Directions In English (Asking And Giving Directions) | Useful English Phrases!

Excuse me, would you happen to know where the nearest coffee shops is?  Huh!? Would you happen to know? Does that just mean do you know? Let’s find out. 

What’s up guys?  My name is Shane and today we are talking about asking for and giving directions in English.  This is a very important topic for students learning English because many students learn English to go travelling or to study in a different country. 

And I’m sure you already know basic phrases like go straight, turn right, turn left. So today I am going to teach you basic phrases you can use to ask for and give directions like a native speaker.  So make sure you watch until the end of the video so you know how to ask for directions like a native speaker and so you know how to give directions like a native speaker.  Okay, let’s get started. 

Asking for directions

Let’s pretend you are in Australia and you’re looking for the Sydney train station. You’re on the street and there are many Australian people walking towards you. And you want to stop one of them to ask them for directions. 

I know you know how to say where is the train station. That’s very basic stuff, right? Everybody knows that. But what are some phrases that you can use to stop someone for directions and ask them?

The first one is: excuse me, do you know where the train station is? Excuse me, do you know where the train station is?

It’s very important that you say excuse me first. Because if you don’t, the person you’re talking to might not realize that you are talking to them and they might just walk right past you.

And after we say excuse me, we say do you know where the train station is? Do you know where the train station is?

This is a more polite way than just saying where is the train station? Because if you just say where is the train station, it sounds a little bit, not polite. It’s more polite to say excuse me, do you know where the train station is?

And when native speakers say this really fast, it sounds like this. Scuse me, djyuh know where the train station is?

We don’t say excuse me, we just say scuse me. We don’t say do you. We say djyuh know where the train station is? Scuse me, djyuh know where the train station is? Now you try. Scuse me, djyuh know where the train station is?

The second phrase is: excuse me, would you happen to know where the train station is? Excuse me, would you happen to know where the train station is?

Remember, it’s very important to say excuse me at the start so the person stops and knows you are talking to them.

And would you happen to know, it just means do you know? It’s just a more polite way to say do you know?

And when a native speaker says this really quickly, it sounds like this. Scuse me, wouldjyuh happen to know where the train station is?

We don’t say excuse me again. We say scuse me. And we don’t say would you, we say wouldjyuh. Wouldjyuh. Scuse me, wouldjyuh happen to know where the train station is? Now you try. Scuse me, wouldjyuh happen to know where the train station is?

And the third phrase native speakers often use to ask for directions is: Excuse me, I’m looking for the train station. Do you know where it is? Excuse me, I’m looking for the train station. Do you know where it is?

Remember, very important to say excuse me. And I’m looking for the train station. Do you know where it is? It’s just a more polite and longer way to say do you know where the train station is?

And when a native speaker says this really quickly it sounds like this. Scuse me, I’m lookin’ for the train station. Djyuh know where it is? Scuse me, I’m lookin’ for the train station. Djyuh know where it is?

We don’t say excuse me again. We say scuse me. We don’t say I’m looking. We say I’m lookin’.  I’m lookin’. And we don’t say do you know. We say djyuh know? Djyuh know? So it sounds like this. Scuse me, I’m lookin’ for the train station. Djyuh know where it is?

Now you try.  Scuse me, I’m lookin’ for the train station.  Djyuh know where it is? 

Giving directions

Okay now we know how to ask for directions in English like a native speaker. But how do we give directions in English like a native speaker? 

What would you say if someone came up to you and said: excuse me, would you happen to know where the train station is? 

The first thing a native speaker will say is probably yes or no, right? So if the native speaker wants to say no, he will probably say something like: No, sorry.  I don’t know where it is. You might have to ask someone else. 

No, sorry.  I don’t know where it is. You might have to ask someone else. 

But if you the native speaker wants to say yes, they will normally start by saying how far they think it is.  So they might say something like: yes, it’s about a 5 minute walk from here.  Or yes, it’s about a 10 minute taxi ride from here.  Or yes, it’s about 5 minutes on the train.

