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

that we use in this lesson.

And I'm also, on my website,

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.

So, before you start driving,

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.

Now, once you're in the car,

you can see here the person puts on their seatbelt.

So you put on your 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.

I have been there.

So, "We're not going anywhere

"until you put on your seatbelt."

Then, you take off the handbrake.

So, always remember to take off your handbrake.

And then you start the car.

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,

put it into third, and so on.

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,

but I soon got used to it.

And it's so much easier

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.

So, in an automatic 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

in order to change gears,

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

that do certain things.

A lot of the time we can use the phrasal verb,

to turn on, or put on.

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,

instead of putting on the AC,

you can also put the windows down.

To put the windows down.

In the past, people used to also say

"wind the windows down",

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

"blinkers" or "turn signals".

When it comes to your speed, you can say,

"We're doing 70 miles an hour,"

or "We're going 70 miles an hour."

So, in the UK and America,

we use miles per hour and not kilometers per hour.

If someone is going or driving too fast,

you can say, "Slow down".

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 "We're not moving at all,"

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.

Let's set off at 7:00 a.m.

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."

"It's a long drive."

And the last one I want to share with you is this,

a back seat driver.

Now, to be a back seat driver

means that you're giving directions,

and you're constantly telling people how to drive,

if you are not driving.

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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"The 5-Step Plan for English Fluency",

if you want to jump right in.

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then check out the To Fluency Program.

I'll leave a link to that in the comments section below.

Thank you again for watching.

It's great to have you here, and I will speak to you soon.

Bye bye.

(upbeat music)