Have you ever been asked one of the most common questions in the English language?
How was your day?
Most English learners only know how to say it was good or it was bad, but today we're going to go over 30 responses that you can actually use to more interestingly answer this question.
How was your day?
In this lesson, I want you to be a very active English learner and speak out loud with me.
I'm gonna repeat the phrase twice so that you can try to mimic my voice exactly.
If you're trying to master an accent, if you're trying to master the vocabulary, or just trying to sound a little bit more quick and natural when you speak, try out using this technique in the video.
It's really going to help you with your English speaking and feeling more confident when you're actually trying out these words before you use them in a conversation.
If you want to speak with me more and join my membership, make sure to use the link below or visit englishwithkaylacom, where you'll get a lesson like this one every week, but you'll also get the included resources and extra help from me kayla, as your english teacher.
Now let's get started.
I want you to practice asking that question with me how was your day?
How was your day?
Very good.
Now let's move on to some of the possible responses to this.
It was pretty uneventful.
It was pretty uneventful.
Here.
When we say it's pretty uneventful, it means it was a normal day, a very typical or routine day.
And when we use pretty, it's kind of just a soft intensifier that we often throw out in English.
It makes it sounds a little bit more natural.
It's just how native speakers talk.
It was pretty uneventful.
And when you give this response, it was pretty uneventful.
I would say this means the day was just fine.
It was not really good, but it definitely wasn't bad at all either.
It was pretty uneventful.
Not too bad, actually.
Not too bad, actually.
This response, not too bad actually.
Again, it's really neutral.
It actually means the day was kind of good.
It treated you well.
Not too bad, actually.
It went by really fast.
It went by really fast.
Usually, when we say this phrase, it went by really fast.
It means the day was busy, and a good type of busy.
Like it wasn't super stressful, but it just made the time pass or the time feel really fast.
So the day didn't feel like it was long and dragging on if you say it went by really fast.
Usually, if something is fun, we say it also went by really fast because it feels like you want it to last longer.
Honestly, it was kind of exhausting.
Honestly, it was kind of exhausting.
So when we use this phrase, we're meaning the day did make us tired.
We're not trying to complain too much.
So that's why we kind of add the phrase kind of here, kind of.
It was kind of exhausting instead of saying like, oh, it was really exhausting.
It sounds a little bit more positive, even though the day was tiring to you.
So this type of response, it was kind of exhausting.
It's good for your real life, honest conversations.
It's kind of exhausting.
It started out rough, but it got better.
It started out rough, but it got better.
Here we're just saying that, even though the first part of our day was rough, or we could say difficult or things weren't going right, meaning we were late, we forgot things.
Whatever it might be, there was some sort of problem.
We're putting a positive spin on our answer here and saying the day got better or was more, you know, positive in the end.
It was busier than I expected.
It was busier than I expected.
Here, we're saying that our expectations were surpassed.
And again, it's not being super negative, like you were complaining about being busy, but you were surprised at how busy you were.
And you're just saying, you know, you had lots to do.
It's really common to talk about your work and your everyday life like this.
Something is busier than you expected.
I got a lot done today.
I got a lot done today.
I love this phrase because I love the idea of being very productive and getting lots of tasks done today.
It's very optimistic.
It's very positive to say, I got a lot done today.
We got a lot done today.
I was putting out fires all day.
I was putting out fires all day.
Here in this phrase, if you're putting out fires, it means you're solving problems.
It's a very dramatic phrase that we use a lot in the workplace here in the United States to say that you know we're solving lots of different problems for different people.
And it feels like it's back to back to back solving all of these problems.
I was the one putting out fires all day.
I was juggling a bunch of different things.
I was juggling a bunch of different things.
If you're juggling different things, it means that you are doing more than one thing at the same time, or you're trying to be very busy, get lots of things done, but it feels like everything's happening at the same time.
So it's kind of a metaphor.
If you're juggling tasks, It's the same as juggling balls.
It felt like one thing after another.
It felt like one thing after another.
One thing after another, it means one problem after another.
So it means one thing that's bad, it just happens again and again and again.
So this is kind of a more negative way to answer this question.
I finally checked a few things off my list.
I finally checked a few things off my list.
I am a very to do list oriented person, meaning when I have things that I want to get done, I have to write it down, or my brain just can't think of it later.
So it Feels nice to actually physically check things off my list because it means I got things done.
Now you can use this phrase even if you're not writing down things and having a real to-do list.
If you just want to say that you got things done that you had been meaning to do for a while.
I barely had time to breathe.
I barely had time to breathe.
This would be in a very, very busy day, whether it's at home or at work.
If you feel like you didn't have any time for leisure or relaxing, you could use this phrase.
It's very dramatic.
I barely had time to breathe.
If you spend a lot of time with your family, these next responses will be very helpful when someone asks you how your day was.
I spent most of my day running errands.
I spent most of my day running errands.
We refer to errands in the United States as little tasks that you have to do going outside your house.
Some example of errands are going to the grocery store, going to the post office to mail things, maybe going to a quick doctor's appointment.
A lot of times it means picking up and dropping things off that you've just have to do to keep your life going.
So when we talk about shopping, going to the bank appointments, these are all errands.
I was chasing my kids around all day.
I was chasing my kids around all day.
Here we don't literally mean chasing like running after our kids.
