How to stop a cab in English
Hi everyone, how's it going? I'm Simon and in this channel I'll show you how to communicate naturally and confidently in English for everyday situations and what I'll teach you here you won't learn from books or in academies. Today we're looking at riding in a taxi, what it's like inside and the most common conversations had with a cabby or taxi driver, so let's dive in!
So instead of taking the train or a bus, you can ride or travel in a cab or taxi. Of course, you can call for a taxi or even book one through a mobile app or you can flag down or hail a free cab in the street. If the yellow taxi sign is on, in England that is, it means the cab is available. They don't have a free or busy sign. They're often a different colour and can be marked with the name of the company or some of them even carry advertising.
Hackney carriages, the type of taxi every tourist is familiar with, like the ones we see in London, have a meter to calculate the fare, according to the distance traveled. The cabby sits or stops the meter and the passenger or customer can pay by card or may even have an account with the taxi company. There is a surcharge for ordering a taxi with a child seat and there is also a surcharge for each piece of luggage, and you'll most probably find that the fare to the airport usually costs extra.
When we get in a taxi, we usually say something like 'Oh, I'm going to so and so street or road' and the taxi driver or the cabby might ask us 'Oh, which route do you want to take?' although that doesn't happen very often in London, because they know all the routes like the back of their hand. In fact, if your driver is an authentic Londoner, they will ask 'Where to guv?'- this is short for governor, meaning boss. So once inside, we might ask questions like 'Do you mind if I open/close the window?' or 'Can you turn the radio on or off?'. 'Can you take the motorway? I'm in a real hurry'. If the cabby is especially friendly or chatty, we can strike up some small talk, like 'Oh, what a lovely day today!' or 'What awful traffic!' or 'I listen to this radio station too'.
So that's all for now. If you found this video enjoyable and useful, then please give me a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe to my channel so you can keep your English up to date for everyday
situations. Remember that there's a summary of this video lesson by clicking on more at the bottom. Bye!