Lesson 175--Making sure someone understands you...

In conversation, it is nice to check and see if someone understands what you are telling them.  It is also nice to see if they believe what you are telling them.  "Do you understand?" is a good phrase, but it only covers half of what it should.  Here are some phrases which cover both.

 

Do you see what I mean?

See what I mean?

Do you understand where I am coming from?

Understand where I'm coming from?

Do you get what I'm saying?

Get what I'm saying?

Do you get what I mean?

Get what I mean?

examples

I don't like people touching my car.  Do you get where I'm coming from?

My parents never bother my sister the way they bother me.  I can't do anything without them asking me a million questions.  Do you get where I'm coming from?

Lesson 85--mean

Gerunds versus Infinitives:  mean

 

Some verbs are followed by infinitives and some are followed by gerunds.  In some cases verbs are followed by both.  The difficult thing is that in some cases (start, like) there really isn't any difference in meaning.

However, there are some verbs that have very different meanings.

Mean

I mean to buy an iPhone.

This means I intend to buy an iPhone.

Getting a good job means learning English.

This means that a getting a good job equals learning English.