Common Errors in English: Meet and 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.”)

Do not use know for the first time you have contact with a person.

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