The meaning of phrasal verb to bump into someone is to meet someone by chance, without planning to.
For example, if you’re walking to the shops and you see one of your friends (without arranging to meet them) then you can say that you bumped into them on the way to the shops.
e.g. I bumped into an old friend today while walking the dog. It was such a nice surprise!
e.g. We live in the same small town, so we’re always bumping into each other.
Note that this meaning is only used when talking about people. Phrasal verbs with a similar meaning to bump into, but which are used with things, are come across, run across, stumble upon, stumble on.
A safe synonym of bump into is run into. e.g. I ran into Josh earlier on. He said to say hi.
This phrasal verb is a good example of how the more metaphorical meaning of a phrasal verb is connected to a more literal meaning. If you literally bump into something, then you walk into it (probably because you weren’t being careful or looking where you were going). e.g. I was so busy scrolling through Facebook on my phone that I bumped into a lamp post. This meaning is extended to the more metaphorical meaning: you meet someone without planning to (or looking for them).
Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?
Accent: Northern England
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Tom – .
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I Tom earlier – he's over for a .
About the sentence
…he’s invited us all round…
Toinvite somebody round is a phrasal verb which means to invite someone to your house, e.g. for a meal.
Accent: North America
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You'll who I the way home !
About the sentence
…you’ll never guess who I bumped into...
You’ll never guess is a nice way to introduce some very interesting or exciting news, e.g. You’ll never guess what I did last night.
Accent: Ireland
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– .
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I'm things – look massive bruise .
About the sentence
I’m always bumping into things
Using the present continuous with always is a common way of complaining about someone’s (or our own) behaviour. e.g. My boss is always interrupting me – it’s infuriating.
…look at this massive bruise…
Massive is an extreme adjective, which means very big. e.g. This cake is absolutely massive. Do you want to take some home with you?
Tell me a story, starting with: “The other day I bumped into…”.
What do you think is happening in the photo at the top of this post?
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When you are talking about meeting somebody accidentally, bump into somebody and run into somebody have the same meaning.
Personally, I wouldn’t use run across somebody to talk about meeting somebody accidentally, but it can be used in this way.
I would say that To come across something would be a more useful phrasal verb to learn, meaning to find something accidentally or by chance. If you keep doing the exercises on microEnglish, you will come across this phrasal verb soon 🙂
FabianKX
7 years ago
Days ago, I was on my way to the office whenI bumped into my ex. It was an awkward situation since we didn’t break up in good terms.
In the picture, both women might be old school friends who bumped into each other while commuting. Apparently, it’s been quite a long time without talking because they look very emotional in the photo.
lengockhanh
7 years ago
hello.Can you help me? . I’m sitting on the fence between using the sentence : ” I’ll come across trouble” or ” I’ll get into trouble”
Good question – I would say that ‘get into trouble’ is much more common and natural. If you get into trouble, it just means that you get into a bad, difficult or dangerous situation. You can use this very generally, for many situations (e.g. a child might get into trouble for not doing their homework, or a person might get into financial trouble after losing their job. If you come across something, it means that you find it or encounter it without looking for it. You can use this with ‘a problem’ as long as it is quite specific (e.g.… Read more »
I love it. You can practise english for real.
Great, thank you!
Wow
I like it!
I do have a question,
what is the difference between bump into and run across, run into?
Hi Luis, good question!
When you are talking about meeting somebody accidentally, bump into somebody and run into somebody have the same meaning.
Personally, I wouldn’t use run across somebody to talk about meeting somebody accidentally, but it can be used in this way.
I would say that To come across something would be a more useful phrasal verb to learn, meaning to find something accidentally or by chance. If you keep doing the exercises on microEnglish, you will come across this phrasal verb soon 🙂
Days ago, I was on my way to the office whenI bumped into my ex. It was an awkward situation since we didn’t break up in good terms.
In the picture, both women might be old school friends who bumped into each other while commuting. Apparently, it’s been quite a long time without talking because they look very emotional in the photo.
hello.Can you help me? . I’m sitting on the fence between using the sentence : ” I’ll come across trouble” or ” I’ll get into trouble”
Good question – I would say that ‘get into trouble’ is much more common and natural. If you get into trouble, it just means that you get into a bad, difficult or dangerous situation. You can use this very generally, for many situations (e.g. a child might get into trouble for not doing their homework, or a person might get into financial trouble after losing their job. If you come across something, it means that you find it or encounter it without looking for it. You can use this with ‘a problem’ as long as it is quite specific (e.g.… Read more »
It is a excellent excercise for practice. Thanks
Great! Thanks Fabiola