Public transport · Getting around
a single
one-way ticket
A single is a ticket for travelling in one direction only.
This vs that
Can I get a single to Leeds?
Can I get a return to Leeds?
Hear it in real life
Are you coming back tonight?
No, just a single to Oxford, please.
I bought a single to Manchester because I wasn't sure when I'd be coming back.
Which sounds natural?
Psst — which one would you actually say?
People normally use 'a single' at a British ticket office; the stiff version sounds like a formal definition.
The mistake everyone makes
Not: I'd like one single to London, please.
Say: I'd like a single to London, please.
Use 'a single' for a one-way ticket; 'one single' is not natural here.
Say it together
Whole chunks natives use with it.
buy a single to ___
I bought a single to York because I was staying for the weekend.
Can I buy a single to Cambridge, please?
Phrases to borrow
More for talking about public transport.
change trains at ___
You need to change trains at Birmingham New Street.
Is this the bus for ___?
Excuse me, is this the bus for Oxford?
Public transport words
Getting around · Public transport: the words around “a single”.
More connectionsMore public transport words8
More public transport words
Your turn: say it out loud
Can I get a single to Bristol?
Say it out loud two or three times, until it feels like yours.
a single
one-way ticket
“I bought a single to Manchester because I wasn't sure when I'd be coming back.”
heytardy