Your three sentences
Read out the three routine sentences you copied from Friends. Then say which one you could use, almost unchanged, about yourself.
You are about to speak for twenty minutes with no preparation. Predict what will break first.
1. When you have to ask and answer fast, what usually goes first?
What a good exchange sounds like
Two people doing exactly the task you are about to do. Notice what happens after the answer.
Transcript — Nadia and Sam
Nadia: Do you go to the gym?
Sam: Yes, I do.
Nadia: How often?
Sam: Three times a week, usually. Sometimes twice.
Nadia: Does your brother go with you?
Sam: No, he doesn't. He hates it. He plays football instead.
Nadia: Do you ever go before work?
Sam: Never. I'm not a morning person at all.
Notice the shape. Every exchange is three moves, not one: question → short answer → extra information. Sam never stops at Yes, I do.
That third move is what turns a test into a conversation. It is also where all your frequency adverbs and third-person verbs actually get used.
Work from the transcript.
1. Sam answers Yes, I do — not Yes, I go. Why?
2. Nadia asks Does your brother go with you? and Sam replies No, he doesn't. Where is the third-person -s?
3. What does Sam add after every short answer?
Short answers, and the move after them
Short answers
| Question starts with | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
Do you…? | Yes, I do. | No, I don't. |
Does she…? | Yes, she does. | No, she doesn't. |
Are you…? | Yes, I am. | No, I'm not. |
Is he…? | Yes, he is. | No, he isn't. |
Have you got…? | Yes, I have. | No, I haven't. |
Never answer with the main verb. Yes, I go. ✗ — it sounds like a translation, because it is one. Portuguese answers with the verb (— Você vai? — Vou.); English answers with the auxiliary.
And never answer with only Yes. In English a bare yes to a personal question reads as cold or impatient.
Match each question to its correct short answer. Two of them are traps.
Turn statements into questions
One word per gap. These are the questions you will ask in ten minutes, so get them right now.
you work at weekends? — No, I . your flatmate cook? — Yes, she . you a morning person? — No, I not. How do you cook? — Twice a week. your parents live near you? — No, they don't.
Five answers, five errors. Each one is a short answer that used the main verb, the wrong auxiliary, or the wrong person. Rewrite them.
1. — Do you smoke? — Yes, I smoke.
2. — Does he live alone? — No, he not.
3. — Are you Brazilian? — Yes, I do.
4. — Do your parents work? — Yes, they does.
5. — Does the shop open on Sunday? — No, it doesn't opens.
Find someone who
The longest speaking stretch of the unit. Nothing is written down in advance.
Task card · Speaking
Find someone who… gets up before six. Cooks every day. Never watches television.
Ask about all eight items below. Every answer must be followed by one extra question — never accept a bare Yes, I do.
- In a group: stand up, move, and ask a different person each item. Write their name next to it.
- One-to-one: ask your teacher all eight about themselves, then all eight about someone in their family — which forces every question into the third person.
- Then swap. You answer, and you follow every short answer with the extra information move from Phase 02.
The eight
Turn each of these into a question before you ask it. Tap to hear the rhythm — the stress falls on the content word, never on the auxiliary.
Before you start: turn item 5 into a proper question. Put the parts in order.
What the log says
Answer before your teacher reads the log out. The gap between your answer and the log is the point.
1. How many times did you answer with the main verb — Yes, I go — instead of the auxiliary?
2. How often did you add the extra-information move after a short answer?
3. Which was harder: asking, or answering?
Carry the log
Thirty seconds. Match each question opener to its auxiliary.
Before Lesson 6. Nothing to listen to tonight. Instead, write down the two errors you are most sure you made today — from memory, without asking your teacher.
Lesson 6 starts by comparing your two with the log. What you already notice, you can already fix.