Here you can find some questions you can ask your partner during conversation about shopping:

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1. How often do you go shopping?

2. Do you often buy groceries ?

3. Do you often buy clothes?

4. Do you often buy cosmetics?

5. Do you often buy electronic devices ?

6. Where do you usually buy groceries?

7. Where do you usually buy clothes?

8. Where do you usually buy cosmetics?

9. Where do you usually buy electronic devices?

10.   Do you often buy in supermarkets?

11.   Do you often visit shopping malls ?

12.   What are the advantages of doing shopping in supermarkets and shopping malls?

13.   What are the disadvantages of doing shopping in supermarkets and shopping malls?

14.   Do you know any tricks that supermarkets use to make people buy more?

15.   Are you sometimes taken in by these tricks?

16.   Do you do shopping on Sunday?

17.   Do you think that all shops should be closed on Sunday?

18.   Do you think that people often buy more than they need? If so, what is the reason for that?

19.   Do you sometimes buy more than you really need?

20.   What can you do to prevent yourself from buying too much?

21.   Do you buy branded goods ? Why/why not?

22.   Do you often buy goods advertised on TV?

23.   Do you think that goods advertised on TV are of higher quality than those that are not advertised?

24.   Do you buy domestic goods or rather foreign products?

groceries (level: upper intermediate)
the food that you buy on regular basis
We seldom buy groceries in supermarkets, because the food is not always fresh there.

electronic device (level: upper intermediate)
a machine invented for a particular purpose
She asked her brother to buy her a new computer in the USA, because all electronic devices are much cheaper there.

shopping mall (also: shopping centre, department store) (level: intermediate)
a big building in which there are many shops that sell different things, e.g. clothes, food, electronic devices, cosmetics, etc.
People enjoy buying in shopping malls, because they can easily find everything they need in one place.

advantage (level: pre-intermediate)
a positive side of something
The biggest advantage of living in the country is the silence.

a wide range of products (level: intermediate)
a variety of products to choose
People prefer doing shopping in supermarkets, because they can find a wide variety of products there.

competitive price (level: upper intermediate)
prices that are better (lower) than the others
All supermarkets need to offer competitive prices if they want to attract their customers.

disadvantage (level: pre-intermediate)
a negative side of something
There are two big disadvantages of using your own car instead of public transport: traffic jams and the prices of petrol.

a queue (level: intermediate)
a line of people waiting for something
Avoid shopping at weekends if you don’t want to stand in long queues.

a trick (level: intermediate)
an action taken in order to deceive or cheat somebody
Supermarkets use many tricks in order to make people spend a lot of money. For example, the most expensive products are placed on shelves that you have the easiest access to.

to take sb in (level: upper intermediate)
to trick or deceive somebody
Unfortunately, we can’t count the number of times supermarkets took us in and made us buy a lot of unnecessary things.

to prevent sb from sth (level: upper intermediate)
to stop somebody from doing something
If you make a list of products that you need, you will probably not buy too much unnecessary things.

branded goods (level: intermediate)
products labeled by a distinctive symbol indicating a famous, often exclusive brand
Some people buy branded goods, because they believe they are of higher quality, but some do it for prestige.

to advertise (level: intermediate)
to make something well known among people, usually with the aim of selling it
There are so many products advertised on TV, billboards, on the Internet, that we frequently get confused about which one to choose.

quality (level: intermediate)
how good or bad something is
It really pays to buy high quality clothes. I have been wearing my Levis jeans for three years and they still look OK.

domestic (level: intermediate)
relating to your own country
I usually buy domestic goods, because they are often cheaper and I want to support my country’s industries.

foreign (level: intermediate)
related to a country which is not your own
She loves her job, because it gives her numerous opportunities to visit foreign countries.

to buy lemon (level: advanced)
to buy something that turns out to be useless
I suggest that you take a closer look at the bike before you buy it. You don’t want to buy a lemon, do you?

to buy a pig in a poke (level: advanced)
to buy something without taking a look at it
I told you to look inside the box before buying this camera. You bought a pig in a poke again!

to pay over the odds; to pay through the nose (level: advanced)
to pay too much for something
You paid over the odds for that blouse. The fabric is rather of poor quality.

for a song (level: advanced)
to buy something at a very low price
This dress is very beautiful. It’s hard to believe that you bought it for a song.

to go window-shopping (level: upper intermediate)
to look at goods in store windows, with no aim of buying anything
I never go window-shopping, because when I see something really beautiful I always regret not having enough money to buy it.

to shop around for something (level: upper intermediate)
to look for something in different shops to compare the products and their prices in order to choose the best offer
Before you buy something expensive that you are going to use for years, it is reasonable to shop around first and choose the best product.

to shoplift (level: upper intermediate)
to steal something from a shop
Since there is a monitoring system in almost every shop, teenagers are caught shoplifting more often than before.

to shop till you drop (level: upper intermediate)
to go shopping for a very long time
She shopped till she dropped yesterday again. I’m wondering if she is already a shopaholic.

a retail therapy (level: advanced)
going shopping in order to feel better, to be in a better mood
I bought a new pair of jeans, three blouses and a nice dress yesterday. Such a retail therapy was something that I really needed after the long, exhausting day.