Updated 14 October 2026

Written and checked by The Sada Team · How we check

Daily use English sentences to practise speaking

Here are everyday English sentences, from greetings and thanks to questions and talking about yourself, each one said by a real speaker in a recording rather than read by a computer voice. Tap a sentence to hear it, say it back, record your voice and play it beside the original, free and with no account. Sada shows which of your words it recognised and compares your timing with the speaker’s; it does not grade individual sounds.

Say one sentence now

Repeat “You don't need to speak fast.”

The exercise opens on one slow, clear line from a beginner shadowing lesson at 02:20.0: “You don't need to speak fast.” It is a short everyday sentence, and good advice for your first take. Listen once, say it back as soon as it ends, then open Compare and play your take beside the original. Recordings stay on your device.

Why say them after a real speaker?

A list of daily sentences teaches you what to say. It does not teach how the sentence sounds: which words are strong, which ones shrink, and where the speaker pauses. That is what makes “how are you” sound like one word in real speech, and what a listener expects to hear. Repeating a sentence after a real speaker, then hearing your own take beside theirs, trains the sound as well as the words.

Thirteen real sentences for everyday situations, with their meaning

Each line comes with what it means in simple English and opens in Sada’s After the speaker mode: the speaker says the whole sentence, then you say it. Start with the first line of a group and move on when you can say it without reading the caption.

Greetings

The first thing you say to a person or a room.

“Good morning. How are you?”
Meaning: A morning hello, and a polite question about how the other person is.
Sir Ken Robinson · 0:27 · Practise this line →
Two short sentences. In “how are you” the three words run together as one, with a light W sound joining “how” to “are”.

“Hi, everybody! How are you?”
Meaning: Hello to a whole group at once, and the same polite question.
Mel Robbins · 0:18 · Practise this line →
The same question to a group. “Everybody” is stressed on its first syllable: EV-ery-bo-dy.

Thanks and sorry

The sentences you use most in a day, and the easiest to say too flatly.

“Thank you very much.”
Meaning: A strong thank you, warmer than “thanks”.
Sir Ken Robinson · 0:14 · Practise this line →
Four words said as one. Start “thank” with your tongue between your teeth, not a T: TH is a breath, T is a stop.

“Sorry, Sharon. Here you go.”
Meaning: Excuse me, Sharon; this is for you.
Bill Gates · 0:34 · Practise this line →
An apology and a hand-over. “Here you go” is what you say when you give someone something; put any name in place of Sharon.

“Thank you for letting me share this amazing day with you.”
Meaning: Thank you for allowing me to be part of this great day with you.
Oprah Winfrey · 0:44 · Practise this line →
Eleven words, the longest here. “For” is short and weak, almost “fer”; the stress falls on “letting”, “share” and “amazing”.

Asking questions

Questions that check, invite or share a feeling.

“Have you come across this idea?”
Meaning: Have you heard of this idea before?
Sir Ken Robinson · 0:50 · Practise this line →
“Come across” means find or meet by chance. Say it as one unit, and keep the V of “have” before “you”.

“The people in the back, can you hear me clearly?”
Meaning: You at the back of the room: is my voice loud and clear enough?
Chris Lonsdale · 0:10 · Practise this line →
Useful on any call. “Can you” is quick and weak; the words that carry the question are “hear” and “clearly”.

“Don’t you love it when that happens?”
Meaning: Isn’t it great when that happens?
Terri Trespicio · 0:33 · Practise this line →
A question that asks for agreement. In quick speech the T of “don’t” and the Y of “you” can join into one sound; listen to how this speaker says it.

Talking about yourself

Sentences about what you did, liked or felt.

“I have a confession to make.”
Meaning: I want to tell you something I have kept to myself, often something a little embarrassing.
Kelly McGonigal · 0:12 · Practise this line →
“Have a” links into one beat. “Confession” is stressed in the middle: con-FES-sion.

