WHAT ON EARTH...? (EXPRESSING SURPRISE & DISBELIEF)

Good morning / afternoon / evening everyone, depending on when you are reading this. Welcome back to the Daily Vitamin. I hope you are having a great day!

Today we are going to look at two more expressions that we use to show surprise or disbelief in conversation. As these are expressions that are used in conversation, they are somewhat informal. Working these into your English is a great way to make you sound more "native." Of course, when you use these expressions it's important to put emotion behind them. 

Today's 1st expression is: Seriously?

Meaning: We use this expression to show surprise or doubt about something that someone said or about something that just happened.  

Example 1: Seriously? You honestly think that I stole the 20€ bill from your wallet? I didn't even know that you had money in your wallet. You never have money!

Today's 2nd expression is: What on Earth?

Meaning: This is a stronger expression of surprise, and we sometimes use it when we are confused. 

Example 2: What on earth happened here? There is water everywhere! Where did all of this water come from? Did a waterpipe break?

👉 Now it's your turn! I encourage you to write one or two sentences using one or both of these expressions for showing surprise. You can post your sentences on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Twitter/X) and we will give you feedback about them as soon as we can. 

I hope the rest of your day goes well. We'll be back tomorrow with more expressions for showing surprise. 

All the best!

What are the best methods to learn a foreign language? You can find more information in this article that I wrote (in Spanish) about the topic: https://www.ziggurat.es/blog/mejores-metodos-aprender-ingles/