Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[navi]

My friend asked me to buy this.

Could this sentence ever be used instead of:

My girlfriend asked me to buy this.

or:

My boyfriend asked me to buy this.

[CP]

Yes, you could call your girlfriend / boyfriend just your friend, and that would be true, but it wouldn't please her or him to overhear it, because it would sound like you are trying to conceal that she is your girlfriend / he is your boyfriend. We may have many friends, but only one girlfriend or boyfriend. You wouldn't say "My relative / A close family member asked me to buy this" when you meant your wife or husband, would you?
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