Close menu

English in a Minute Series 4

Intermediate level

Verbs to use with 'car'

Episode 250107 / 07 Jan 2025

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Learn more English in a Minute

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Learn more about travel and transport

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction

There are some words that we often use together. These are called collocations. Learn some of the verbs that we often use with the noun 'car' with Neil in this video.

Common collocations with 'car'

jump in the car
Jump in is an informal way of saying 'get in the car quickly'. it can be used for other types of transport too, like trains and buses.

  • I'm going in the front of the car and mum is driving. You have to jump in the back. 

jump out the car
Jump out is an informal way of saying 'get out the car'. And this can be used with other transport too. 

  • We've arrived! Jump out everyone. 

go by car/travel by car
If you go by car or travel by car, you use the car to go somewhere else. 

  • Scotland is lovely at this time of year. Are you taking the train or going by car?

reverse the car/back the car up
If you want to go backwards, like when parking, we say reverse the car or back the car up.

  • Reverse the car a little. It's better not to park too closely to the car in front. 

overtake a car
If you overtake a car, you go past a car so that you are in front of it, instead of behind it.

  • When I first passed my driving test, I was scared to overtake other cars, but now I'm used to it. I don't like slow drivers!

a car slides/skids/crashes
If you lose control of the car, it might slide or skid across the road. If a car crashes, it hits something. These can happen in bad weather.

  • The car skidded on the ice and crashed into a tree. Luckily, no-one was hurt. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Download a free transcript!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Neil

Jump in the back and let's talk about verbs that go with 'car'.

If you jump in the car, you get in. If you jump out, you get out. This is informal.

Hey! Jump in. Let's go!

You can go or travel by car.

You're travelling to Australia by car from London? Isn't that a bit far?

To go backwards, you reverse the car or back the car up.

We missed the turning! Can you back up?

If someone else is driving a bit slowly, you might overtake them in order to be in front of them.

I'm going to overtake this car. He's driving so slowly.

But, be careful. In wet conditions, a car can slip or skid on the road. Hopefully it won't crash.

He crashed his car after skidding on the ice.

Watch more English in a Minute later, but not while in the car!

Latest English in a Minute Series 4

Takeaways

Download PDF

Podcast

Learning English vocabulary

From the Archive

  • Phrases with 'blue'

    Phrases with 'blue'

    Episode 250708 / 08 Jul 2024

    How many 'blue' phrases do you know? Learn three more here.

  • Phrases with 'ice'

    Phrases with 'ice'

    Episode 250701 / 01 Jul 2025

    Don't put your learning on ice – learn these phrases with 'ice' today!