#6 – Meet / Know
Don’t say: «I knew him last year.»
Say: «I met him last year.»
Meet has two meanings:
· When you have first contact with a person («I met him last year»)
· When you will encounter someone you already know. In this case, we often use «meet with» or «meet up with» («I’m meeting up with some friends at the bar after work.»)
Know has two different meanings/uses:
· With knowledge and skills in general («He knows everything about computers.»
· With knowing people in general («Do you know Janet? She’s in the advanced English class.» – «No, I don’t think I know her.»)
#7 – Explain
Don’t say: «Can you explain me the problem?»
Say: «Can you explain the problem to me?»
Explain is like «say/said» – we explain something to someone. We can also say «explain that» –
«The agent explained that our flight had been delayed 30 minutes because of the storm.»