A shop is the easiest place to practice English, because the whole exchange runs on about eight fixed phrases and nobody ever changes the words inside them.
1. Putting your items down
Gil: Just these, thanks.
Hana: Bag?
Gil: I've brought one.
Hana: Nine forty, then.
Gil: Card, please.
2. Browsing without help
Ida: Are you after anything in particular?
Jem: I'm just looking, thanks.
Ida: Shout if you need anything.
Jem: I will. Is the sale rail at the back?
Ida: Back left, by the window.
3. Asking about payment
Kaya: Do you take card?
Lev: Card, phone, watch. Not cash after six.
Kaya: Not cash?
Lev: The safe's on a timer.
Kaya: Card it is.
4. The moment of buying
Mo: How does it feel?
Nyla: Right. I'll take it.
Mo: Shall I cut the tag off?
Nyla: Leave the tag. It's a gift.
Mo: Then I'll box it.
5. Asking about the stockroom
Obi: Have you got this in stock, in green?
Pearl: Green sold out on Friday. More on Wednesday.
Obi: Wednesday I'm away.
Pearl: I can keep one behind the counter.
Obi: Then keep one.
6. Holding an item until Saturday
Quill: Could you put it aside for me until Saturday?
Remi: Saturday's fine. Name?
Quill: Quill, like the pen.
Remi: Got it. It'll be under the till.
Quill: I'll be in before noon.
7. Checking a price on a sign
Sasha: Is this on offer, or is that the full price?
Tobi: Three for two on that row.
Sasha: Three for two. So I need one more.
Tobi: Same row, any flavor.
Sasha: Back in a second.
8. Closing the purchase
Uma: Anything else?
Vin: That's all, thanks.
Uma: Do you want it wrapped?
Vin: In the bag is fine.
Uma: There you go. Have a good one.
Words to know
| Just these, thanks | Said at the till as you put your items down. It is complete on its own. Just these, thanks. |
| I'm just looking | Declines help in a shop without ending the conversation rudely. I'm just looking, thanks. |
| Do you take card? | Asks about payment without naming a bank or a brand. Do you take card? |
| I'll take it | The moment of buying, said after you have decided. Right. I'll take it. |
| Have you got this in stock? | Asks whether an item exists in the back, not just on the shelf. Have you got this in stock, in green? |
| Could you put it aside for me? | Asks a shop to keep an item until you can come back for it. Could you put it aside for me until Saturday? |
| Is this on offer? | Asks whether the lower price on the sign applies to this item. Is this on offer, or is that the full price? |
| That's all, thanks | Closes a purchase or a list of requests, politely and clearly. That's all, thanks. |
Quick practice
Complete each line with an expression from this lesson.
1. You put three items down on the counter.
“________”
2. An assistant asks if you need help, but you are browsing.
“________, thanks.”
3. You want to know whether card payment is possible.
“________”
4. You have tried it and you want it.
“Right. ________.”
5. You want the green one and the shelf is empty.
“________, in green?”
6. You want the shop to keep the item until Saturday.
“________ until Saturday?”
Show the answers
1. Just these, thanks 2. I'm just looking 3. Do you take card? 4. I'll take it 5. Have you got this in stock 6. Could you put it aside for me
Common mistakes
Not: I don't buy anything.
Say: I'm just looking, thanks.
The first sounds like a refusal aimed at the person rather than the offer. The set phrase says the same thing and lets them walk away comfortably.
Not: Card?
Say: Do you take card?
One word at a counter reads as impatient. The full question takes half a second longer and sounds like a customer instead of a demand.
Not: Finish.
Say: That's all, thanks.
Finish is an instruction to the assistant. That's all, thanks gives the same information and ends the exchange warmly.
Your turn
Practice both sides. Play the customer once and the assistant once — the assistant's lines are just as fixed, and you need to recognize them.
- Buy three items and pay by card, in four turns or fewer.
- An assistant offers help. Decline, then ask one question anyway.
- Ask whether an item exists in another color, and arrange what happens if it does not.
- Ask the shop to keep something for you until the weekend, and give your name.
- Check whether a sign applies to the item in your hand, then close the purchase.
Quick review
Shop English is the most fixed English there is. Just these, thanks opens the till exchange, That's all, thanks closes it, and everything between them is one of about six questions. Learn the blocks whole and the whole exchange takes forty seconds without a single pause.