Story Time: Running out of petrol on the highway

In this lesson, we're going to focus on a real-life story. 
Have you ever found it difficult to talk about an experience you had?

This example will help you improve your storytelling skills in English. You are also going to learn useful vocabulary related to cars and fuel. 


STORY TIME  

"Last month, I was driving back home from work and I thought I had enough fuel in my car for that distance. When I was driving on the highway, I realised that I needed to fill up some fuel and I needed to get to the nearest petrol station. I didn't know where I could find an exit on the highway. The fuel gauge almost went down to empty. I pulled over in the emergency lane. I ran out of fuel so I had to call the police to help me. They called a tow truck for me which pulled me to the nearest petrol station. Finally, I filled up the tank, and was able to get back home." 

Have you ever run out of petrol? What did you do? 

IMPORTANT! 
Notice that we use PAST SIMPLE and PAST CONTINUOUS to tell stories about what happened to us.
It's really important to follow this rule so that you don't end up mixing tenses or, even worse, using Present Simple. 


VOCABULARY 

• to drive to work 
• to drive back home 
• ​gas station = petrol station 
• to overtake cars - to go past a moving vehicle or a person ahead of you because you are moving faster than they are 
• tow truck BrE /ˈtəʊ trʌk/ ; NAmE /ˈtoʊ trʌk/ - It is a truck used to move disabled or improperly parked motor vehicles. 
• fuel gauge OR gas gauge BrE /ɡeɪdʒ/ - It is an instrument used to indicate the amount of fuel in a fuel tank. 
• ​fuel tank - a large container for holding gas 
• low fuel light - This will show that you need to go to a petrol station to fill your tank up. 
• indicator BrE /ˈɪndɪkeɪtə(r)/ ; NAmE /ˈɪndɪkeɪtər/ - It shows you how much fuel you have. 
• empty fuel indicator 
• to be out of fuel (phrasal verb) - You don't have any left. 
• to refill the tank 

English Collocations with FUEL  

VERB + FUEL  

• burn fuel 
• consume fuel 

SWIM + NOUN 

• fuel costs 
• fuel prices 

Examples: 

• I overestimated how much fuel I had left in my tank. (= I thought I had more or enough.) 
• I usually fill my tank to the top. 
• You shouldn't drive around with low fuel light on. 
• Most drivers don't know how far they'll make it before running out of fuel. 
• The fuel gauge isn't always accurate. 
• You can damage your car if the level of gas in your tank runs low. (run low) 
• I was trying to avoid traffic because my car was running out of fuel. 
• Some people fill up their tank with little fuel to keep them on the road. 
• Make sure you don't run out of fuel. 

​
​
Please LIKE and SHARE with friends! ​
​

DO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH SKILLS?

Our lessons are engaging and encourage students to speak more on a specific topic.
Students learn and practise new vocabulary, and improve grammar as well.
​You will receive feedback on your mistakes and advice how to improve.

English Speaking Course

English Speaking & Writing Course