Vocabulary 1

Vocabulary
Transport
A Vehicles

Vehicle is the general word for all types of road transport. The difference will remain in how we use it.

B Get a bus, take a taxi

bus Train plane taxi bicycle car

Driver Driver Pilot Driver Cyclist Driver
Drive Drive Fly Drive Ride Drive
($) fare Fare Air fare Fare - -
Get/catch/take Get/catch/take Get/take Get/take Go on Go in
Get on/off Get on/off Get on/off Get in/out Get on/off Get in/out
Journey Journey Flight/journey - Ride Journey
Bus station Railway station Airport Taxi rank - -

C Trains

These are things train passengers (=people who travel by train) often say or ask:

 Single to Edinburgh, please. (=a ticket to Edinburgh)

 Return to Bath, please. (= a ticket to Bath and back)
 Do I have to change? (=change to another train)
 Is it a fast train or a stopping train?
 Which platform for Liverpool?
 When is the train due to arrive? (=timetabled to arrive)

D Buses

Sometimes buses are punctual (=arrive at the correct time), but not always. Where I live, buses should run
(=travel, operate) every ten minutes, but sometimes I wait at the bus stop for half an hour in a queue (=line
of people), and then three buses come together, and they’re all full up (=full of people). Other times the bus
is early and I miss it (=I don’t catch it).

E Taxis

Taxis show what you have to pay on the meter. When you want the driver to stop, you can say this: could
you drop me here (=could you stop here?). People often give taxi drivers a tip (=extra money as well as the
fare). For example, if the fare is $8.40, you can give the driver $9.

© Pablo Pinto Ramirez 2010

 Vocabulary 2

Air travel
A Departures

When you arrive at the airport, you can look at the departures board which shows the flight numbers
(example BA735), departure times (example 8.40) and destinations (example Venice). At the check-in desk
they weigh your luggage. Usually you can tale about 20 kilos. If it is more, you may have to pay excess
baggage (=you pay extra). They also check your ticket and they give you a boarding card for the plane with
your seat number on it. Then you go through passport control where an official checks you passport, and
into de departure lounge. Here, you can also buy things in the duty free, for example perfume or alcohol.
About half an hour before take-off, you go to a gate number, for example gate 14, where you wait before
you get on the plane. When you board (=get on) the plane, you find your seat. If you have hand luggage,
you can put it under your seat or in the overhead locker above your seat. If there are no delays (=when you
have to wait until a later time for some reason), the plane moves towards the runway (=the area where the
planes take off and land).

Delay can be used as a noun or as a verb. It is a very common word at airports.

There’s a two-hour delay on our flight.

What’s the reason for the delay?
Why is the flight delayed?
We were delayed at the Athens airport.

B The flight

The captain (=the pilot) or cabin crew (=people who look after passengers) may say these things:

Please fasten your seatbelts and put your seat in the upright position.
May we remind passengers (=to passengers: please remember) that there is no smoking now until
you’re inside the terminal building (=the part of the airport where passengers arrive and depart)
The cabin crew are now coming round with landing cards (=cards you have to fill in when you enter
certain countries)

C Arrival

When the plane lands (=arrives on the ground), you have to wait for it to stop. When the doors are open,
you get off the plane and walk through the terminal building and go to the baggage reclaim (=place here
you collect your luggage). You go through customs (GREEN=nothing to declare; RED=goods to declare). At
most airports, you hire a car (=rent a car).

© Pablo Pinto Ramirez 2010

 Vocabulary 3

Hotels and restaurants

A Types of hotel accommodation

A single room: room for one person with a single bed.

A double room: room for two people with one large bed.
A twin room: room for two people with two single beds.
Full board: includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Half board: includes breakfast and dinner.
B&B: just bed (=the room) and breakfast.

B Visiting a hotel or restaurant

At busy times, for example the weekend, you may need to book (=reserve) a room in a hotel or a table in a
restaurant in advance (=before you go). When you arrive at a hotel you check in at reception (=tell the
receptionist you have arrived); at a restaurant you ask for a table (for example “Could we have a table for
two?” or “I booked a table for two; the name is Carter). In restaurants you can tip the waiter/waitress (=give
money for good service) if service is not included; in a hotel you may also give the porter (=person who
carries luggage) a tip. At the end of a meal in a restaurant or the end of your stay in a hotel, you pay the bill.

C In a restaurant

You can see the food available on the menu, and choose wine (and other drinks) from the wine list. There
are usually three parts to a meal: a starter (for example, soup), a main course (for example, meat or fish)
and a dessert (for example fruit or ice cream). A drink before the meal is often called an aperitif.

D Useful words and expressions

In a hotel
GUEST: Are you fully booked (=completely full) next week?
Do you have any rooms available (=free rooms) this weekend?
Is breakfast/dinner included? (=Does the price include breakfast/dinner?)
Where’s the lift? (=the machine which takes you up or down a floor)
Excuse me. How do I get to the underground from here?
There’s something wrong with (=there’s a problem with) the heating in my room.
What time do we have to check out? (=leave the room on our last day)

In a restaurant
WAITER: Are you ready to order? (=have you decided what you want?)
Would you like to try the wine? (=taste the wine to see if it is ok)
Is everything all right with your meal?
CUSTOMER: Are you fully booked?
What’s vichysoisse exactly?
I’ll have (the soup) to start. (=as a starter)
Excuse me. Where’s the toilet?

© Pablo Pinto Ramirez 2010

 Vocabulary 4

A sightseeing holiday in the city

A Famous places

You can visit a palace, markets, temples, statues, castles or cathedrals. Many people go on sightseeing tour
of a town (usually in a bus); they can also go on a tour a castle, cathedral, etc. When you are sightseeing, it
helps to buy a guidebook (=a book of information for tourists) and a map of the town you are visiting.

B Tourist activities

Go sightseeing Spend money

Do a bit of/a lot of sightseeing Get lost (=lose one’s way)

Have a look round (=visit somewhere casually) Have a great/nice/terrible time

Take pictures (=photos) Go out (=leave home/your hotel to go to a social

event)
C Describing Places

The word place can describe a building, an area, a town, or country:

“Bruges is a lovely place (=town) and we found a really nice place (=hotel) to stay.
The town is full of interesting places (=areas/buildings)”.

Venice is beautiful but it’s always packed (=very crowded) with tourists.
New York is very cosmopolitan (=full of people from different countries and cultures).
St Petersburg has lots of historic monuments (=important places built a long time ago).
Many beautiful cities are now very touristy (=a negative word: “too much tourism”)
Sao Paulo is a really lively place (=full of life and activity) and the nightlife is fantastic.
To ask if it is “a good idea” to visit a place, use be worth + ing or noun.
A: If I go to Scotland, is it worth spending a few days in Edinburgh?
B: yes, definitely – and Glasgow is worth a visit as well.

© Pablo Pinto Ramirez 2010