July 14, 2025 • 9 mins
I almost hit the wall when I backed up my car. I was in the middle of talking to Jack when he suddenly cut me off to tell me that I should slow down. Anyway, why don’t you pull up so we can go through this lesson!
If you’ve ever driven in the U.S., or you’re just curious about how we talk about driving in everyday English, then today’s episode is for you. We’re going to talk about phrasal verbs that we use when driving—and trust me, there are a lot of them.
Join my Podcast Learner's Study Group here: https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/transcript
Visit my website for over 3,000 free English lessons: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/
If you’ve ever driven in the U.S., or you’re just curious about how we talk about driving in everyday English, then today’s episode is for you. We’re going to talk about phrasal verbs that we use when driving—and trust me, there are a lot of them.
Join my Podcast Learner's Study Group here: https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/transcript
Visit my website for over 3,000 free English lessons: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I almost hit the wall when I backed up my car.
I was in the middle of talking to Jack when
he suddenly cut me off to tell me that I
should slow down anyway, Why don't you pull up so
we can get through this lesson.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
This is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight forty four. Phrasal
verbs related to driving. Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining
(00:54):
me for another episode of the Happy English Podcast. I'm
your English teacher Michael, and I'm so glad you're listening.
If you've ever driven in the US, or you're just
curious about how we talk about driving in everyday English,
than today's episode is for you. We're gonna talk about
(01:16):
frasal verbs that we use when driving, and trust me,
there are a lot of them. Let's start with something
simple parking. So here's the thing. When I park in
my driveway, I usually back in. That means I drive
(01:37):
in reverse into the driveway, so the back of the
car goes in first. That way, it's easier to pull
out later. Some people prefer to pull in, meaning the
front of the car goes in first. Either way is fine,
(01:58):
but personally I like backing in. It just makes getting
out smoother. The next day. I remember my friend Kevin.
He backed into this tiny parking spot like a pro.
I was seriously impressed. Now, depending on how you parked,
(02:18):
you're either going to pull out or back out. So
if you backed in, then you'll pull out when you leave,
but if you pulled in, you'll have to back out.
Makes sense right. Speaking of backing up, here's another one
(02:40):
back up. This one is all about moving the car
just a little bit in reverse. Like one time I
was parked in front of a garage and this guy
asked me, Hey, can you back up a little you're
blocking the door. Or when a big delivery truck was
(03:00):
coming through my street, everyone had to back up just
a bit so it could squeeze by. Yeah, backing up
is usually just a small move, not full on reverse.
When you're parking. The opposite of that pull up. That's
(03:20):
when you move forward a little, like when you're at
a drive through and the car in front moves, you
pull up to the window or your friend says, just
pull up to the curb and I'll hop in. Super common. Now,
if you've ever been driving and had to suddenly stop
(03:41):
on the side of the road, maybe because of car
trouble or because you're lost, you probably had to pull over.
That's what we say. When you move your car to
the side of the road and stop and yep, sometimes
times the police will ask you to pull over. I've
(04:03):
been pulled over for speeding oops. And one time I
had to pull over because I got a flat tire.
Not fun. And speaking of getting back on the road,
there's pull out again, but this time in a slightly
different context. If you're parked or stopped on the side
(04:24):
of the road, you'll pull out when it's time to
rejoin traffic. Just make sure it's safe first. I've seen
people pull out without even checking their mirrors. Scary stuff.
One guy pulled out right in front of a delivery truck. Yikes.
Now let's talk about speed. When you're in a hurry,
(04:47):
you might have to speed up. I've definitely had to
speed up to catch a green light or pass a
slow truck on the highway. And yeah, I've sped up
more than one When I was running late for a movie.
On the flip side, when the road is slick or
there's traffic up ahead, you should slow down, like slow
(05:11):
down there's a speed camera coming up. Or when I
was in Upstate New York last winter, I slowed down
big time. Those icy roads were no joke. Now here's
a driving move that everyone hates, cutting someone off. That's
when a driver suddenly pulls in front of you without signaling.
(05:35):
It's dangerous and rude. Just the other day, I was
driving on the highway and this guy totally cut me off.
No blinker, nothing, He just swerved in in front of me,
and that almost caused an accident. So yeah, don't cut
people off. And by the way, cut off isn't just
(05:57):
for driving. You can also use it in a conversation,
like when I'm explaining something and someone interrupts me, I
might say, hey, don't cut me off. Or worse, some
people just talk over you like they don't even hear
you talking. So yeah, cutting someone off works in more
(06:19):
than one situation. Let's move to run over. I almost
ran over a squirrel the other day. Poor guy darted
right out into the street. Luckily I missed him. My
friend Dan wasn't so lucky. He ran over a nail
and got a flat tire and kind of like cut off.
(06:43):
Runover has another meaning too. If something takes longer than scheduled,
like a meeting or a class, you can say it
ran over like sorry, I'm late, the meeting ran over.
In other words, it went longer than scheduled. That's super
useful in business settings. So there you have it. Tons
(07:08):
of driving phrasal verbs that we use all the time
in everyday English. These phrases are supernatural and easy to
use once you get the hang of them. And the
cool thing is a lot of them have meanings outside
of driving too. All right, that's it for today. Thanks
(07:28):
for riding along with me, and I'll catch you next time,
hopefully not stuck on the side of the road. Drive
safe and keep learning and keep in mind the best
way to remember English like this and any other word
or phrase in English, is to take that word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or
(07:50):
true in your world, and then memorize your sentence is Hey,
do you want to get more practice using your English,
Well you should join my podcast Learner's study group. There
you can make new friends join us for live group
lessons every week where we practice these podcast lessons together.
