Car Vocabulary: All the English Phrases You Need to Know (phrasal verbs, idioms, and collocations)
- [Jack] Hello, this is Jack from tofluency.com,
and welcome to this lesson where you are going to learn
vocabulary related to cars and to driving.
So, I'm going to do this by showing you various videos
of people doing things in cars,
and I'm going to explain what they're doing,
and give you the right vocabulary and phrases to use,
so that you can talk about driving cars, as well.
Now, to make the most out of this video,
be sure to check out the description,
so that you can see a list of the phrases
going to give you some extra examples.
So, click the link in the description to get those examples,
so you can better understand these phrases.
there are a few things you have to do.
You have to get your keys, either find them in your house,
if you constantly misplace them,
or you need to take them out of your pocket.
Then, you need to unlock your car,
open the door, and then get in the car.
you can see here the person puts on their seatbelt.
You can also fasten your seatbelt.
Now, you'll hear parents say things like,
"We're not going anywhere until you put on your seatbelt,"
if their children don't want to put their seatbelt on.
"until you put on your seatbelt."
Then, you take off the handbrake.
So, always remember to take off your handbrake.
Now, if you're ever late for work, and you need an excuse,
you can say, "I'm sorry I'm late, my car wouldn't start."
I'll explain that grammar tense in the description.
It's important to know some differences
between driving in America and driving in the UK.
Now, if you get a car in the UK,
it's probably going to be a manual car,
which means that you have to change gears.
You have to put it into first, put it into second,
But, if you get a car in America,
then it's most likely going to be automatic,
which means you just put it into drive and just go.
Now, this was a little bit strange for me at first,
just putting your car into drive and going.
In an automatic car, you can put the car into reverse,
into drive, into a low gear or into park.
Another difference is the amount of pedals
in an automatic and manual car.
you have the brake pedal and then gas.
So you can step on the brake or step on the gas.
You'll also hear people say "hit the gas", "hit the gas".
In manual cars in the UK, you have three pedals,
the clutch, which you need to step on
you have the brake and then the accelerator.
So, in the UK, we say "step on the accelerator".
In the U.S., we say "step on the gas".
There are various buttons on the dashboard
A lot of the time we can use the phrasal verb,
For example, turn on the radio, turn on the AC,
turn on the heating, turn on the hazard lights.
And you can also turn up and turn down.
Turn up the radio, turn up the heating, turn down the AC.
It's too cold in here, turn down the AC.
And, if things get a little bit warm,
you can also put the windows down.
In the past, people used to also say
but now everything is more or less automatic.
The next thing I want to talk about is the indicator.
Now, I find that a lot of people,
when driving in America, don't indicate.
This is very frustrating because you don't know
where the car is going to go next.
And this is useful information
for other drivers and for pedestrians.
I find that, in the UK, people indicate all the time.
Now, it might just be where I live in America,
but this is something I have definitely noticed.
So the noun here in the UK is indicators,
and in America you'll hear people say
When it comes to your speed, you can say,
"We're doing 70 miles an hour,"
or "We're going 70 miles an hour."
we use miles per hour and not kilometers per hour.
If someone is going or driving too fast,
If they're going too slow, you can say,
"Come on, speed up, speed up a little bit."
If you're helping somebody with directions, you can say,
"Turn left here," or "Take your second right,"
or "Go straight ahead at the roundabout,"
or "You missed your turn again, listen to me."
Driving can be a little bit frustrating at rush hour
because there is so much traffic on the road.
You might hear people say, "It's bumper to bumper,"
or "Has there been an accident, we're not moving at all."
But, when the roads are clear, and you're in no rush
to get somewhere, driving can be very enjoyable,
especially if you have good music on the radio,
good snacks in the car, and it's not too hot outside,
so you can open the windows to bring in a fresh breeze.
Once you have finished driving, you take off your seatbelt,
put on the handbrake, turn off the car, get out of the car,
and then always remember to lock the doors.
Here are some other phrases that you might hear.
So, to set off means to start your journey.
So, let's set off at 7:00 a.m.
Or, do you think we should set off early morning?
Or, do you think we should set off before seven?
If you're going on a long journey, you can say things like,
"It's a long drive, let's get a good night's sleep."
And the last one I want to share with you is this,
means that you're giving directions,
and you're constantly telling people how to drive,
So, saying things like, "Slow down,"
"Turn left here," "I'd put it in third gear,"
"You're a bit close to that car in front."
If you constantly say things like that,
then you are a back seat driver.
I hope you found that lesson enjoyable.
If you did, then please click that like button
and share it with your friends.
And, again, check out the description
because I'll list all the phrases I used in this lesson.
And go to my website to see some other examples, too.
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