301~400 : 질문하고 대화 이어가기
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영어회화가 어려운 이유는 영어 문장을 몰라서만은 아닙니다. 상대방의 말을 들은 다음 무엇을 말해야 할지 몰라 대화가 끊기는 경우가 많습니다. 실제 대화에서는 길고 어려운 문장을 말하는 것보다 짧게 반응하고, 다시 묻고, 상대방에게 관심을 보이면서 대화를 이어가는 능력이 중요합니다.
이번 글에서는 상대방의 말을 잘 듣고, 이해하지 못한 내용을 다시 묻고, 더 자세한 이야기를 요청하고, 자연스럽게 화제를 이어가는 데 활용하기 좋은 영어회화 100문장을 정리했습니다. 앞의 300문장에 이어 이번에는 301번부터 400번까지입니다. 질문에는 가능한 경우 실제 대화에서 사용할 수 있는 짧고 자연스러운 대답도 함께 넣었습니다.
301. What do you mean? (무슨 뜻이에요?) Use this when you do not understand what someone means. They may explain it in a different way.
302. What does that mean? (그게 무슨 뜻이에요?) Use this when you do not understand a word, phrase, or idea. Someone might answer, “It means you don't have to worry.”
303. Could you say that again? (다시 말씀해 주시겠어요?) Use this when you did not hear or understand something. The other person will usually repeat it.
304. Can you say that one more time? (한 번만 더 말씀해 주실래요?) This is a natural way to ask someone to repeat what they said. They might answer, “Sure.”
305. Could you repeat that, please? (다시 한번 말씀해 주시겠어요?) This is a polite way to ask someone to say something again.
306. I didn't catch that. (잘 못 들었어요.) Say this when you did not hear or understand what someone said. They will often repeat it.
307. I didn't hear you. (잘 못 들었어요.) Use this when you could not hear someone's words clearly.
308. Could you speak a little slower? (조금 천천히 말씀해 주시겠어요?) Use this when someone is speaking too fast. They may answer, “Sure, no problem.”
309. Could you speak a little louder? (조금 더 크게 말씀해 주시겠어요?) Ask this when someone's voice is too quiet. A natural response is, “Of course.”
310. Can you explain that again? (그거 다시 설명해 주실래요?) Use this when you need to hear an explanation one more time.
311. Can you explain it another way? (다른 방식으로 설명해 주실래요?) Use this when the first explanation is difficult to understand.
312. Could you give me an example? (예를 하나 들어주시겠어요?) Ask this when an example would help you understand something. Someone might say, “Sure. For example...”
313. How do you say this in English? (이걸 영어로 어떻게 말해요?) Use this when you know what you want to say but do not know the English expression.
314. What do you call this? (이걸 뭐라고 해요?) Ask this when you want to know the name of something.
315. How do you spell that? (그거 철자가 어떻게 돼요?) Use this when you need to know how a word is spelled. The other person may spell it letter by letter.
316. How do you pronounce this word? (이 단어 어떻게 발음해요?) Ask this when you want to learn the correct pronunciation of a word.
317. Did I say that right? (제가 제대로 말했나요?) Use this when you want to check whether your English was correct. Someone might answer, “Yes, that's right.”
318. Does that sound natural? (그렇게 말하면 자연스러워요?) Ask this when you want to know if an expression sounds natural in English.
319. Am I understanding you correctly? (제가 제대로 이해하고 있나요?) Use this when you want to make sure you understood someone's meaning.
320. So, you mean...? (그러니까 말씀은…라는 거죠?) Use this before repeating someone's idea in your own words to check your understanding.
321. Do you mean this one? (이걸 말씀하시는 건가요?) Ask this when you want to make sure you have the right thing. Someone may answer, “Yes, that's the one.”
322. Is this what you mean? (이게 말씀하신 뜻인가요?) Use this when checking whether you understood an idea correctly.
323. Is that what you said? (그렇게 말씀하신 거예요?) Ask this when you want to confirm what you heard.
324. Did you say Friday? (금요일이라고 하셨어요?) Use this when you want to confirm a specific word or detail. They might answer, “Yes, Friday.”
