In this mini episode, you will learn the useful phrase “As a matter of fact.”
Episode 319 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the useful phrase “As a matter of fact.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions 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 are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 319 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 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
In this episode, I am going to teach you about an interesting way to start a sentence.
This is a phrase that we use to introduce certain kinds of sentences. And this phrase is “As a matter of fact.” As a matter of fact. That’s a-s, a, m-a-t-t-e-r, o-f, f-a-c-t. As a matter of fact.
What does “As a matter of fact” mean? What it means is “actually” or “really” or “in truth.”
That’s what it means, but how do people use it?
Because “As a matter of fact” means “actually,” we use it in two different ways. We can use it to mean “Actually, that is correct. Now I’m going to give you more information about that.” And, we can also use it to mean “Actually, no, that is incorrect. Now I’m going to give you the correct information.”
So, when we begin a sentence with “As a matter of fact,” we are either agreeing with something that somebody said, and then giving more information, or we are disagreeing with something that someone just said and giving more information that explains what the truth is.
Let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might use the phrase “As a matter of fact.”
Let’s say that a friend has invited you over to her apartment for dinner. And when you get to her apartment, your friend is putting all of the dishes on the table, and everything looks delicious. And you say to your friend, “Oh, I heard that you were a very good cook.” And your friend looks at you and says, “As a matter of fact, I once went to cooking school.” As a matter of fact, I once went to cooking school.
When your friend introduces that sentence with “As a matter of fact,” she is saying, “Yes, you are right. And now I will give you information about that.”
Now, let’s imagine a different situation.
Let’s say that a different friend has invited you over to her apartment for dinner. And when you arrive at your friend’s apartment, she is putting all of these takeout containers on the table. She did not cook herself. She ordered takeout. Or, she ordered delivery. You look at all of this food and you say, “Oh, I thought you were going to cook tonight.” And your friend says, “No, I didn’t cook tonight. As a matter of fact, I never cook. I don’t know how to cook anything.”
In this situation, your friend is saying, “As a matter of fact” to disagree with you and then to tell you what the truth is.
In both of these situations, “As a matter of fact” is a way of introducing more information into the conversation. It might be agreeing with someone, or it might be disagreeing with someone.
And that is “As a matter of fact,” a very useful phrase that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 319 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play 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 a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!