What to say at the gas station in English

Your gas gauge is creeping toward E and you're not totally sure how to ask for what you need once you get there. Gas stations have their own small vocabulary, most of it useful the first time you pull up to a pump in an English-speaking country.

Reading your gas gauge

Your “gas gauge” shows how much fuel is left in your tank, usually marked with an F for full and an E for empty. When the needle gets close to E, it's time to find a gas station.

If your tank is close to empty, you'd say you're "running out of gas" or "running low on gas." People sometimes shorten this to "my car's on E." "Running on fumes" means the same thing, just taken a step further. So there's barely anything left in the tank at all.

A few ways this sounds in conversation:

• I'm running low on gas so we should probably stop soon.
• My car's on E. I need to find a station fast.
• We're basically running on fumes at this point.

At the pump

In the US, people usually say they need to "get gas" or "gas up," rather than "fill up at the petrol station," which is more common in British English. Once you're at the station, you pull up next to a "gas pump," the machine you use to put fuel into your car.

Most gas stations in the US are "self-service," meaning you pump your own gas. Some are "full-service," where an attendant pumps it for you. At a full-service station, you can just say, "I need some gas," or "Can you fill it up for me?"

A couple of examples:

• I need to gas up before we hit the highway.
• Can you fill it up for me? I'm at pump three.

Choosing your fuel

Gas pumps usually offer a few options: Unleaded, Regular, Plus, Premium, and Diesel. You can ask for a specific dollar amount or just ask for a full tank.

A few examples:

• Fill her up with unleaded, please.
• Let me get $50 of premium.
• Can I get $25 worth of regular, please?

A few extra requests

At a full-service station, or sometimes even a self-service one, you can ask the attendant for a bit more than just gas. Like a windshield clean, a tire pressure check, or a look at the engine oil. If they need to check under the hood, they might say, "Pop the hood," meaning open the latch so the engine is exposed.

If you need change to use an air pump or vending machine, you can ask, "Do you have change for a dollar?" The same phrasing works for other bills too: a five, a ten, a twenty.

Most stations these days take cards right at the pump. At the ones that don't, you'll usually need to pay inside and tell the cashier your pump number and the amount you want.

A few ways these come up:

• Do you have change for a five? I need it for the air pump.
• Pump four, twenty on regular, please.
• Could you pop the hood? I think something's leaking.

When it's more than just gas

Sometimes your car needs more than a fill-up. If something's wrong mechanically, you'll want a "service station." That’s a gas station with a mechanic on-site who can actually work on the car.

One thing worth knowing here: a "garage" at someone's house is just where you park your car. A "garage" at a gas station means something different. It's where the mechanic works on cars.

Here's what that sounds like:

• The service station down the road can probably look at that noise.
• They took my car into the garage to check the brakes.

As long as you're driving, you're going to need gas, which means you'll be using these phrases more often than you think. It's fine to rehearse a little in your head as you pull up the first few times. Eventually, you won't need to. Just make sure you get there before you're running on empty.