Town & Directions
Town & Directions — 20 high-frequency words, with pronunciation, collocations, false friends and four interactive exercises.
📌 Lesson contents
🎯 Lesson aim
Ask for and give directions without panic 🗺️. Twenty words to find your way around a town in Britain, plus the imperative (Go straight on, then turn left) and the prepositions many learners get wrong: on the corner, at the traffic lights, opposite the bank. 🚀
🗂️ Word Bank
Tap 🔊 to hear the British pronunciation. The IPA transcription is under each word.
📖 Words in context
Getting lost in York · tap a highlighted word to hear it.
We arrived at the station and asked for directions to the town centre. "It's within walking distance," said the woman at the desk. "Just go straight on to the traffic lights, then turn left."
Of course we managed to get lost anyway. We walked along the pavement, crossed at a zebra crossing and reached a big roundabout with no signs at all. Luckily the cathedral is a perfect landmark: you can see it from everywhere.
The streets near the market were incredibly crowded. We found a café on the corner, right opposite the museum and next to a bookshop. Later we bought a return ticket and waited on platform two — this time we did not miss the train.
🔗 Collocations & chunks
Words are learned in pairs, not alone: memorise the whole chunk.
| Chunk / collocation | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| give someone directions | to tell someone the way | Could you give me directions? |
| go past the church | to walk by and not stop at it | Go past the church and turn right. |
| take the first turning | to leave the road at the first side road | Take the first turning on the left. |
| it's just around the corner | very close, just ahead | Don't worry, it's just around the corner. |
| how far is it? | what is the distance? | How far is it from here? |
| get around | to travel from place to place in a town | It's easy to get around by bike. |
⚠️ Tricky Words and Traps
| English word | Real meaning ✅ | Common trap ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| pavement | the path for walking beside a road | In the US it means the road surface → the US word is sidewalk |
| station | a place where trains stop | It isn’t a holiday place → that is a resort |
| parking | the act of leaving a car somewhere | A place to park is a car park (UK) / parking lot (US) |
| corner | the point where two streets meet | Inside a room it is also a corner, but use “in”: in the corner |
🎚️ Register: when to use them
| Expression | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Excuse me, where's…? | neutral | the standard way to stop a stranger |
| Sorry to bother you… | cortese | useful before asking a passer-by for a favour |
| Could you tell me the way to…? | polite-formal | always suitable, even in a hotel |
| Any idea where … is? | informal | between friends or people your age |
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| Go direct and turn to left. | Go straight on and turn left. |
| The bank is in front of the station. | The bank is opposite the station. |
| I lost the train. | I missed the train. |
| I am in the corner of the street. | I am on the corner of the street. |
🎮 Vocabulary gym
Four ways to practise the same 20 words. Your progress is saved on this device.
Tap the card to flip it.
Tap an English word, then its meaning. Eight pairs per round.
Complete the ten sentences with the right word. The short hint is your clue.
- Turn right at the .💡 Turn right where the two roads cross.
- Take the second exit at the .💡 Take the second exit from the circle where roads meet.
- Stop at the .💡 Stop at the red, amber and green signals.
- Walk on the , not the road.💡 Walk on the path beside the road, not in the road.
- Cross at the .💡 Cross the road where the black and white stripes are.
- Just for two hundred metres.💡 Keep going forward for two hundred metres.
- Then after the church.💡 Then change direction to the ← side after the church.
- The bank is the station.💡 The bank is across from the station, face to face.
- The bakery is the pharmacy.💡 The bakery is at the side of the chemist’s.
- There's a café .💡 There is a café where two streets meet.