What does ‘ask out’ mean in English? Learn how to use this phrasal verb correctly.
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Hi, I’m Joel. In this lesson, I’m going to teach you a great phrasal verb to know.
This phrasal verb is very common, and it is, “to ask out.”
What does it mean to ask someone out?
You ask someone out if you like them, you know, in a romantic way and you want to spend time with them.
For example: It’s common in the United States for a boy to ask a girl out, maybe to go to dinner and a movie.
That’s pretty common. It’s kind of a tradition in America – dinner and a movie.
So, if I like a girl, then maybe if I am not afraid, then I will ask her out.
Now, if you ask a girl out on a date or if a girl asks a boy or whatever, it’s not limited to just dinner or a movie.
It can be many different occasions or events.
You could ask out someone to go to a concert or to go to a sports event or anything really.
The point is you are going to go spend time with this person just the two of you.
It’s not generally a group thing – maybe sometimes but usually just one on one.
Now I’m going to give you some example sentences:
“James wanted to ask Mary out, but he was afraid.”
“James was surprised when Mary asked him out.”
“I’m going to ask Susan out tomorrow night. I hope she says yes.”
“I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a long time. So, would you like to go get dinner with me?”
Remember, most of the time we don’t use the words “ask out” when we are actually asking someone out.
Usually we’ll say something different like, “Would you like to have dinner with me some time?”
Or, “Do you want to go to the movies?” – Something like that.
But sometimes we do use the words “ask out” when we are actually asking someone out
I hope that you enjoyed this short video and that now you can express yourself correctly in the context of asking someone out.
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Thanks for watching and have a great day!
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