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Can I use "my friend" in my sentence without mentioning their name? Or should I use "a friend of mine"?

"I meet my friend after lectures."

Dhanishtha Ghosh
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Antonia A
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2 Answers2

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Yes, as the other commenter said, "I meet my friend" is perfectly acceptable, but one would be more likely to say "I'm meeting" or "I will meet".

"A friend of mine" is also equally acceptable. :)

Mushroom
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  • I thought only "a friend of mine" should be used when we don't want to mention there name. But if we say "my friend" the name must be added. I remember being taught that rule at school. – Antonia A Jun 06 '21 at 06:51
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    @AntoniaA, I am a native English speaker and studied the language fairly extensively in school. It is perfectly acceptable to omit the person's name in the example sentence. You could also include the name, both options are fine. :) For example: "This is my friend." "This is my friend Antonia." If you were taught otherwise, I'd say the teacher taught you wrong! (I can't figure out how to add line breaks! Sorry readers.) – Mushroom Jun 07 '21 at 00:24
  • I was taught to use "a friend of mine" in such examples as "A friend of mine called me the other day and said..." and "a friend of mine works in Italy." If I don't want to mention my friend's name I use "a friend of mine" and I cannot say "My friend called me the other day" and "my friend lives in Italy." Because I need to mention my friend's name with "my friend" – Antonia A Jun 07 '21 at 04:17
  • Perhaps I didn't explain the rule well. Do you mean what the rule I am talking about does not exist in English? – Antonia A Jun 07 '21 at 04:21
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    I have never heard of such a rule. It is perfectly acceptable to say "My friend called me." That is a complete sentence, and something many native English speakers would say or write quite naturally. – Mushroom Jun 10 '21 at 20:44
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“My friend” is stronger than “a friend of mine”. “A friend of mine” is likely not a very close friend. “My friend” sounds like the person is the only one who would be called that.

Now if I say “this is my friend Jack” - it’s unlikely that I have another friend named jack, but I likely have more friends. “This is my friend; his name is Jack” is likely my only or one of few friends. And I also told you his name.

gnasher729
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