Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1. I think if you and your husband take him to dinner and hang out somewhere, then maybe he will open up to you, I can kinda relate to your son.
- �I can kinda relate to your son� means � I can kinda understand your son�, right? And is this common?

2. Don�t always ask him about the cuts, you have to first be his friend and then you play the mother role. Get where I am going?
- �get where I am going?� means �understand what I�m saying�, right?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[redset]

1. Yes - it doesn't just mean understand, but also empathise to some extent. In this case the author is implying that they've had similar experiences to the son, and they can relate these experiences to the son's situation.

You can understand things without actually being able to relate to them. Imagine a band singing a song about how much they hate their parents, how they hate school, how they hate their lives etc. A teenager could listen to this song and say 'hey, I hate my parents and school and my life too! I can relate to this song!' Someone older would probably listen to it and be able to understand the sentiments behind the song (teenagers often feel the need to rebel, school can be a tough environment and so on), but they probably wouldn't be able to relate to something so immature - it wouldn't be relevant to their own life.

2. Yes, '(Do you) get where I am going (with this)?' means 'do you understand where the discussion is leading / do you understand the point I'm getting to / do you understand what I'm eventually going to have explained if I keep talking?'