Learn 10 phrasal verbs for talking about vehicles
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| Hi, everybody and welcome back to Top Words. My name is Alisha. Today, we're going to talk about 10 Phrasal Verbs for Talking About Vehicles. Let's go. |
| The first phrasal verb is "pull in." "Pull in" is used usually when you're driving very slowly. We usually use it for a parking lot. So, we'll use it in expression like, "Pull in to that space" or "Pull in over there." In the sentence, "Pull in to that space over there." It means usually to slowly move your car into a space, into a parking space, or maybe into a garage. You're going into something usually very slowly. So, "Pull in over here," "Pull in over there," "Pull in to that parking lot," "Pull in to that driveway," for example. So, slowly move in to another place. We use the phrasal verb "pull in" for that. |
| The next phrasal verb is "pull up." In the sentence, "I'll pull the car up in front of the hotel." We usually use this when we want to slowly drive and then stop at a location. So, for example, at a stoplight, we would say, "Pull up to the stoplight." So, it means to slowly drive to a place and then stop. So, "Pull up next to the mailbox" or "Pull up next to my house," "Pull up over there," means slowly drive and then stop at that place is "pull up." That's how we use "pull up." |
| The next expression is "back up." "Back up," so "back" means reverse. "To back up a car" is to move a car slowly in reverse. So, usually, in most cases, we drive cars going forward but you sometimes need to move your car in the opposite direction. "Back up out of the driveway," for example. It means to go slowly in reverse, "to back up." In the sentence, "The truck backed up until it touched the loading dock." |
| The next expression, we talked about "pull in," now we have "back in." So, "pull in" means to drive forward into something; "back in" means to slowly go backward into something, usually a parking space or a garage or something. So, "back in" is going in reverse, "pull in" is going forward as usual. So, in a sentence, "Back in to the parking space." |
| The next expression is "roll down." This might be a little bit of an outdated expression at this point in time but prior to the use of automatic windows, usually now, I think most cars have a button and the window will automatically roll down. But we used to have a manual, a hand-crank in cars to roll down windows. So, this motion, which was used to move the window, that was also the verb we use. We use "roll." So, this motion is like roll and then the window comes down. So, we combined the two to say, "roll down the window." In a sentence, "Roll down your window. It's hot in here." |
| The next expression is "head up" and "head down." These are very common expressions when you are trying to navigate in a city. You don't have to use these only in cars. You can use them when you're walking or traveling on foot as well, on bicycle, whatever. You can use "head up" and "head down" anytime you are trying to go somewhere. So, "head up" and "head down" really just mean go. So, I could say like, "Head up the street until you see a Starbucks and then turn right." |
| Generally though, the difference between up and down here, it has kind of like a north and south. At least in English, it has a north-south sort of feel. So, if for example, I'm talking about the West Coast of the USA. Seattle is in the north and Los Angeles is in the south. I would say, "I'm heading down. I'm going to head down to Los Angeles from Seattle." or "I'm going to head up to Seattle from Los Angeles." It sounds really strange if I say, "Head up to Los Angeles" because Los Angeles is south of Seattle. So, when you're thinking, when you're speaking geographically, when you're speaking in terms of north and south for places, it's better to use head up or head down depending on the location you're talking about coming from. Let's see. In this sentence, "Head down the street for a while." |
| The next expression is "run over." This is a word that we use when in a car, let's say you're driving your car and then an animal comes out in front of the car but you continue going. We say, "You are going to run over." So, to run, in this case, is not a human running but a car running. So, the car is running, is going, is continuing over something else. So, we can say like, "Don't run over any animals" or "Be careful not to run over your brother." And as an example sentence, "I think you ran over a squirrel." |
| True story, my little brother once ran over me in a golf cart. That is true. My brother and I were playing one time and my grandparents had a golf cart and my brother and I were outside running around. We're playing like a James Bond kind of spy game where we're like, "Okay. I'm going to drive the golf cart and you have to run alongside and jump in." And I was like, "Okay," but I tried to jump. I don't know. I got nervous but it wasn't really going that fast but somehow things went wrong and I fell down, or maybe I tripped or something like that while I was running. I fell down and he ran over me in the golf cart, like ran over my leg, just drove right over my leg and I was like, "Ah." And we got in big trouble. I was fine, yeah. No, I died. |
| The next word is "pull over." So, "pull over" means--usually, you are driving the car and you want to make a stop. So, usually, we use this like on the side of the road or in a place where you wouldn't usually stop or in kind of a strange, not necessarily strange but maybe not a typical place to stop a car. So, for example, if there's like a bee in the car and you're like, "Ah, I need to get this bee out of my car," you can pull over to the side of the road. We usually use it like, "Pull over to the side of the road and do what you need to do." Or maybe you need to pull over at a rest stop, pull over at a bathroom, essentially. Okay. So, in a sentence, "Pull over at the next rest stop." |
| Yeah. So, "pull over" is also used by the police as well. It's like a command. It's a temporary situation. So, the police are going to stop you. They say, "Pull over to the side of the road," and then you have to move your car to the side of the road where it's safe and they talk to you and then you can continue down the road after you finished speaking to them. Police will use it as a command. |
| The next phrasal verb is "pull out." So, for example, when you are coming out of a parking space, for example, where you can say like, "Pull out of this parking space and turn left." It means like to exit something slowly. So, "to pull out of a parking space" or "to pull out into traffic." So, turning from one lane to another maybe busier lane. The image is going kind of slowly and then picking up the pace somewhere else. So, "to pull out into" is another common expression. "Pull out into traffic" or "Pull out of a space and turn left" or "Pull out of the driveway," for example. In this example sentence, "A super slow truck pulled out in front of us on the mountain road." |
| The next expression is "get on." We use "get on" usually for large roads. So, a highway or a major street. Usually, the traffic is moving very quickly. We say, "Get on the highway, get on the 5." So, like in the U.S., lots of highways, major roads are labeled with numbers. So, California, a big state highway is the number 5, Highway the 5. So, you could say like, "Get on the 5 at the next exit" or "Get on the 5 at the street," for example. So, "to get on" means like to join with your car in that major road. In a sentence, "Get on the highway here." |
| Okay. So, that's the end. Those are 10 Phrasal Verbs for Talking About Vehicles. I hope that those were useful and some of these phrasal verbs you can use in situations other than cars and automobiles. Thanks very much for watching this episode of Top Words and we'll see you again soon. Bye! |
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