On the road in English: Using the right words

When you're talking about traveling by car in English, make sure that you're using the right words! There are a couple of important differences between English and German, especially regarding verbs and prepositions.

While both passengers and drivers use the same verb (fahren) in German, we use two separate verbs in English. 

• Drive a car = you are the person behind the wheel.

  • I drove my car to work yesterday.

• Ride in a car = you are a passenger.

  • I rode with my boss to work yesterday.

You might notice something else that’s different: There’s no preposition in the first sentence. Whereas Germans would say Ich bin gestern mit dem Auto zur Arbeit gefahren, we don’t need a preposition like with in English.

• ❌ Wrong: I drove with my car to Berlin.

• ✅ Right: I drove to Berlin or I drove my car to Berlin.

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