🤝 5 Words That Make You Sound Native — Meeting New People | EnglishDrops

🤝 New faces, native phrases! Today's 5 chunks for meeting people: strike up (phrasal verb), hit it off (idiom), put a face to the name (expression), social butterfly (idiom), and mutual friend (collocation) — the exact language natives use to start conversations, click instantly, and explain how they know each other.

Today's 5

1. strike up (phrasal verb) — start a conversation with a stranger. "She struck up a chat with the guy in the coffee line." ⚠️ The "up" is not optional — never "strike a conversation".
2. hit it off (idiom) — become friends instantly, click right away. "We hit it off at the wedding and talked all night." ⚠️ Needs "with" — "hit it off WITH her", never "hit it off her". Past tense stays "hit".
3. put a face to the name (expression) — finally meet in person someone you only knew by name. "So nice to finally put a face to the name!" ⚠️ Fixed phrase — use it the FIRST time you meet, never "put a name on the face".
4. social butterfly (idiom) — a person who loves meeting people and chats with everyone. "My roommate is a total social butterfly." ⚠️ It's a compliment, not criticism — add "total" for punch.
5. mutual friend (collocation) — a friend that two people share. "We met through a mutual friend." ⚠️ Natives say MUTUAL friend — "common friend" sounds off.

✨ Magic Sentence

At the party I finally got to put a face to the name when my mutual friend introduced us, and we hit it off instantly — she struck up a conversation like a total social butterfly.

🗣️ Fill-in-the-Blank Dialogue

A: "How was the mixer?" B: "So fun! I went with Dana — a _____ from work." A: "Anyone interesting?" B: "This guy Leo _____ a conversation, and we _____ instantly." A: "Look at you, _____!" B: "And guess what — he's the illustrator I follow online. Loved _____!"

Word bank: hit it off • social butterfly • struck up • mutual friend • put a face to the name

🌍 Translations

English	中文	日本語	Français	Español
strike up	搭话	話しかける	engager la conversation	entablar conversación
hit it off	一见如故	意気投合する	bien s'entendre tout de suite	llevarse genial al instante
put a face to the name	见到真人	名前と顔が結びつく	mettre un visage sur un nom	ponerle cara al nombre
social butterfly	社交达人	社交家	papillon social	muy sociable
mutual friend	共同的朋友	共通の友人	ami commun	amigo en común

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