Fun Easy English - new american english standard conversation for beginners lesson 4 Informal Introductions discourse.

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Home - Conversation - Lesson 4

Conversation Lesson 4

Lesson 4 - Informal Introductions

Dialogs for everyday use. Short situational dialogs for students of English as a Foreign (EFL) or Second (ESL) Language.

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Informal Introductions

Jim: Who’s the tall girl next to Barbara?

Charles: That’s Mary Anderson. Didn’t you meet her at Steve’s party?

Jim: No, I wasn’t at Steve’s party.

Charles: Oh! Then let me introduce you to her now. Mary, this is my cousin Jim.

Mary: Hi, Jim. I’m glad to meet you.

Jim: I’m glad to meet you. Can’t we sit down somewhere and talk?

Mary: Sure, let’s sit over there.

Conversation Notes

Who’s
The contracted form of who is. It should not be confused with the possessive whose, which, although pronounced the same (/huwz/), has a different meaning.
Didn’t you meet her
Note the use of the negative question. While generally used to indicate the expectation of an affirmative answer, here it expresses surprise that the answer to the question will probably—and unexpectedly—be negative.
Note that in this sentence, the strongest stress, and the high point of the intonation, falls on at—although prepositions normally receive weak stress. It is as if at, in this case, were equivalent to present or there, as in I wasn’t present or I wasn’t there—in which the adjective and adverb, respectively, would normally receive the strongest sentence stress.
Mary, this is my cousin Jim
Notice that the introducer mentions the girl’s name first, and introduces the young man to her (not vice versa). This is the normal, courteous manner of introduction among speakers of American English.
Notice the rising intonation on Mary, a name used in direct address. See note in Dialog 3.
Hi
See note in Dialog 2.
I’m glad to meet you
Note that the second speaker says this sentence with a different intonation than the first speaker used. The second speaker emphasizes you. (Compare Lesson 1. How are you?) Can’t we sit down…? = Would you like to sit down…?
Sure
Often used in informal conversation as a strong affirmative response equivalent to yes, certainly, of course, etc.

Source: U.S. State Department

Additional Conversation Lessons
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