conversation

Everyday

1. A conversation is a talk between two or more people in which they share ideas, news or feelings. tree →
2. "Making conversation" means talking politely to someone, often just to be friendly. tree →

In the lessons

In school, pupils have conversations in pairs to practise language and write conversations as dialogue in stories with speech marks. In everyday life we have conversations at home, on the phone and online. Phrases: have a conversation, make conversation, a conversation about, join the conversation, in conversation with.

Examples

• I had a long conversation with my grandma on the phone. tree →
• Please do not interrupt our conversation. tree →
• The two girls were deep in conversation. tree →
• We wrote a conversation between a fox and a crow. tree →
• At the party he tried to make conversation with the new boy. tree →
• Our class had a conversation about kindness. tree →
• The conversation turned to football. tree →
• They had a long conversation together about different things. tree →

Note

Countable: a conversation, two conversations. Do not confuse with "conservation" (looking after nature). Verb: converse (formal). Adjective: conversational. In writing, each new speaker in a conversation starts a new line.

Early Modern English

Meaning

Talk between two or more people. tree →

Then and now

Today it means talk between people. The old sense "way of life or behaviour" is no longer common, but all three sentences use today's sense.

Examples

• This was the end of their conversation. (Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen) tree →
• They had a long conversation together about different things. (More English Fairy Tales) tree →
• Just then, the conversation was interrupted by approaching footsteps. (The Adventures of Pinocchio) tree →

Note

Today: talk, chat.