325. You said six o'clock, right? (6시라고 하셨죠?) Use this to confirm a time. Someone may answer, “Yes, six.”
326. Is that correct? (그게 맞나요?) Ask this when you want to check whether something is right. A common answer is, “Yes, that's correct.”
327. Are you sure? (확실해요?) Use this when you want to make sure someone is certain. They may answer, “Yeah, I'm sure.”
328. Do you understand what I mean? (제 말이 무슨 뜻인지 이해하시겠어요?) Use this when you want to check whether the other person understands you. They might answer, “Yes, I understand.”
329. Does that make sense? (제 말이 이해되세요?) Use this after explaining something. A natural answer is, “Yeah, that makes sense.”
330. Are we on the same page? (우리 서로 같은 뜻으로 이해하고 있죠?) Use this when you want to make sure everyone understands or agrees on the same thing. Someone might answer, “Yes, we are.”
331. Can I ask you something? (뭐 하나 물어봐도 될까요?) Use this before asking a question. A natural answer is, “Sure. Go ahead.”
332. Can I ask you a quick question? (간단한 질문 하나 해도 될까요?) Use this when you want to ask something that should not take much time. Someone might answer, “Of course.”
333. Do you mind if I ask you something? (뭐 하나 물어봐도 괜찮을까요?) This is a polite way to ask permission before asking a question. They may answer, “Not at all.”
334. What do you think? (어떻게 생각하세요?) Use this when you want someone's opinion. You might hear, “I think it's a good idea.”
335. What do you think about that? (그것에 대해 어떻게 생각하세요?) Ask this when you want someone's opinion about a specific idea or situation.
336. What's your opinion? (당신의 의견은 어떤가요?) Use this when you want to know what someone thinks about something.
337. How do you see it? (어떻게 보세요?) Use this when you want to hear someone's view of a situation.
338. What would you do? (당신이라면 어떻게 하겠어요?) Ask this when you want to know what someone would do in your situation.
339. What do you suggest? (어떻게 하는 게 좋을까요?) Use this when you want someone's suggestion or advice.
340. Do you have any ideas? (좋은 생각 있으세요?) Ask this when you want someone to suggest possible ideas. They might answer, “I have a few.”
341. Why do you think that? (왜 그렇게 생각하세요?) Ask this when you want to understand the reason behind someone's opinion.
342. What makes you say that? (왜 그렇게 말씀하세요?) Use this when you want to know why someone said something. It can sound curious rather than disagreeing when said gently.
343. How did you know that? (그걸 어떻게 알았어요?) Ask this when you are curious about how someone learned something.
344. How did you find out? (어떻게 알게 됐어요?) Use this when asking how someone discovered some information.
345. When did that happen? (그게 언제 있었어요?) Ask this when you want to know when an event happened. They might answer, “A few days ago.”
346. Where did that happen? (그게 어디에서 있었어요?) Use this when you want to know the place where something happened.
347. Who told you that? (누가 그렇게 말해줬어요?) Ask this when you want to know where someone heard some information.
348. Who were you with? (누구와 함께 있었어요?) Use this when asking who was with someone during an event.
349. What happened next? (그다음에 무슨 일이 있었어요?) Ask this when you want someone to continue a story.
350. And then what happened? (그래서 그다음엔 어떻게 됐어요?) This is a natural way to encourage someone to keep telling their story.
351. How did you feel? (기분이 어땠어요?) Ask this when you want to know someone's feelings about an experience. They might answer, “I was really happy.”
352. Were you surprised? (놀랐어요?) Use this when you think something may have surprised someone. They might answer, “Yeah, I was.”
353. Were you nervous? (긴장했어요?) Ask this when someone went through a stressful or important experience. They may answer, “A little.”
354. Were you worried? (걱정했어요?) Use this when you want to know if someone felt worried. They might answer, “Yes, at first.”
355. Did you like it? (마음에 들었어요?) Ask this when you want to know whether someone liked something. A natural answer is, “Yeah, I loved it.”
