English for Conversations about FRIENDS - Questions, Answers, Vocab

Do you have a friend who you enjoy spending time with? Talking about your friends in English can be a lot of fun. In this post, we learn how to talk about the topic of friends in English conversations.

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Conversation questions about friends

Here are some very common questions that you could ask about someone’s friend. Practise these with another English speaker or your teacher:

Who would you say is your best friend?
What does your friend look like?
What’s your friend like?
What do you like about your friend?
What do you not like about your friend?
Have you ever lost touch with a good friend?
How important is it to have a best friend?

How to talk about your own friend

Follow these steps to talk about one of your own friends in English conversations:

Introduce your friend

First, say who your friend is, and give a few basic details:

My best friend’s called Jan. / My best friend’s name’s Jan. / I’d say my best friend was Jan.
I’d say Jan’s probably my oldest friend.
She’s about 40 and she lives in my town.

Explaining how you first met your friend

Then you can say how you know your friend – how did you first meet?

We first met at school…
We got to know each other at school..
We became friends at school..
..and we’ve been friends ever since!
..and we’ve stayed friends with each other ever since!
..and we’ve never lost contact.

How long you’ve been friends

Next, say how many years / months etc you’ve known your friend for:

We’ve been friends for years!
I’ve known her since I was twelve.
We’ve known each other for ages.
We go back years.

Describing your friend’s appearance: What does she look like?

Use these suggested answers to say what your friend looks like:

Body shape

You can use these kinds of phrases to describe your friend’s body shape:

She’s tall and slim / slender.
She’s a bit shorter than me.
He’s really broad-shouldered.
She’s quite petite.
He’s a really big guy*.
She’s quite a big* lady.

*Be careful when talking about body size! It’s OK to say your friend is “big” – but not “fat”, which can sound rude.

Hair

Here are a few ways to talk about your friend’s hair:

She’s got long, red, curly hair.
He’s bald / a bit thin on top / thinning on top
She’s got short, dark brown hair.
She has long, blonde hair.
He’s going a little grey.

Face

Use expressions like these to describe your friend’s facial features:

He’s got blue /green / brown eyes.
She has quite a long face.
He has a roundish face.
She’s got rosy cheeks.
He has a pointed chin.
She’s got a square jaw.
He has high cheekbones.
She’s got a long, thin nose.

Describing your friend’s personality: what’s she like?

The question, “What’s he/she like?” means: tell me about your friend’s personality. Use these examples to practise talking about your own friend’s character:

She’s talkative, and really easy to get along with.
I’d say she’s definitely a helpful, generous kind of person.
He doesn’t mince his words (= he says what he thinks)
She’s the kind of person who’s always happy to help.
I feel I can count on her (count on = rely on)
She never lets me down (I can count on her)

Saying why you like your friend

It’s always useful to be able to say WHY you like your friends. These reasons are usually based on personality – and NOT appearance:

One thing…about..

“One thing.. about..” is a very natural way to start sentences about people (and things) you like:

One thing I really like about him/her is…
One thing that’s really cool/great about him/her is…
- ..that he’s a really friendly guy.
- ..that she’s very knowledgeable.
- ..that he’s so easy-going.
- ..that he’s incredibly helpful.
- ..that he’s such a great listener.

What’s great about..

You can also use “what’s great about…” as an alternative to “One thing I like…”

What’s great about him is that he always…
- tells me how he feels.

The best thing about

This phrase is also very common:

The best thing about him is his
- honesty/generosity/sense of humour.

I love it when when she laughs..

You can say, “I love how / I love the way / I love it when…” to say you like things that your friend does:

I really love the way she always…
I just love how she always…
I love it when he…
- ..tells the truth
- ..makes me laugh
- ..comes to visit

Saying what you don’t like about a friend

Everyone’s friend does annoying things sometimes! Here’s how to say (politely!) what you DON’T LIKE about your friend:

One thing I don’t like about Jack is that he’s so untidy.
Bill can be a bit rude sometimes.
To be honest, he can be a bit of a bore sometimes.
I just can’t stand the way Ali’s always late for things!
I really don’t like it when he drives like a maniac.
It’s Jim’s attitude to hygiene that really gets to me (annoys me).
She’s a bit of a loose cannon. (Don’t tell her any secrets – she’ll tell everyone!)
He can be a bit of a pain, sometimes. (He’s a bit annoying)

English Conversation Tip: She’s a lovely person but…

When we talk about things we don’t like about friends, we usually say something nice first, and then we use BUT:

Jess is a great friend of mine, but she can be a bit rude.

We also use phrases like I MUST ADMIT / CAN BE / A LITTLE / A BIT and adverbs like SOMETIMES. In this way, our words sound less hurtful:

I love Kate to bits, but I must admit she can be a little untidy, sometimes!

Bring it together: tell me about your best friend

So, my best friend’s called Jan. We first met at school, and we’ve stayed friends ever since. In terms of appearance, I’d say she’s ..a bit shorter than me, and quite petite, to be honest.
She’s got short, dark brown hair, erm, blue eyes, and a roundish kind of face. When it comes to personality, I’d say she’s.. helpful, knowledgeable and very easy to get along with.
One thing I really like about Jan is.. that she’s such a great listener… but on the downside, I must admit that she can be a bit rude, sometimes.

Stages of friendship

Here are some natural ways of talking about how friendships begin, continue and (sometimes!) end:

Starting friendships

We often use these phrase to talk about how friendships begin:

become friends with someone / each other
make friends with…
first meet
get to know someone / each other

maintaining friendships

Use these phrases to talk about keeping friendships going:

be friends with…
stay friends with…
stay in touch with…
not lose contact with…

Ending friendships

Here are some phrases that describe how friendships come to an end:

lose contact (with..)
lose touch (with..)
go our separate ways

Friends and friendship: Key vocabulary and collocations

Here are some more words, phrases and collocations that regularly crop up in conversations about friends:

Other words for friends

A buddy (of mine)
A mate (of mine)
A soulmate
An acquaintance (formal) someone whom you know, but not really as friend

Friendship

have/enjoy a long-lasting friendship
to get on with / get along with someone

Friend: collocations and phrases

a good friend
a best friend
a close friend
a true / real friend
be friends with someone – “we’ve been friends for years”
a dear / close / good / old friend of mine
a family friend / friend of the family
a mutual friend