LESSON NOTES

Learn English in Three Minutes #15

Asking "Are you going on vacation
this year?"

CONTENTS
2 Grammar

# 15
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GRAMMAR

The focus of this lesson is how to ask about vacation plans in English

Topic 1: How to ask someone if they are going on a vacation

Sentence from the lesson:

"Are you going anywhere this year?"

1. Vacation plans are a really common topic of conversation. The most common way to
ask about vacations is "Are you going on vacation this year?"

2. The more casual way to ask the same question is "Are you going anywhere on
vacation this year?"

Topic 2: How to answer someone about your vacation plans

Sentence from the lesson:

"I am going to + [place]"

1. If you're not going anywhere, for the most natural-sounding reply, you can say "I'm
staying at home this year."

2. If you've already decided where you're going, you can reply with the name of the
place and the month you're going "Yeah, I'm going to Hawaii in July."

3. If you're definitely going somewhere on vacation, but you haven't yet decided where
you're going, you can use useful little phrases like "I'm planning to go~" and "I'm
thinking of going~."

4. If you have two or more places you're considering, you can use the phrase "or
maybe~" as a joining phrase. "I'm planning to go to Hawaii, or maybe Thailand." I am
thinking of going to Hawaii, or maybe Thailand."

5. Talking about what you are going to do during the trip, you may say "I'm planning to
go to Hawaii. I want to sunbathe!" "I am planning to go to Thailand. I want to go
shopping!"

ENGLISHCLASS101.COM LEARN ENGLISH IN THREE MINUTES #15 - ASKING "ARE YOU GOING ON VACATION THIS YEAR?" 2
6. The casual reply to the question "How long are you going for?" would be "A week.,"
"Ten days.," "Two weeks." etc. You don't need to repeat the question and say "I'm
going for..." or "I'm going to stay for..."

Language Tip!

Depending on where the native speaker of English is from, you might hear the word "holiday"
or "holidays" instead of "vacation." People from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom
generally say "holiday" instead of "vacation," while Americans generally say "vacation." They
both mean the same thing, though, so just choose which one you like better!

ENGLISHCLASS101.COM LEARN ENGLISH IN THREE MINUTES #15 - ASKING "ARE YOU GOING ON VACATION THIS YEAR?" 3