A1 · Beginner · City · 118 words · ~2 min read

🚇 Tickets for the London Underground

Language focus: Present Simple · How much…? & can

Before you read

Two things drive this story: asking about price with How much…? and talking about possibility with can. Both are short structures, and both appear in almost every real transaction you will ever have in English.

Maria is in London. She wants to travel by Underground, so she goes to the ticket machine in the busy station.

“How much is a day pass?” she asks a helpful worker. “It is fifteen pounds,” he says. Maria buys an Oyster card and smiles.

Later, she needs more money on her card, so she tops it up. Now she can travel all day across the whole city.

Maria can travel on buses with the same card. She cannot use it on the fast airport train, so she buys a separate ticket for that journey.

In the evening she checks her balance on her phone. She has got four pounds left. “That is enough for tomorrow,” she thinks.

Key vocabulary (8 words)

undergroundnoun: The railway that runs in tunnels under a city.
passnoun: A ticket that lets you travel many times.
machinenoun: A device that does a job, such as selling tickets.
farenoun: The money you pay to travel.
workernoun: A person who does a job.
cardnoun: A small plastic rectangle used to pay or travel.
busyadjective: Full of people or activity.
helpfuladjective: Willing and useful in helping others.

Phrasal verbs in this story

top up — To top up means to add more money or credit to a card or phone.

The grammar in this story

can and cannot never change form

“Now she can travel all day.” “She cannot use it on the airport train.” Can takes no -s with he, she or it, and the verb after it stays in the base form: she can travel, never she cans travel or she can to travel. This makes it one of the simplest verbs in English once you trust it.

How much for prices

“How much is a day pass?” Money is uncountable in English, so the question is always how much and never how many. The answer takes the same shape: It is fifteen pounds. Note is with a singular price even though fifteen is plural.

so joins a reason to a result

“She wants to travel by Underground, so she goes to the ticket machine.” So introduces the result; because introduces the reason. You can say the same thing either way round: She goes to the machine because she wants to travel.

by for transport

Maria travels by Underground, and elsewhere people go by train, by bus, by car. No article after by. The one famous exception is on foot, which never takes by at all.

Phrases you can reuse today

How much is a day pass?: The price question for any ticket.
Can I use this card on the bus?: Can for permission and possibility.
I need to top up my card.: Top up = add money. Very common in the UK.
Which line goes to Oxford Circus?: Line is the word for an Underground route.

Comprehension quiz

Where is Maria?
- Paris
- London
- Rome
Show answer
London
How does she want to travel?
- By Underground
- By plane
- By boat
Show answer
By Underground
How much is a day pass?
- Five pounds
- Fifteen pounds
- Fifty pounds
Show answer
Fifteen pounds
What does she buy?
- An Oyster card
- A sandwich
- A map
Show answer
An Oyster card
“Top up” means to…
- add more money
- get off
- sit down
Show answer
add more money

Now use it yourself

Reading builds recognition; writing your own sentences is what turns it into something you can actually say. Three short tasks:

Write four things you can do and two you cannot do in your city without a car.
Ask three How much…? questions about transport where you live.
How do you usually travel to work or school? Use by.