Queueing and Out-and-About Etiquette
Follow Britain's unwritten rules in queues, buses and trains.
Sorry, is this the queue?
Computer voice · not a real clip
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About 4 min Free, no account
All 15 phrases
In the queue6
- Is this the queue?Check before you join.
- Are you in the queue?Politely checking if someone standing nearby is waiting.
- Sorry, I think I was nextPolitely defending your place.
- Sorry, there's a queueWhat you say to a queue-jumper.
- Go ahead, you've only got a couple of thingsLetting someone with fewer items go before you at the till.
- Next, pleaseStaff calling the next customer.
Being polite2
Buses and trains7
- Is anyone sitting here? / Is this seat free?Asking about a free seat on a bus, on a train or in a café.
- Could you budge up a bit?Asking someone to move along a bench or seat.
- Would you like my seat?Offering your seat to someone older, pregnant or who needs it.
- Excuse me, this is my stopGetting off a crowded bus or train.
- Let them off firstOn trains and the Tube, let people get off before you get on.
- Stand on the rightOn London Underground escalators, standing is on the right and walking on the left.
- Cheers, driveThanking the bus driver as you get off.
Check yourself15 questions
Question 1 of 15
Why check first?
More packs
- Tube, buses and contactlessTap in, find your train and get off at the right stop.
- Everyday British mannersQueues, sorry, please and visiting homes without seeming rude.
- UK greetings and pet namesDuck, pet, hen and love: what they mean and how to reply.
About this pack
- Price
- Free
- Account
- Not needed, saved on this device
- Reviews
- 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days later
- Moments
- 1 of 15 phrases have a clip
- Sources
Picked by Talk, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Phrases
- Picked by Talk.
- How Talk picked them
- Part of Talk's themed British life packs. Talk wrote each phrase with what it really means, when to say it, what not to say instead and one quiz question. A phrase gets a moment only if Talk's spoken videos say it with the same meaning. One review picked each moment, and a second tried to reject it. This pack holds 15 phrases.
- Licence
- Talk shares this list under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Meanings and examples
- Written by Talk in plain English.
- Dictionary details
- From Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Princeton WordNet, used under the WordNet licence. WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Start practising
About 4 min Free, no account