When you need this

Learning to drive comes with its own conversations: with the instructor in the passenger seat, with the family member who is teaching you and gripping the door handle, and with the examiner on test day. The language is a mix of instructions, checks and nerves.

Instructors speak in short commands ("Check your mirrors", "Ease off the gas") because there's no time for full sentences at thirty miles an hour. You'll understand them faster if you know the common ones in advance. In the US, you get a learner's permit first and a driver's license after you pass the test.

Phrases

classes where someone teaches you to drive

a first license that lets you practice with an adult

the card that says you're allowed to drive

the exam you take in a car

look behind you before you move

use the light that shows you're turning

press the gas pedal less; slow down gently

stop quickly

parking in a line of cars along the street

the area behind you that mirrors can't show

drive to the side of the road and stop

the result of the test

Say it out loud

Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.

Practice · 3 min

Say the line that fits. Situation on the left, one natural line on the right.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.