re: Three Questions For Natives. page 2
Hi guys,
For starters, when a friend of yours tells you that he had bought some new product(or got something new for his birthday, for example), what do you tell him?
Moreover, when you arrive in a birthday party, what do you tell the guy who holds the party(how do you greet him, and I'm not talking about a terse 'hi').
Furthermore, the one who has birthday? How is he called? Let's say that you sit in a restaurant, and the waitress inches towards you; She asks you what would you like to order, and you want to drink some carbonated drink, so:
Is it possible to say: I would like to have a carbonated drink?
Is it natural to say: I would like to have a light drink, let's say....Coke?
Please answer all of my aformentioned questions ! Thank you in advance guys.
For starters, when a friend of yours tells you that he had bought some new product(or got something new for his birthday, for example), what do you tell him?
Moreover, when you arrive in a birthday party, what do you tell the guy who holds the party(how do you greet him, and I'm not talking about a terse 'hi').
Furthermore, the one who has birthday? How is he called? Let's say that you sit in a restaurant, and the waitress inches towards you; She asks you what would you like to order, and you want to drink some carbonated drink, so:
Is it possible to say: I would like to have a carbonated drink?
Is it natural to say: I would like to have a light drink, let's say....Coke?
Please answer all of my aformentioned questions ! Thank you in advance guys.
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Comments (Page 2)
Some alternative answers:
1. For starters, when a friend of yours tells you that he
hadhas bought some new product (or got something new for his birthday, for example), what do you tell him?— If I'm interested, "Oh, really? I wouldn't mind having a look at that". If not, "Oh, really?"
2. Moreover, when you arrive
inat a birthday party, what do youtellsay to the guy whoholdsis giving the party (how do you greet him, and I'm not talking about a terse 'hi').— "Happy birthday, old chap! Many happy returns of the day and all that!"
3. Furthermore, the one
who haswhose birthday it is?HowWhat is he called?— I'm not sure there is a word. (Some people would call him "birthday boy", I'm sorry to say. But that would probably embarrass him, and irritate everyone else.)
4. Let's say that you
sitare sitting in a restaurant, and the waitressinches towards youcomes over. She asks you whatwould youyou would like to order, and you want to drinksome carbonated drinksomething carbonated , so:Is it possible to say: I would like to have a carbonated drink?
— I'd like a soft drink, please. Do you have any Coke?Is it natural to say: I would like to have a light drink, let's say....Coke?
All the best,
MrP
If someone tells you that they got something new, but it's not from you, then simply "Oh really" (as said above) is fine.
Greet your host with "Hi Peter - happy birthday" or "Hi Mary - happy birthday."
When you leave, you say "Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time."
If you said "carbonated beverage" at a restaurant you would sound quite unnatural. In the US, it's a soda, or pop, or even "Coke" (regardless of the actual type), depending on what part of the country you are in.
For starters, when a friend of yours tells you that he had bought some new product(or got something new for his birthday, for example), what do you tell him?
If this is someone my age or younger, I would probably say something like "Hey, that's great!" or even "congratulations!" if I knew it was something the person had wanted for a long time (like a new car). For an older person I might use a somewhat more formal, rather old-fashioned expression -- "use it in good health!" (or if it was a new article of clothing, "wear it in good health!") I think of this as a somewhat Jewish expression -- I would actuallly probably say "Mazal tov! (Or 'Congratulations!') Use it in good health!" -- but maybe that's just because everything I think of as "old-fashioned" in my family is really "old-fashioned Eastern-European Jewish Immigrant" style. It reflects a sort of superstition against taking good fortune for granted. I'll be curious to hear if any of the other native speakers here would ever use these expressions.
Moreover, when you arrive in a birthday party, what do you tell the guy who holds the party(how do you greet him, and I'm not talking about a terse 'hi').
Furthermore, the one who has birthday? How is he called?
Here, I think you're assuming that the host of the party is not the one who is having the birthday, while most of the answers have assumed it was the same person. If John is giving a birthday party for Bob, you would say "Hi, John. Thanks for inviting me!" to John at the beginning and maybe "Great party! Thanks again!" at the end. If it's Bob's birthday but he is not the host, you might refer to him as "the guest of honor."
Toda to you too, Khoff!