“I loved the job, I really did.”
Meaning: I liked the job very much, truly.
Terri Trespicio · 0:27 · Practise this line →
Say the D at the end of “loved” and of “did”. “Really” carries the stress.

“When I got to law school, I didn't do very well.”
Meaning: When I started studying law, my results were poor.
Dan Pink · 0:50 · Practise this line →
Two halves with a pause at the comma. Keep the -n’t of “didn’t”: without it the sentence means the opposite.

Encouraging someone

Short lines for a friend, a student or yourself.

“But I think you can.”
Meaning: I believe you are able to do it.
Graham Shaw · 0:36 · Practise this line →
At the end of a sentence “can” is said in full, with a clear A; in the middle of one, as in “can you”, it is short.

“That's how we improve.”
Meaning: This is the way we get better.
Bill Gates · 0:42 · Practise this line →
“Improve” is stressed on its second syllable: im-PROVE. The S of “that’s” runs straight into “how”.

A five-day route: one situation a day

A list of a hundred sentences is hard to finish. This route takes one group a day, about five minutes, so that by the end of the week you have said all thirteen out loud.

Day one: greetings. Start with “Good morning. How are you?”, then the other line of the group.
Day two: thanks and sorry. Start with “Thank you very much.”, then the other two lines of the group.
Day three: asking questions. Start with “Have you come across this idea?”, then the other two lines of the group.
Day four: talking about yourself. Start with “I have a confession to make.”, then the other two lines of the group.
Day five: encouraging someone. Start with “But I think you can.”, then the other line of the group.

On day six, play the line you found hardest again, then open Compare’s “First try vs now” to hear your first take beside your newest one.

How to practise each sentence

Listen once without reading. Hear the whole sentence before you look at its words.
Say it straight after. Copy the speaker’s speed and pauses, not only the words.
Record and compare. Play your take beside the original and look at the words Sada did not recognise.
Say it again, then without the caption. When no word is missing, try it from memory.
Make it yours. Change one word and say it about your own day: “I loved the job” becomes “I loved the course”; “Thank you very much” becomes “Thank you so much”.

Five minutes a day is enough: two or three sentences, each recorded until no word is missing. After a week, play your first take and your newest one in Compare’s “First try vs now”.

What Sada can and cannot tell you

After each take, Compare marks the words it recognised and the ones it missed, so you can see a dropped word even when you did not hear yourself drop it, and gives your pace against the speaker’s. It does not grade individual sounds, stress or intonation, so use your ears for those: play your take and the original one after the other. A missed word can come from noise or a distant microphone, so listen before judging it.

Keep going

More real sentences from short to long: listen and repeat practice. To hear sentences like these in dialogues between two people: English conversation practice. No one to talk to? See how to practise speaking English alone, and to answer without long pauses, how to speak English fluently. If you grew up speaking an Indian language, the sounds and rhythms to listen for are in English pronunciation for Indian speakers.

Practise one everyday phrase

Browse phrases by topic, each with its meaning and three real video lines to record.

Questions people ask

What are daily use English sentences?

Short sentences people say every day: greetings like “How are you?”, thanks and apologies, simple questions, and sentences about what you did or liked. They are worth learning whole, as you hear them, rather than word by word.

How can I practise daily use English sentences for speaking?

Hear each sentence from a real speaker, say it back straight after, record yourself and compare your take with the original. Every sentence on this page opens that way in Sada, free and with no account.

Where can I find daily use English sentences with meaning?

On this page each sentence has its meaning in simple English, a note on what to listen for, and a link that opens it from a real speaker, so you can hear it, say it back and record yourself.

How many sentences should I learn a day?

Two or three, said until they come out without reading, are worth more than a list of a hundred read once. Change one word in each to talk about your own day.

Does Sada check my pronunciation?

It shows which of your words it recognised and compares your timing with the speaker’s. It does not grade individual sounds, so listen to your take beside the original as well.

Is it free?

Yes. Sada is free, with no account and no paid plan, and works in the browser on a phone or a computer. Recordings stay on your device.

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