Phrasal verbs · Free lesson
Get on or get off the bus?
You and a friend are travelling to a swimming pool. Your friend needs to know where to board the bus and where to leave it.
Professor Scott MendozaMeaning in this lesson
get on / get off
Get on means board a bus, train or similar form of transport. Get off means leave it.
Example
“Get on here. Get off at the next stop.”
Board the vehicle here, then leave it at the next stop.
The short answer
Get on the bus means board it. Get off the bus means leave it. Keep the vehicle after on or off: get off the bus, not get the bus off, for this meaning. In the past, get becomes got.
Picture the passenger’s movement.
Use on as the passenger enters the bus and off as the passenger leaves it. The words stay in this order when you name the vehicle: get on the bus, get off the bus. If everyone knows which bus you mean, you can simply say Get off here.
Two parts of the same journey
We get on the bus outside the library.
We get off the bus near the pool.
Yesterday, we got off at the wrong stop.
The particle changes the action. Getting off is not the same as the bus driving away: it is the passenger leaving.
Follow the journey
Board
get on the bus
Travel
ride to the pool
Leave
get off the bus
Try it now
Choose the passenger’s action.
Read all answers and explanations
You are outside the bus and want to board it. Choose the instruction.
Get on the bus.Get on means board. Get off is the opposite movement, and get the bus on does not express passenger boarding.
You are riding the bus and will leave at the next stop. What do you say?
We get off at the next stop.Get off says you will leave the bus. Get on would mean boarding, which is the opposite action.
Choose the correct past-tense sentence about leaving the bus yesterday.
Yesterday, I got off the bus.The past of get is got. Keep off after it: got off. Getted is not the past form.
Put it into practice
Explain where you leave.
You are already on the bus. Tell your friend that you leave it near the pool. Repair the word order without changing that meaning.
We get the bus off near the pool.
See a model answer
We get off the bus near the pool.
The passenger leaves near the pool. Get on would describe the opposite part of the journey.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Can I say “We get off here” without “the bus”?
Yes, when the vehicle is already clear. You do not need to repeat it in every instruction.
This is our stop. We get off here.
Do I also get off a taxi?
For leaving the inside of a taxi, normally say get out of the taxi. Learn the expression with the vehicle rather than applying off to every vehicle.
I got out of the taxi.
Take it into your day
Get on to board. Get off to leave. Keep the bus after the particle.
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