(08:11):
Plus you get access to the PDF, transcript and audio
download for every Happy English podcast in the past and
in the future. And on top of that, each episode
has exercises where you can practice this English point with
speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just
(08:32):
visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson eight
forty four. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but
it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you on
your journey.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please
visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy
English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy,
Happy English.
I almost hit the wall when I backed up my car.
I was in the middle of talking to Jack when
he suddenly cut me off to tell me that I
should slow down anyway, Why don't you pull up so
we can get through this lesson.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
This is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight forty four. Phrasal
verbs related to driving. Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining
(00:54):
me for another episode of the Happy English Podcast. I'm
your English teacher Michael, and I'm so glad you're listening.
If you've ever driven in the US, or you're just
curious about how we talk about driving in everyday English,
than today's episode is for you. We're gonna talk about
(01:16):
frasal verbs that we use when driving, and trust me,
there are a lot of them. Let's start with something
simple parking. So here's the thing. When I park in
my driveway, I usually back in. That means I drive
(01:37):
in reverse into the driveway, so the back of the
car goes in first. That way, it's easier to pull
out later. Some people prefer to pull in, meaning the
front of the car goes in first. Either way is fine,
(01:58):
but personally I like backing in. It just makes getting
out smoother. The next day. I remember my friend Kevin.
He backed into this tiny parking spot like a pro.
I was seriously impressed. Now, depending on how you parked,
(02:18):
you're either going to pull out or back out. So
if you backed in, then you'll pull out when you leave,
but if you pulled in, you'll have to back out.
Makes sense right. Speaking of backing up, here's another one
(02:40):
back up. This one is all about moving the car
just a little bit in reverse. Like one time I
was parked in front of a garage and this guy
asked me, Hey, can you back up a little you're
blocking the door. Or when a big delivery truck was
(03:00):
coming through my street, everyone had to back up just
a bit so it could squeeze by. Yeah, backing up
is usually just a small move, not full on reverse.
When you're parking. The opposite of that pull up. That's
(03:20):
when you move forward a little, like when you're at
a drive through and the car in front moves, you
pull up to the window or your friend says, just
pull up to the curb and I'll hop in. Super common. Now,
if you've ever been driving and had to suddenly stop
(03:41):
on the side of the road, maybe because of car
trouble or because you're lost, you probably had to pull over.
That's what we say. When you move your car to
the side of the road and stop and yep, sometimes
times the police will ask you to pull over. I've
(04:03):
been pulled over for speeding oops. And one time I
had to pull over because I got a flat tire.
Not fun. And speaking of getting back on the road,
there's pull out again, but this time in a slightly
different context. If you're parked or stopped on the side
(04:24):
of the road, you'll pull out when it's time to
rejoin traffic. Just make sure it's safe first. I've seen
people pull out without even checking their mirrors. Scary stuff.
One guy pulled out right in front of a delivery truck. Yikes.
Now let's talk about speed. When you're in a hurry,
(04:47):
you might have to speed up. I've definitely had to
speed up to catch a green light or pass a
slow truck on the highway. And yeah, I've sped up
more than one When I was running late for a movie.
On the flip side, when the road is slick or
there's traffic up ahead, you should slow down, like slow
(05:11):
down there's a speed camera coming up. Or when I
was in Upstate New York last winter, I slowed down
big time. Those icy roads were no joke. Now here's
a driving move that everyone hates, cutting someone off. That's
when a driver suddenly pulls in front of you without signaling.
(05:35):
It's dangerous and rude. Just the other day, I was
driving on the highway and this guy totally cut me off.
No blinker, nothing, He just swerved in in front of me,
and that almost caused an accident. So yeah, don't cut
people off. And by the way, cut off isn't just
(05:57):
for driving. You can also use it in a conversation,
like when I'm explaining something and someone interrupts me, I
might say, hey, don't cut me off. Or worse, some
people just talk over you like they don't even hear
you talking. So yeah, cutting someone off works in more
(06:19):
than one situation. Let's move to run over. I almost
ran over a squirrel the other day. Poor guy darted
right out into the street. Luckily I missed him. My
friend Dan wasn't so lucky. He ran over a nail
and got a flat tire and kind of like cut off.
(06:43):
Runover has another meaning too. If something takes longer than scheduled,
like a meeting or a class, you can say it
ran over like sorry, I'm late, the meeting ran over.
In other words, it went longer than scheduled. That's super
useful in business settings. So there you have it. Tons
(07:08):
of driving phrasal verbs that we use all the time
in everyday English. These phrases are supernatural and easy to
use once you get the hang of them. And the
cool thing is a lot of them have meanings outside
of driving too. All right, that's it for today. Thanks
(07:28):
for riding along with me, and I'll catch you next time,
hopefully not stuck on the side of the road. Drive
safe and keep learning and keep in mind the best
way to remember English like this and any other word
or phrase in English, is to take that word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or
(07:50):
true in your world, and then memorize your sentence is Hey,
do you want to get more practice using your English,
Well you should join my podcast Learner's study group. There
you can make new friends join us for live group
lessons every week where we practice these podcast lessons together.
(08:11):
Plus you get access to the PDF, transcript and audio
download for every Happy English podcast in the past and
in the future. And on top of that, each episode
has exercises where you can practice this English point with
speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just
(08:32):
visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson eight
forty four. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but
it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you on
your journey.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please
visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy
English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy,
Happy English.
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