Asking for Directions

Even now, when most of us have smartphones and gps maps always available, knowing how to ask for and give directions is incredibly useful. 

Today, we’ll focus on how to ask someone in the street or inside a building for directions.

First, we start with a greeting or an exclamation that lets the other person know we want to speak to them.

Sorry…
Excuse me…
Hi there…
Hello sir/madam…

Then, we add a polite phrase before the request.

…do you know/have an idea…
…could you tell me…

Finally, we add our request.

…where the bathrooms are.
…how I can reach the fourth floor.

We can also skip the polite phrase for a more direct request.

Sorry, could you tell me where the bathrooms are?
Hi there, where are the bathrooms?

Directions in context

Below are examples of a few different situations. Try to write a suitable question for each so that you get the information you need without offending anyone.

1-  Ask someone close to your age in the street where the supermarket is.
2- You are looking for a specific office in your workplace. Ask a colleague you don’t know very well about it.
3- Ask a security guard in the shopping centre if they have lost and found and where to find it.
4- You are lost in a city you’re visiting. Ask an older person how to get back to your accommodation.

Older Practice Activities

• How to Handle Stress
  Whenever we want to share information or some kind of message, we need to structure the way we say it to make it easy to understand. There are many phrases and words in English that you can use. When listing a few things or ideas, the simplest way is to use the words first, second,… Read more: How to Handle Stress
• Again! Again!
  If you’ve ever taken care of a toddler, you’ve probably noticed they like routine and repeating things over and over again. Today, we’ll take a look at an article that talks about this phenomenon. The article is not too long, and you should be able to skim it for the general idea easily. After your… Read more: Again! Again!
• Prepositions of Time and Place
  Prepositions can be a bit tricky, especially the most common ones such as on, at and in. You’ve probably studied the use of these many times before but mistakes in them are so common, a bit of extra practice won’t hurt. With prepositions on, at and in the general rule is that we use in… Read more: Prepositions of Time and Place
• A Day in the Life
  It’s time to practise some writing. Today, I’d like you to focus on the structure of your piece. Try to use some phrases to signpost where you are in the narrative. I’d also recommend using prepositions of time and place to add some specific information and detail. Journal Entry Writing a journal in English can… Read more: A Day in the Life
• BrainStuff
  BrainStuff is a podcast that releases short (usually under 15 minutes) episodes daily. They usually offer a short introduction to a specific topic. They often speak quite fast during the episodes, so don’t forget you can slow down the audio in most podcast apps. BrainStuff: How Do We Define the Kilogram How Do We Define… Read more: BrainStuff
• Freerice
  While I usually recommend learning vocabulary from context rather than lists and definitions, we can use these techniques to practise what we already know. Today, my recommendation is for a website run by the UN World Food Programme, where you can improve your knowledge while earning rice for correct answers. These grains of rice are… Read more: Freerice