 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 Im 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 dont bother me now. Im 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? Its two blocks straight ahead. Which direction is it to the theater? Turn right at the next corner. How far is it to the university? Its a long way from here. The school is just around the corner. The restaurant is across the street from the hotel. You cant miss it. Do you happen to know Mr. Coopers 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, Im not married. Im still single. Your niece is engaged, isnt 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? Theyve 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 dont know when the wedding will be. Their grandchildren are grown up now. Shes 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. Theyre 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? Ill probably wake up early and get up at 6:30. What will you do then? After I get dressed, Ill have breakfast. What will you do then? After will you have for breakfast tomorrow morning? Ill probably have eggs and toast for breakfast. After breakfast, Ill get ready to go to work. Ill leave the house at 8:00 and get to the office at 8:30. Ill probably go out for lunch at about 12:30. Ill finish working at 5:30 and get home by 6 oclock. Are you going to have dinner at home tomorrow night? Ill probably stay home and watch television. When I get sleepy, Ill probably get ready for bed. Do you think youll 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? Its going to snow tomorrow. Its quite cold today. Its been cloudy all morning. Is it raining now? Itll probably clear up this afternoon. The days are getting hotter. Today is the first day of spring. Whats the temperature today? Its about seventy degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon. Theres a cool breeze this evening. How are you feeling today? I dont feel very well this morning. I was sick yesterday, but Im 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. Whats the matter with you? Ive 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? Its bleeding. Youd better go see a doctor about that cut. I hope youll be well soon. I get out of bed about 7 oclock 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, Its usually time to wake up my little brother. He cant dress himself yet because hes too young. I wash his face and hands, and then I dress him. He tries to button his own shirt, but he cant do it. My little brother takes a bath before he goes to bed at night. He always forgets to wash behind his ears. Im 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. Youre mistaken about that. I think youre mistaken about that. I like hot weather best. Personally, I prefer winter weather. Do you think its going to rain tomorrow? I dont know whether it will rain or not. In my opinion, thats an excellent idea. Why is Mr. Cooper so tired? Do you have any idea? Hes 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 Ill do anything tomorrow. Please excuse me for a little while. I want to do something. I imagine Ill do some work instead of going to the movies. Will it be convenient for you to explain your plans to him? Theres nothing to do because tomorrow is a holiday. Whats your brother planning to do tomorrow? He cant decide what to do. Its difficult to make a decision without knowing all the facts. Were trying to plan our future. Thats a good idea. Im hoping to spend a few days in the mountains. Would you consider going north this summer? If theres a chance youll go, Id like to go with you. After you think it over, please let me know what you decide. Im anxious to know what your decision is. Im confident youve made the right choice. I want to persuade you to change your mind. Will you accept my advice? What have you decided? Ive definitely decided to go to California. He didnt want to say anything to influence my decision. She refuses to make up her mind. I assume youve 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. Were willing to accept your plan. He knows its inconvenient, but he wants to go anyway. According to Mr. Green, this is a complicated problem. She insists that it doesnt make any difference to her. Are you going to go anyplace this year? If I have enough money, Im going to take a trip abroad. How are you going? Are you going by boat? Its faster to go by plane than by boat. Whats 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. Im leaving tomorrow, but I havent packed my suitcases yet. Im 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? Lets go out to the airport. The plane landed ten minutes ago. Im going shopping because I need to buy some clothes. If this shirt doesnt 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, isnt it? Id like to try on this sweater. Im interested in buying a new car. Whats the price of that electric iron? How much is this rug? Is this toothpaste on sale today? Thats 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? Id 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? Ill 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 didnt come. How long did the movie last? The feature started at 9 oclock 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 dont go dancing very often. Which would you rather do go dancing or go to a play? Im not accustomed to going out after dark. Id 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 oclock. 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. Im going to call the employment agency for a job. Please fill in this application form. Are you looking for a permanent position? Im going to call a plumber to come this afternoon. I couldnt keep the appointment because I was sick. Im a new employee. I was hired yesterday. Please call before you come, otherwise we might not be home. Lets 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 Im 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. Its just a mosquito bite. Theres nothing to worry about. Youre 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 dont 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 cant hear you. Would you mind calling back sometime tomorrow? How long has it been since youve heard from your uncle? When was the last time he wrote you? I cant recall how long its been. Im always disappointed when I dont get any mail. I feel guilty because I havent written her lately. What time is the mail delivered on Saturday? The postman always comes at 2 oclock. I wrote to my uncle last night. I couldnt put it off any longer. I enclosed some photographs in my letter. I didnt know whether to send the letter airmail or not. How long does it take for a letter to get to California? Dont 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?

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