This mini episode teaches you how to use the expression “Now that you mention it.”
Episode 195 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you how to use the expression “Now that you mention it.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello, this is Juhee from South Korea. You’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 195 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it, too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
The expression that I want to teach you today is “Now that you mention it.” Now that you mention it. That’s now: n-o-w. That: t-h-a-t. You: y-o-u. Mention: m-e-n-t-i-o-n. It: i-t. Now that you mention it.
What does “Now that you mention it” mean? When do we use this expression? We use “Now that you mention it” when somebody says something that reminds us of something, or when somebody says something that makes us realize something.
If someone says something, and that makes you remember or realize or think of something, then you can say, “Now that you mention it” as a way of introducing your next statement.
Let me give you an example of a situation where someone might say, “Now that you mention it.”
Let’s say that one person says to his roommate: “Have you seen the remote control for the TV? I can’t find it anywhere.” And the second person says, “Now that you mention it, I couldn’t find it last night.”
What does the second person mean here? Why does the second person say, “Now that you mention it”? When the second person says, “Now that you mention it,” what he or she is saying is, “After hearing you say something about the remote control, I remember something about that same thing.” Or “When you said that you couldn’t find the remote control, that made me remember that I couldn’t find it last night.”
“Now that you mention it” means “because of what you just said, I have remembered or realized something.”
One thing that I would like to point out about “Now that you mention it” is the verb tense—the tense of mention in this expression. It is always in the present tense: “Now that you mention it.” We never put it in the past tense and say, “Now that you mentioned it.” And we never put it in the present perfect tense: “Now that you have mentioned it.” It’s always in the present tense, even if that doesn’t really make sense. That’s just how this expression works. It is always “Now that you mention it.”
That is “Now that you mention it,” a good way of introducing something that you have just remembered or just realized. This is a common and useful expression that I think you should know.
Outro
And that’s the end of episode 195 of Everybody ESL. Remember, if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes, the same way Juhee recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode, send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye. I’ll see you soon.