How to Buy Food at a Market in English 🇬🇧 | Real-Life English Speaking Practice

Inside Language
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1 Video View·Nov 8, 2026
AI Generated·May contain errors
Video Summary
AI GeneratedThis English learning lesson focuses on practical phrases for shopping at a local UK market. Through a shadowing exercise, the instructor teaches learners how to inquire about products, request specific quantities, ask for product quality, and handle the payment process to help them communicate naturally in a real-world shopping environment.
Hello and welcome back my English learning friends.
Today we are going to the market.
Imagine you are visiting a local market in the UK.
There is fresh fruit and there are lots of vegetables.
In today's lesson we are going
to practice useful English sentences for shopping at a market.
I will give you a sentence.
Explain when to use it and then I want you to repeat it after me.
This is a new shadowing lesson.
I want you to speak out loud
and try to copy my pronunciation and rhythm.
Are you ready? Let's go shopping.
Let's start with something simple.
You found a stall
and you want to have a closer look at what's available.
You could say, hi.
Hi, could I have a look
at those tomatoes please?
You can also use this expression if you want
to look at something before deciding to buy
it.
For example, could I have a look at those apples please?
Could I have a look at those apples please?
Now imagine you found some lovely strawberries,
but you don't know how much they cost.
An easy way to ask is to say, how much of these please?
How much are these please?
Or if you want to be more specific,
how much are the strawberries please?
How much are the strawberries please?
You might also see a sign saying that something costs
three pounds per kilo, for example.
But perhaps you only want to buy a small amount.
In this case, you could ask,
can I just have half a kilo please?
Can I just have half a kilo please?
Well done.
Now let's practice some useful sentences
for buying things that need cutting.
Let's imagine you are buying some cheese, some cheddar cheese.
You could ask, could I have a small piece of cheddar, please?
Could I have a small piece of cheddar, please?
And if you are buying something like ham
and you want it cut, you could say,
could you slice that for me, please?
Could you slice that for me, please?
This is a very useful sentence to remember.
Sometimes the seller might give you more than you actually want.
For example, imagine you've asked for some cheese,
but the piece they've chosen is too big.
In this case, you could say,
Could I have a smaller piece, please?
Could I have a smaller piece, please?
Or perhaps you want
a bigger piece.
In this case, you need to say,
Could I have a bit more, please?
Could I have a bit more please and if you only want
a small quantity of something you could say
just a little bit please,
just a little bit please. These are very
simple sentences but they are extremely useful when you are shopping.
Now let's imagine you want to know
a little more about what you are buying.
Perhaps you see some beautiful peaches,
but you are not sure if they are ready to eat.
You could ask, excuse me, are these ripe?
Excuse me, are these ripe?
Ripe means ready to eat.
You could also ask, are these sweet?
Are these sweet?
Perhaps you want to know when the seller
received the products.
In this case, you need to ask, when did you get these in?
When did you get these in?
And if you are not sure what to buy,
here's a very useful question.
What would you recommend? What would you recommend?
You could also be more specific by saying
which ones are the sweetest?
Which ones are the sweetest?
Excellent. Now let's look at
more sentences that can be useful
when you want something prepared in a particular way.
Imagine you are buying some potatoes
and you want them in a bag on their own.
You could say, could you put those in a separate bag, please?
Could you put those in a separate bag, please?
If you're buying something
that you don't want in a plastic bag,
you could say, I've got my own bag, thank you.
I've got my own bag, thank you.
Now you've bought everything you need and it's time to pay.
Let's practice a few useful sentences.
If the seller asks if you need anything else, you could say,
No, that's everything. Thank you.
No, that's everything. Thank you.
And if you want to know the total price,
you could ask,
How much is that altogether?
How much is that altogether?
And if you want to pay by card, say this,
Can I pay by card?
Can I pay by card?
And finally, when you are leaving,
make sure you say something like this.
Thanks very much. Have a lovely day.
Thanks very much. Have a lovely day.
Well done.
I want you to choose five sentences from today's lesson
and practice saying them out loud again tomorrow.
The more you practice these sentence patterns,
the easier it will become to use them naturally when you need them.
And here's a question for you.
Do you enjoy shopping at local markets
or do you prefer going to the supermarket?
Tell me in the comments below.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
If you would like to do some more English,
you can click here and I'll see you in the next video.
Take care.