Maybe you do a little bit if you have younger kids and you go to the park.
But it just means that you are taking care of very active children, usually at a younger age, when we use this phrase.
So this phrase is kind of a joke.
It's kind of used humorously. to say like you were taking care of your kids you're entertaining your kids all day and that's what kept you busy it was one of those non-stop days it was one of those non-stop days This phrase here, nonstop, it just means a really busy day.
It feels like it kind of was overwhelming.
It never slowed down.
Again, you never had time to relax or just scroll on your phone or things like that.
And sometimes instead of saying this full phrase, we'll just say, oh, the day was nonstop.
It was nonstop today.
Meaning whatever you're doing, it was just very busy.
And time for breaks.
I didn't get as much done as I hoped.
I didn't get as much done as I hoped.
This phrase here, it means you weren't as productive as you wanted.
Maybe you took time to do something that wasn't productive, or maybe you got held up on one task.
This is a great way to answer the question, how was your day?
I had a few detours.
I had a few detours.
A detour when we're driving is when there is construction or a road closed for some reason.
And so you have to go an alternate route to get around it.
We call that a detour.
Or sometimes, if you're on a road trip and you want to drive to something interesting interesting even though it isn't directly on your route to getting to where you want to go you could say we're taking a little detour to stop and see this museum or stop to see this park, whatever it is.
So if you describe your day as having detours, it means It had some things that were unexpected and maybe took a while.
They weren't a part of what you normally would do or what you had to do.
It was kind of a detour.
Usually when we describe something as a detour, it means it was kind of fun.
It was something fun that we didn't expect to be doing.
I was just trying to stay on top of everything.
I was just trying to stay on top of everything.
This phrase if you're trying to be a well-organized person and it's taking a lot of effort.
This is a way that you could respond to the question how was your day?
Means you were just trying to keep track of things and trying to keep everything in order.
It was a bit stressful.
It was a bit stressful.
I have a friend who travels a lot for work and they have a really demanding corporate job.
So a lot of times, if I ask them how their day was, they will say it was stressful, meaning there was a lot of events that demanded a lot of their attention and a lot of focus and work.
So it did feel stressful.
Maybe there's a lot of problems too.
I'm sorry, you know, i'm just a bit stressed.
Today i felt really on top of it today.
I felt really on top of it today.
So to be on top of it means to be very organized and you feel like you had everything ready to go.
There was no mistakes.
You were just working at your best when we use this phrase, on top of it.
If you felt on top of it.
You felt really good and you feel like you worked really well throughout the day.
It drained my energy.
It drained my energy.
We can also say sometimes it just drained me.
This just means you felt really tired after the day.
Maybe you're trying to solve a lot of problems or it was stressful again.
This is just a really natural way to say it was just a stressful, long, demanding day.
It drained me or it drained my energy.
Those are really natural phrases you can use.
I was in a really good mood all day.
I was in a really good mood all day.
If you say this, of course you mean that you felt happy all day.
There might be a very specific reason for feeling so happy.
Maybe something really exciting happened to you.
Or maybe you don't know exactly why you were in a good mood.
Maybe you just got enough sleep the night before or it's sunny out.
Whatever it might be, you felt great if you use this phrase.
I needed a break by the end of it.
I needed a break by the end of it.
This phrase means that your day was so tiring that you did feel like you needed a break at the end of the day.
So this is a very natural way to reflect on how you felt at the end of your day.
It was challenging but worth it.
It was challenging, but worth it.
If you had a very challenging day or a difficult day, you put a lot of work and effort into it and you feel proud, you would use this phrase it was worth it.
It was worth the challenge or the effort.
Same old, same old.
Same old, same old.
This is probably one of the most natural phrases in today's lesson.
It just means that everything is the same.
Everything is consistent.
You're not complaining, but you're also saying nothing is really exciting right now.
Same old, same old.
I can't complain.
I can't complain.
Again, this phrase is pretty neutral.
It's used very politely just to say that nothing is bad.
Everything is going well.
It would be wrong to complain or whine about my situation.
I can't complain.
Can't complain.
It flew by before I knew it.
It flew by before I knew it.
This phrase means that the day went by quickly.
The time passed very quickly.
And it often means that the day was busy, but it was pleasant and everything went well.
So it didn't feel like it dragged on.
I survived.
I survived.
This phrase is obviously supposed to be humorous, meaning it was a difficult day.
Maybe somebody is asking you about your day and they know that everything was challenging or there was a lot to do.
And so you're just joking like I survived.
I made it through.
I survived.
Long day, but a good one.
Long day, but a good one.
I really like this phrase.
If you're saying it was a long day, it means there was challenges.
There was a lot of effort or work to be done, but it was again worth it or it was a good one.
You're happy with how things turned out by using this phrase.
It was a good one.
I'm just glad it's over.
I'm just glad it's over.
This phrase is again kind of humorous, just to say that your day was really challenging and the best part of it is that it's over now.
So it's reflecting on your day as being difficult, but you can feel positive and happy now that it's actually over.
I'm just glad it's over.
You guys survived this English lesson.
Hopefully the effort was worth it, because now you've added 30 new phrases to answer the question how was your day?
Make sure to visit englishwithkayla.com to study with me some more.
If you're in the mood, try out another English lesson from my channel that will be here on screen.
Thanks again for watching.
I'll see you guys on the next lesson.
Goodbye.