“Yeah, but then it'll be blocking one of the outlets.”

You're moving into a new apartment and trying to decide where to put your furniture. Your roommate suggests a location for the couch, but you don't think it's a good spot. You say:

Yeah, but then it'll be blocking one of the outlets.

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“I came this close to packing up and moving out to Hollywood to pursue an acting career.”

You wanted to be an actress when you were younger. Now, it's many years later. You're telling your niece the story of why you stopped acting. In part of the story, you say:

I came this close to packing up and moving out to Hollywood to pursue an acting career.

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“He's going to hang back for a few weeks to tie up a few loose ends.”

You and your husband are moving across the country. You're going to move first, and your husband is going to come a few weeks later. You're explaining your plan to a friend on the phone:

He's going to hang back for a few weeks to tie up a few loose ends.

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“Now it's just a matter of getting everything unpacked!”

You're moving into a new apartment. The moving company that you hired has delivered all of your stuff to the new apartment. Now you have to unpack it. You think to yourself:

Now it's just a matter of getting everything unpacked!

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“So were you transferred here, or did you move voluntarily?”

A new person just started working at your office. You've heard that she came there from another branch of the same company on the other side of the country. You've introduced yourself, and now you want to know if she chose to move to your branch or was told to come there. You ask:

So were you transferred here, or did you move voluntarily?

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“What if we rented a moving van instead of hiring someone?”

You and your family are planning to move to another city in 2 months. You haven't fully planned how you're going to move all your stuff yet, but you have an idea. While you're having dinner with your wife, you brought up the topic of the move. Now you make your suggestion:

What if we rented a moving van instead of hiring someone?

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“You know, I've been thinking about the move.”

You and your family are going to move to another city in a couple months. You haven't fully planned how you're going to move all your stuff yet, but you have an idea. While you're having dinner with your wife, you want to introduce the topic of how to move your stuff. You say:

You know, I've been thinking about the move.

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“I'd just like to say, on behalf of everyone here, good luck in your new home.”

You've organized a party at a restaurant for a friend of yours who's moving to another part of the country. You've gotten everyone's attention, and now you want to officially say some nice things about your friend. You say:

I'd just like to say, on behalf of everyone here, good luck in your new home.

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“How often do you get the opportunity to move to another country?”

You were offered a job in another country and are telling your friend about it. You think that you're going to take the job because it's an interesting change and something that you won't have another chance to do later in life. You explain why you're going to take the job:

How often do you get the opportunity to move to another country?

how often do you (do something)

Save & CloseThere are two meanings of the question "how often do you ___?" The first is the literal meaning. How many times per month, per year, etc. does something happen? For example:

A: How often do you work out?

B: Probably two or three times a week.

The other meaning is a rhetorical meaning. You ask "how often do you ___?" to express that something doesn't happen very much. Here's an example of that use:

Wow, your son actually keeps his room clean without you asking? How often do you hear about that?

In the example at top, the speaker is saying that people don't often get the chance to move to another country. That's why the speaker is going to take the job.

get the opportunity to (do something)

When you "get the opportunity" to do something, it means that you are allowed to do something that you think is good.

An "opportunity" is usually something that you want to do to improve yourself, like something related to work, or to an activity that you like doing such as sports or music.

When you're talking about the person who does the action, you say "get an opportunity":

She got the opportunity to meet with a lot of famous film directors and producers.

When you're talking about the person who lets you or helps you do the action, you say "give ___ an opportunity":

Our mission is to give disadvantaged children the opportunity to grow and achieve their dreams.