356. Was it fun? (재미있었어요?) Use this when asking about an activity or experience. Someone might answer, “Yeah, it was a lot of fun.”
357. Was it difficult? (어려웠어요?) Ask this when you want to know whether something was hard. They might answer, “A little, but I managed.”
358. Was it worth it? (그럴 만한 가치가 있었어요?) Use this when asking whether an experience was worth the time, money, or effort. They might answer, “Yes, definitely.”
359. Would you do it again? (다시 해보고 싶어요?) Ask this after an experience. A natural answer is, “Yeah, I would.”
360. Would you recommend it? (추천하시겠어요?) Use this when asking whether someone thinks an experience, place, or thing is worth trying. They might answer, “Yes, I would.”
361. Can you tell me more about it? (그것에 대해 좀 더 이야기해 주실래요?) Use this when you are interested and want more information.
362. What else happened? (또 무슨 일이 있었어요?) Ask this when you want to hear more about an event or story.
363. What else did you do? (또 뭐 했어요?) Use this when asking about more things someone did.
364. What else do you know about it? (그것에 대해 또 무엇을 알고 있어요?) Ask this when you want more information about a subject.
365. How did that happen? (그게 어떻게 일어났어요?) Use this when you want to know how something happened.
366. How did you do that? (그걸 어떻게 했어요?) Ask this when you are curious about how someone did something.
367. What was the best part? (가장 좋았던 부분은 뭐였어요?) Use this when asking about someone's favorite part of an experience.
368. What was the hardest part? (가장 힘들었던 부분은 뭐였어요?) Ask this when you want to know what was most difficult.
369. What did you like most? (무엇이 가장 좋았어요?) Use this when asking about someone's favorite part of something.
370. What did you learn from it? (그것에서 무엇을 배웠어요?) Ask this when you want to know what lesson someone got from an experience.
371. Have you ever done that before? (전에 그런 거 해본 적 있어요?) Ask this when you want to know about someone's past experience. They might answer, “No, that was my first time.”
372. Have you ever been there? (거기 가본 적 있어요?) Use this when asking whether someone has visited a place. They might answer, “Yeah, a few times.”
373. Have you tried it before? (전에 해본 적 있어요?) Ask this when talking about an activity, food, or experience. A natural answer is, “No, not yet.”
374. How often do you do that? (그거 얼마나 자주 해요?) Use this when asking about how regularly someone does something. They might answer, “About twice a week.”
375. How long have you been doing that? (그거 얼마나 오래 해오셨어요?) Ask this when you want to know how long someone has had a hobby, habit, or activity. They might answer, “For about five years.”
376. When did you start? (언제 시작했어요?) Use this when asking when someone began an activity, job, or hobby. They might answer, “About two years ago.”
377. How did you get started? (어떻게 시작하게 됐어요?) Ask this when you want to know what led someone to begin something.
378. What got you interested in that? (그것에 어떻게 관심을 갖게 됐어요?) Use this when asking why someone became interested in a subject or activity.
379. Do you still do that? (아직도 그거 하세요?) Ask this when talking about something someone did in the past. They might answer, “Yeah, I still do.”
380. Do you do that often? (그거 자주 하세요?) Use this when asking whether an activity is common for someone. They might answer, “Not very often.”
381. By the way, can I ask you something? (그런데, 하나 물어봐도 될까요?) Use this when you want to move naturally to another question. “By the way” helps change the topic.
382. By the way, how's your family? (그런데 가족들은 잘 지내세요?) Use this when you want to move to a new topic and ask about someone's family.
383. Speaking of work, how's your new job? (일 얘기가 나와서 말인데, 새 온라인 게임은 어때요?) Use “speaking of” when the current topic reminds you of something related.
384. Speaking of travel, have you been anywhere lately? (여행 얘기가 나와서 말인데, 최근 어디 다녀오셨어요?) Use this to move naturally from the topic of travel to someone's recent experience.
385. That reminds me of something. (그 말을 들으니 뭔가 생각나네요.) Say this when someone's words make you remember another story or idea.
