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nice to see someone again

nice to see someone again

52 1.1
A polite phrase to say you are happy to meet someone again
  • idiom
translation icon : qué gusto verte de nuevo
  • Nice to see you again, Mr. Lawrence.
  • so nice to see you again
  • Hi, nice to see you again
  • very nice to see you again

Examples

Surface Forms

Morphology

nice + to + see + someone + again

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from the constituents: 'nice' (pleasant) + 'to' (infinitival marker) + 'see' (meet) + 'someone' + 'again' (once more), so a learner who knows each word can infer it expresses pleasure at meeting someone again. This is a common, compositional pattern across languages and follows standard English grammar, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Nice to see someone again comes from everyday greetings when people meet after a time. The picture is simple: you feel pleased to see a friend again, so saying 'nice' is a quick way to 'show pleasure at meeting someone a second time', and that is why we use the phrase today.