Talking About Your Daily Routines in English: A Simple Guide for Beginners

Welcome to our English lesson about daily routines! If you’re just starting to learn English (A1 level), talking about your day is a fantastic way to practice. Knowing how to describe your routine is super useful for everyday conversations. In this lesson, we’ll learn simple phrases and vocabulary to help you talk about what you do every day. Let’s get started and improve your spoken English!

Why Learn About Daily Routines in English?

Learning to talk about your daily routines is important for several reasons:

Everyday Conversations: It’s a common topic when you meet new people or chat with friends. People often ask, “What do you do in a day?” or “What’s your typical day like?”
Speak About Yourself: Describing your routine is a great way to introduce yourself and share information about your life in English.
Understand Others: When you understand how to talk about routines, you’ll also understand when other people talk about theirs. This helps you follow conversations and improve your listening skills.
Basic English Vocabulary: Learning routine vocabulary builds a strong foundation for learning more English words and phrases. You’ll learn verbs and time expressions that are used very often.
Spoken English Practice: Talking about your routine is excellent practice for spoken English. You can practice saying these sentences out loud and become more confident speaking English.

So, let’s learn some useful words and phrases to talk about your daily routine in English!

Key Vocabulary for Talking About Routines

Here are some common verbs and phrases we use when talking about daily routines. These are essential for English for beginners.

Morning Routine Vocabulary

Wake up: This is when you stop sleeping and open your eyes in the morning. Example: I wake up at 7 am.
Get up: This means to get out of bed. Example: I get up at 7:15 am after I wake up.
Brush my teeth: Clean your teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Example: I brush my teeth every morning.
Wash my face: Clean your face with water and soap. Example: I wash my face to feel fresh.
Take a shower/bath: Clean your body with water. Example: I take a shower in the morning.
Get dressed: Put on your clothes. Example: I get dressed after my shower.
Have breakfast: Eat your first meal of the day. Example: I have breakfast at 8 am. Common breakfast foods include cereal, toast, eggs, and fruit.
Make breakfast: Prepare breakfast for yourself or others. Example: I make breakfast for my family.
Go to work/school: Travel to your workplace or school. Example: I go to work by bus.
Leave home: Go out of your house. Example: I leave home at 8:30 am.

Afternoon Routine Vocabulary

Have lunch: Eat your midday meal. Example: I have lunch at 1 pm.
Start work/lessons: Begin your work or classes. Example: I start work at 9 am and continue after lunch.
Finish work/lessons: Complete your work or classes for the day. Example: I finish work at 5 pm.
Go home: Travel back to your house. Example: I go home after work.
Arrive home/Get home: Reach your house. Example: I arrive home at 6 pm.

Evening Routine Vocabulary

Have dinner: Eat your evening meal. Example: We have dinner together as a family.
Cook dinner: Prepare the evening meal. Example: I cook dinner for my family every evening.
Relax: Spend time resting and doing things you enjoy. Example: I relax after dinner by watching TV.
Watch TV: Spend time watching television. Example: I watch TV for an hour in the evening.
Read a book: Enjoy reading a book. Example: I read a book before bed.
Study English: Spend time learning English. Example: I study English for 30 minutes every evening.
Go to bed: Go to sleep. Example: I go to bed at 10:30 pm.
Fall asleep: Start sleeping. Example: I fall asleep quickly after I go to bed.

Time Words for Routines

We often use time words with routines. Here are some useful ones:

In the morning Example: I drink coffee in the morning.
In the afternoon Example: I have lunch in the afternoon.
In the evening Example: I watch TV in the evening.
At night Example: I sleep at night.
Every day Example: I brush my teeth every day.
Usually Example: I usually have cereal for breakfast.
Sometimes Example: I sometimes go for a walk in the evening.
Often Example: I often read before bed.
Always Example: I always wake up early.
Never Example: I never drink coffee in the evening.
At [time] Example: I wake up at 7 am.

How to Talk About Your Daily Routine

To talk about your daily routine, we use the present simple tense. The basic structure is:
Subject + Verb + (Object/Time)
Here are some examples:

I wake up at 7 am.
She has breakfast at 7:30 am. (Remember: he/she/it uses “has”, not “have”)
We go to work by bus.
They watch TV in the evening.
He brushes his teeth after breakfast.

To ask someone about their routine, you can use questions like:

“What time do you wake up?”
“What do you do in the morning?”
“What do you do after work/school?”
“What do you do in your free time?”
“Can you tell me about your daily routine?”

Now, let’s practice talking about routines!

Let’s Practice!

Exercise 1: Fill in the Blanks

Complete the sentences with the correct verb from the box. Use the present simple tense.
Box: wake up, get up, have, brush, go, watch, eat, study

I ___________ at 7 am every day.
Then, I ___________ out of bed and ___________ my teeth.
I ___________ breakfast in the kitchen. I usually ___________ cereal.
After breakfast, I ___________ to work.
In the evening, I ___________ dinner and then ___________ TV.
Before bed, I ___________ English for 30 minutes.

Exercise 2: Order the Routine

Put the following activities in the correct order to make a morning routine.

___ Have breakfast
___ Get dressed
___ Wake up
___ Brush my teeth
___ Get up
___ Take a shower

Exercise 3: Speak About Your Routine

Think about your own daily routine. Try to answer these questions out loud. You can write down your answers first if it helps.

What time do you wake up?
What do you do after you wake up?
What do you have for breakfast?
How do you go to work or school?
What do you do in the evening?
What time do you go to bed?

Try to use the vocabulary and phrases we learned in this lesson! This is great spoken English practice!

Answers to Practice Exercises

Answers to Exercise 1: Fill in the Blanks

I wake up at 7 am every day.
Then, I get up out of bed and brush my teeth.
I have breakfast in the kitchen. I usually eat cereal.
After breakfast, I go to work.
In the evening, I have dinner and then watch TV.
Before bed, I study English for 30 minutes.

Answers to Exercise 2: Order the Routine

c Have breakfast
e Get dressed
a Wake up
d Brush my teeth
b Get up
f Take a shower

Correct order: c, e, a, d, b, f or likely: a, b, d, f, e, c (wake up, get up, brush teeth, shower, get dressed, breakfast – order can vary slightly depending on personal habits).

Answers to Exercise 3: Speak About Your Routine

(These answers will vary depending on your own routine. Practice speaking your own answers!)
Example Answers:

I wake up at 6:30 am.
After I wake up, I check my phone and then get out of bed.
I usually have toast and coffee for breakfast.
I go to work by car.
In the evening, I cook dinner, eat with my family, and relax.
I go to bed at 10 pm.

Practice Speaking English Routines with Lingofrnd

Want to practice talking about your daily routines even more and improve your spoken English? Try Lingofrnd.com! Lingofrnd is your AI spoken English teacher. You can practice conversations about routines and many other topics. It’s a great way to build your confidence in speaking English.
Download the app and start practicing today! Download App
With Lingofrnd, you can get personalized feedback and practice speaking at your own pace. It’s perfect for English for beginners and helps you improve your basic English conversation skills. Start speaking about your day with confidence!

We hope this lesson helped you learn how to talk about your daily routines in English. Keep practicing, and you’ll become more fluent in English every day!