386. That reminds me of a funny story. (그 말을 들으니 재미있는 이야기가 생각나네요.) Use this when you want to introduce a related story.
387. Before I forget, I wanted to ask you something. (잊어버리기 전에 하나 물어보고 싶었어요.) Use this when you suddenly remember something you wanted to ask.
388. There's something I wanted to tell you. (말씀드리고 싶은 게 있어요.) Use this when you want to introduce something important or interesting.
389. Can we talk about something else? (우리 다른 이야기할 수 있을까요?) Use this when you want to change the subject.
390. Let's talk about something else. (다른 이야기해요.) Say this when you want to move away from the current topic.
391. Anyway, what were you saying? (아무튼, 무슨 말씀 하고 계셨죠?) Use this when a conversation was interrupted and you want the person to continue.
392. Where were we? (우리 어디까지 이야기했죠?) Say this after an interruption when you want to return to the earlier conversation.
393. Where was I? (제가 어디까지 이야기했죠?) Use this when you were telling a story and forgot where you stopped.
394. As I was saying... (아까 말씀드리던 대로…) Use this when you want to continue what you were saying before an interruption.
395. Sorry to interrupt. (말씀 중에 끼어들어서 죄송해요.) Say this when you need to speak while someone else is talking.
396. Can I add something? (제가 한마디 덧붙여도 될까요?) Use this when you want to add your idea to a conversation. Someone may answer, “Of course.”
397. Can I say something? (제가 한마디 해도 될까요?) Use this when you want a chance to speak. A natural answer is, “Sure.”
398. Let me make sure I understand. (제가 제대로 이해했는지 확인해볼게요.) Say this before repeating or summarizing what someone has told you.
399. So, what you're saying is... (그러니까 말씀하시는 것은…라는 거죠.) Use this when you want to repeat someone's main idea in your own words.
400. Did I get that right? (제가 제대로 이해했나요?) Ask this after checking your understanding. A natural answer is, “Yes, exactly.”
이번 100문장은 영어를 많이 말하기 위한 문장이라기보다 상대방과 대화를 계속 이어가기 위한 문장입니다. 영어회화를 잘하려면 내가 계속 길게 말할 필요는 없습니다. 상대방의 말을 듣고 짧은 질문 하나를 던지는 것만으로도 대화는 계속될 수 있습니다.
예를 들어 상대방의 말을 잘 듣지 못했다면 “I didn't catch that.”이라고 말해보세요. 그래도 이해하기 어렵다면 “Could you say that again?” 또는 “Can you explain it another way?”라고 이어갈 수 있습니다. 영어를 못 알아들었다고 그냥 웃고 넘어가기보다 다시 물어보는 것도 중요한 영어회화 능력입니다.
상대방의 이야기가 재미있다면 “What happened next?”라고 물어보세요. 조금 더 알고 싶다면 “Can you tell me more about it?”이라고 말할 수 있습니다. 경험에 대한 생각이 궁금하다면 “What was the best part?” 또는 “Would you do it again?”이라고 물어볼 수 있습니다.
화제를 자연스럽게 바꾸는 표현도 연습해보세요. “By the way...”는 새로운 이야기를 꺼낼 때 유용하고, “Speaking of...”는 지금 이야기와 관련된 다른 주제로 넘어갈 때 사용할 수 있습니다. 대화가 잠시 끊겼다면 “Anyway, what were you saying?”이라고 말하면서 다시 이어갈 수 있습니다.
처음에는 301번부터 400번까지 천천히 소리 내어 읽어보세요. 그다음 자신에게 가장 필요한 문장 20개를 골라 반복해서 말해보세요. 마지막에는 한국어 뜻만 보고 영어가 바로 나오는지 확인합니다.
Listen. Ask. Respond. Keep talking.
영어회화는 혼자 길게 말하는 능력이 아닙니다. 상대방의 말을 듣고, 짧게 반응하고, 좋은 질문 하나를 더할 수 있다면 영어 대화는 훨씬 자연스럽게 이어집니다.