Learn how to find out how people know each other, using the phrase "How do you know
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| Welcome to EnglishClass101.com’s British English in Three Minutes. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn English. |
| Hey everyone, I’m Gina! |
| In this series, we’re going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English. It’s really useful, and it only takes three minutes! |
| In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to ask someone who they know. |
| Often at a party or in another social situation that you attend with a friend, you will be introduced to someone new, or someone else will join the conversation. A question that we often ask in this situation is how the new person knows your friend, and what the connection is between them. |
| So how do we ask this? It’s easy: |
| “So how do you know Person A?” |
| If Person A is still talking to you, you can ask this in a slightly different way, by including both people and saying: |
| “So how do you know each other?” |
| This “So” at the beginning softens the question as well as making it clear that you’re introducing a new topic. |
| There are many possible answers to this question, usually beginning with “We met...”: |
| “We met at school.” |
| Or: |
| “We met at a party.” |
| Or: |
| “We met through a friend.” |
| Another way to answer this is to state your current connection with the other person. For example: |
| “We work together.” |
| Or: |
| “We have a mutual friend.” |
| This phrase “a mutual friend” is a really useful idiom that you should keep in mind! |
| The next logical step in the conversation is to expand on what you’ve just learned. A good all-purpose reply is “Oh, really?” |
| Then you can ask another follow-up question. |
| For example, if the other person says “We met at school,” you can say: |
| “Where was your school?” |
| or: |
| “Which school?” |
| If they say “We met at work”, you can then ask: |
| “Where do you work?” |
| Or: |
| “What is your profession?” |
| If they say: |
| “We met through a friend” |
| A possible follow-up question could be: |
| “Anyone I know?” |
| Of course it’s also possible that the other person will ask you where you met the mutual friend by using that useful phrase: |
| “How about you?” |
| Gina’s Tips |
| Social gatherings in the UK are quite an occasion and there are plenty opportunities to get involved in discussions with people from many different class backgrounds. The British class system still very much exists and social sports gatherings such as Royal Ascot and the Henley Royal Regatta are good places to hear middle to upper class accents, words and phrases. This is more commonly known as “posh” English. Try to pick up some yourself when you go! And be sure to wear sophisticated clothes! |
| Do you know how to talk about sports in English? Not just what sports you play and like, but what teams you’re a fan of? Find out in the next British English in Three Minutes lesson! |
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