“Well, you never know...”

English Lesson: Well, you never know...

You bought a lottery ticket. You mention it to your roommate. She asks if you think you're going to win. Of course you don't think so, but you do have some small hope. You say this.

Well, you never know...

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You never know...

"You never know" means that there's a small chance that something could happen. Use this to talk about something that probably won't happen, but is still possible.

A common way to use "You never know..." is to say that something might be useful in the future. For example:

A: Do you want to keep this? We don't use it anymore. 

B: Yeah, let's keep it. You never know...

You can also use it when you're hopeful that something great will happen:

I like to dress nicely, even if I'm just going to the grocery store. You never know – I might meet the man of my dreams there!

Well

There are many reasons to use "Well" at the beginning of a sentence. One reason is to defend yourself.

When someone has attacked your actions or something that you said, you can say "Well" before you explain yourself:

A: You never do the dishes!

B: Well, that's because I don't use as many dishes as you.

A: You broke it!

B: Well you're the one who told me to hold it like that!

Defending yourself with "Well" can make you sound a little childish when you use it in an argument. But you can also use "Well" to defend yourself a little more calmly:

A: Don't you have to go to work soon?

B: Well, yeah, but it's OK if I get to the office a little late.