Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Lesson 310. The title of today's lesson
is the difference between to friend, befriend, and make friends. So we're
looking at friend as a verb. We're not looking at friend as a noun. Everybody
knows that. That's simple but we're looking at all three as verbs. Okay. Let's
take a look at the note here. To friend as a verb, to mean to make friends
is a very old use that is rarely used now. So usually we say that we make
friends with someone. We don't usually say I friended someone yesterday. That's
that sounds awkward. It sounds weird. We don't usually hear that. However to
friend as a verb has adopted a new meaning with the advent of the Internet.
With the beginning of the Internet, we now use to friend to mean to be added as
a friend on a social media website or somebody's page, especially Facebook. So
that's the most common you know, you could say that you know, you, you friended
someone meaning you added them to your Facebook page as a friend. You could do
that, but we don't usually say to friend somebody like in real life . If we meet
them and you become friends but on social websites, we do use it. And in the
same sense, you can also say to unfriend Like if you had somebody as a friend
on one of your social websites and I don't know maybe they made you angry or
whatever the situation was you don't want them as a friend anymore, you could
unfriend them just as easily. On the social website. Okay. Let's continue.
Befriend has a more formal use. So befriend really does mean make friends. It
is but it's used in a different way. It means more like to adopt someone as a
friend and treat him in a friendly way , especially, these are the points you
should pay attention to , especially someone who is lonely, far from home, or
needs help. So usually the person who's giving help or helping out the person or
training the person or kind of adopting the
person as a friend , they're the one that befriends that person. We don't usually
go both ways with it. Okay. So yes in a friendly way means ...
usually it is an older person or a person with more authority or who or
someone who can give help , help is to the person befriends the other one. Just
like what I said. All right. Let's continue. To make friends is the most
common way we express meeting someone and becoming their friend. So usually
when you meet a person and the two of you hit it off. You like each other. You
know, you know, of course just in a regular way and it doesn't have to be
romantic. It just means that you made friends. Both people make friends with
each other. Yeah. So it's kind of on a very much on a mutual or even basis. When
you befriend someone, it's usually the person that's kind of helping out or
aiding the other person is the one that we say befriend. Actually befriend I
think in British English can also have the meaning of to aid or to help as well.
Okay. So let's just look at some examples here. Example number one. I friended him
on my Facebook page. So only on the social media do we usually use friend
that way. That you added their name as a friend on this media. After we broke up I
unfriended her from Facebook. So again well I just like I said you could use
unfriend in the same sense. Number three. When I first came to this company
I was befriended by a senior employee who showed me the ropes. Yeah. This
kind of covers almost all of them. As somebody who's older. Somebody more in
authority. Somebody more experienced, kind of help them out. You know, showed them the
way. Then in that sense kind of befriended that person. So again, usually somebody
that the one that's making friends that's helping out somebody is the one
that befriends. And the last one of course you know, I made friends with one
of my classmates on my first day at that school. So yeah. That's
the most common way. So just think of make friends for almost everything else.
Okay. Anyway, I hope you got it. I hope it's
clear. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.