Here in this lesson we will learn how to have an informal conversation and introducing a friend of ours.
Practice Conversation:
- Who’s that tall woman next to Barbara?
- That’s her friend Mary. Didn’t you meet her at Steve’s party?
- No, I wasn’t at Steve’s party.
- Oh! Then let me introduce you to her now. Mary, this is my friend Jim.
- Hey Jim. Nice to meet you.
- You, too. Would you like a drink?
- Sure, let’s go get one.
Conversation Breakdown:
“Who’s” is the contracted form of who is. It is pronounced the same way as “whose” (/huwz/), but the meaning is different.
• Didn’t you meet her …? Notice that this is a negative question. Charles thought that Jim had met Mary before. He is now surprised that Jim does not know Mary, and so he uses a negative question to show his surprise.
• I wasn’t at Steve’s party. Notice that the emphasis here is on “at” although prepositions normally have weak stress. In this case, “at” means “there” (I wasn’t there).
• Mary, this is my friend Jim. This is a friendly way to introduce two people. It’s common to follow this with “Jim, this is Mary.” In this case, Mary says “Hi, Jim” first.
• Nice to meet you. This is a typical response after you’ve been introduced to someone.
• “Sure” is often used in informal conversation to mean “yes.”