Come to mind

Come to mind

“Come to mind” is the expression we’ll talk about today.

If you say that something “comes to mind,” then you can think of that thing easily and spontaneously.

This is a funny expression because it’s very personal: what comes to mind to me—what I can think of easily—might not come to mind to you. But still, we tend to use this to describe examples of people, places, ideas, things, that we—or a person like us—could easily think of.

Who are some famous podcasters ? Joe Rogan comes to mind. Tim Ferriss comes to mind. These are people who are famous in the podcasting world. I don’t have to look up their names. I thought of their names easily and quickly and without much effort.

Maybe you’ve heard those names; maybe you haven’t heard those names. But if I’m the one speaking, and if I say, “Joe Rogan comes to mind,” I mean that for me—and for someone like me, maybe with similar interests—for me, at least , I can easily think of Joe Rogan’s name.

What are the potential health benefits of light-based therapies? What comes to mind? Absolutely nothing comes to my mind. But if you were a scientist studying these things, or if you had recently listened to the Huberman Lab podcast, maybe pain relief would come to mind; maybe improved skin health would come to mind.

So you see how this is personal: we all have different things in our minds. What comes to mind to me might be totally unfamiliar to you; what comes to mind to you might be unfamiliar to me, especially if it’s about science.

Even so, don’t use “come to mind” with very specific things that only you would know. Use this with things that people like you, people with similar interests, people with similar experiences, would be able to think of easily.

It’s good to use “come to mind” when giving examples about topics of general knowledge. Who are the great Renaissance painters? I’m not an art history expert, not by any means. But DaVinci comes to mind. Michelangelo comes to mind. This is general knowledge; these are names that many people can think of relatively easily.

And there’s no right or wrong answer with “come to mind.” This is great a way to start a discussion, to find out what other people think. What are the great historical sites in the world? What comes to mind?

I’ll go first. Machu Pichu comes to mind. The Taj Mahal, the Colosseum in Rome, the pyramids in Egypt all come to mind. You might have said the Great Wall of China, Chichén Itzá, or Stonehenge come to mind. The great thing is, this is about your opinion and your experience.

See you next time!

We are approaching the end of today’s lesson. Now listen, this is a great time to practice using “come to mind.” You just learned it. So now is the time to practice. So I’m going to give you a few prompts here. And you should try to write a sentence using “come to mind.”

So here we go, prompt number one: what are the most famous foods in your country? And prompt number two: who are some inspirational leaders?

So write a sentence or two using “come to mind,” and answer those prompts. If you’re a Plus+ member, you can write your examples directly on the transcript page for this lesson and I will read your examples and give you personal feedback.

If you’re not a Plus+ member, it’s okay. A few ideas for you. One, you can share your examples with your English teacher. I’m sure your teacher would love to read your examples. You could ask a native English speaker in your life. You could type your sentences into ChatGPT and ask for feedback—not 100 percent accurate, not 100 percent reliable, but it’s okay, it’s okay in an emergency.

And of course you can join Plain English Plus+ and I’ll read your examples—and I’ll give you tips to improve, just like I do with all the Plus+ members. They write examples on PlainEnglish.com every single day, and they get direct, personal feedback from me. So if that’s the option you want to go with, visit us at PlainEnglish.com/Plus to join.

But that’s all for today’s lesson. We’ll be back on Monday with a new topic. See you then.