student asking question

What does “goes with” mean here?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

This is supposed to be humorous. To "go with something" means to "match" or "accompany" something. The speaker asks here if the books are real leather, because he intends for them to "match" or "accompany" his sofa, which is leather. It is clearly a bit unusual for a person to be concerned about whether his books match well with his sofa, but the speaker is sincere when he questions if they "go" with his "sofa." You can also use "go with" in the physical sense, such as a person accompanying someone to a place. Ex: Those shoes don't go with those pants. The patterns don't match. Ex: I'm going with Joe to the movies today.

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