And then after that, they will start to give you directions. And I know you know how to say go straight in English. But native speakers sometimes say different expressions to describe going straight.

The first one is go along. Go along. For example, go along the road. This just means follow the road.

So if the road turns right, then you turn right. If the road turns left, then you turn left.

Another way to say go straight is follow the road.  Follow the road.

So you could say follow this road for 100 meters so that means the same as go along. If the road turns right, then you turn right. If the road turns left, then you turn left.

And another phrase that native speakers like to use is go straight up the road. Go straight up the road. This just means go straight, follow the road.

And when native speakers are giving directions like this, normally they will give you a time or a distance.  So they might say go along the road for about 100 meters or walk straight up the road for about 300 meters or follow the road until you get to a really big intersection. 

Now I know you know how to say turn left. But sometimes we don’t need to turn left, we just need to go slightly left, a little bit to the left. And in this situation, we can say veer left.

So now I am going straight towards the camera.  This is veering left, just a little bit to the left.

So you could say something like go straight up the road and then you’ll have to veer left.  So this does not mean turn.  It just means slightly go to the left.

And this is the same with turn right. A lot of times you don’t have to turn right, right? You might just have to go a little bit to the right. So in this situation, again, you can say veer right.

So for example I could say: follow the road for a hundred meters and then veer right.  So that means I follow the road, whichever way the road is going and then I veer right. I go slightly to the right.

And another important word you need to know when giving directions is past. P A S T. Go past.   What does past mean?

Well, let me show you.  I start here. I walk until I get to the restaurant.  So now I am next to the restaurant. Then I keep walking. Now have I gone past the restaurant? Yes or no? Yes I have. 

So past means when you go further than a particular point. So the particular point here is the restaurant but now I have gone past it.

This is a very important word to use when giving directions because a lot of the time we use things on the street, things on the road to give directions.

For example, go past the intersection or go past the shopping center.

And the final phrase we normally use to finish giving instructions is it’s on your left. Or its on your right.

On your left means if you are looking forward, I am looking forward at the camera right now. So on my left is to the left. I have to turn left to get there.

So I could say: the train station is on the left or on your left or on your left hand side.

All of these phrases are correct and it means on the left. On the left hand side, to the left.

And with the right hand side, it’s exactly the same.  So I am looking at the camera now. On my right hand side is over here.  I have to turn right to get there.

So you could say: and the train station is on your right or on the right. All of these phrases are correct and they just mean the same thing. You have to turn right to get there.    

We have learned some new phrases and words for giving directions but how do we put them together? How do we make sentences and actually give directions like a native speaker? 

Well I have seen many infographics and many pictures and many videos which say when you’re talking about something in a sequence you must use words like first, then, finally, after, next.

But this is simply not true.  Most native speakers when giving directions do not give directions like this. They don’t say first, you go straight. Then turn left. After that, go straight until you get to the intersection and finally, your destination is on your left. That’s simply not how native speakers speak. 

So if someone asked me, excuse me, would you happen to know where the train station is? My answer would sound something like this: yeah it’s about a 5 minute walk from here.  Just go straight up this road and when you get to the intersection, turn left. And then follow the road along for about … about two hundred meters. You will walk past a Chinese restaurant and then the train station will be on your right hand side.

So if you listened to me just then, I used words like and and and then.  I didn’t say first, I didn’t say finally. I didn’t say next. I didn’t say after that. 

Most native speakers do not say these words.  Sometimes they do, yes. But a lot of the time they just say and or and then.

And that is the end of the lesson today. If you’re interested in learning more phrases that can help you sound like a native speaker, check out this video right here.  If you haven’t subscribed already, subscribe right now so you don’t miss any video that can help you understand English like a native speaker. 

If you have any questions, please comment down below. If you learned something today, please hit that like button and share this with your friends so they can start to give directions like a native speaker as well. And for daily quizzes and weekly lessons, posts and videos, make sure you are following me on Instagram.  And I will see you in the next video.  And when native speakers are giving in .. another way to say go straight also … but another way that …