Which English do you need at the airport?
You need short answers to the questions staff ask and three request frames: "Can I …?", "Could I …?" and "I'd like …". On top of that come the words for the three stops: check-in, security and gate, problems.
- Ask politely with "Can I get …?", "Could I have …?" or "I'd like …".
- "Luggage" and "baggage" take no "s"; count with "bags" or "pieces of luggage".
- "Get" means receive or fetch; "become" means "werden".
A2 · Business Travel · 10 minAirport English, taught brick by brick.
A structured lesson for A2 learners who fly for work. Hear a check-in in context, meet the questions staff ask and the requests you make yourself, then practise them in interactive drills and a final quiz. The lesson follows your trip in order: check-in, security and gate, problems. It takes about ten minutes and nothing requires a signup.
- CEFR levelA2 · Elementary
- Time to completeAbout 10 minutes
- SkillsVocabulary, Listening, Writing, Speaking
- Bricks10 blocks
01 / 06
What you actually need at the airport
Air travel involves many situations, but a small set of phrases helps you handle them. At each stop a member of staff asks a few predictable questions, and you answer with short phrases or make a simple request. This lesson follows a business trip in order: first the check-in desk, then security and the gate, then the problems that sometimes happen. Imagine you are flying to a client meeting or a conference. You do not need long sentences. You need to recognise the question quickly, answer in a few words, and know three request frames that work at most desks: Can I …?, Could I …? and I'd like …. Those frames are polite enough for a stranger behind a desk and easy enough for A2. The rest of the vocabulary, such as passport, boarding pass, gate, delayed and connection, fits into the frames like bricks. Listen for the key word in the question and answer that word first.
02 / 06
Stop 1: At the check-in desk
At the check-in desk the talk is usually about three things: passport, bags and seat. Typical questions from staff are "Can I see your passport, please?", "Do you have any bags to check in?" and "Would you like a window or an aisle seat?". Your answers can be short: "Here you are." when you hand something over, "Yes, two bags." and "An aisle seat, please.". Staff often ask where you are flying, too, and "I'm flying to Munich for a client meeting." fits well. You form your own requests with the three frames: "Can I get a window seat?", "Could I have an aisle seat, please?" or "I'd like to check in for my flight to Berlin." At the end you receive your boarding pass. Close the scene with a friendly "Thank you". If you did not understand a question, say "Sorry, could you say that again, please?". That is a perfectly normal, polite request.
03 / 06
Stop 2: Security, the gate and announcements
After check-in you go through security to the gate. There you hear short instructions such as "Please step this way." or "Is this your bag?". You answer simply with "Yes, it is." or "Yes, thank you.". If you are looking for the way, ask "Excuse me, where is gate 12?" or "Which gate is it for the flight to Munich?". Watch the word order: in this question is comes before the subject the gate, so Where is the gate? and not Where the gate is?. At the gate you show your boarding pass when staff ask: "Can I see your boarding pass, please?". Announcements are usually short and follow a set pattern, for example "The flight to Berlin is now boarding at gate 12." or "This is the final call for passengers to Berlin.". You do not need every word. Listen for the city, the gate number and the word boarding. If you are unsure, ask the staff at the gate once more.
04 / 06
Stop 3: When something goes wrong
Sometimes a trip does not go to plan. A simple pattern helps: name the problem first, then make your request. For a delay you say "My flight is delayed." and ask "Do you know the new time?". For a cancellation, "My flight was cancelled. Can I get another flight, please?" fits. If you missed a connecting flight, say "I missed my connection." and add "Can you help me, please?". If your bag does not come, say "My bag didn't arrive." and ask "Where can I report it?". Stay calm and friendly even when you are short of time. Excuse me and please usually take you further in these moments than long explanations. What you can ask for in detail depends on the airline and the situation. This lesson only gives you the language to ask, and says nothing about what you are entitled to.
05 / 06
The first trap: you do not count "luggage"
For two suitcases, say "two suitcases" or "two bags", not "two luggages". In English, luggage is uncountable, and so is baggage. These words take no plural s and no a or an before them. Correct examples are "I have a lot of luggage.", "I have some luggage." and "My luggage is heavy.". When you want to count items you have two options. You count the bags themselves: one bag, two bags, a suitcase, two suitcases. Or you count with piece: one piece of luggage, two pieces of luggage. That is how you answer "How many bags do you have?" safely with "Two bags." at the desk. Cabin bags are called hand luggage in British English and carry-on in American English. Both are understood. Remember: you count bag and suitcase, but not luggage and baggage.
06 / 06
The second trap: "get" is not "become"
The German word bekommen sounds very much like English become, and that is exactly what causes mistakes. Become means werden: "I became a manager." means Ich wurde Manager. When you want to receive or fetch something, you need get. That is why you ask "Can I get a window seat?" and not "Can I become a window seat?". The verb get is very useful at the airport because it fits many situations: "Can I get a boarding pass?", "How do I get to gate 12?" or "Can I get another flight?". After Can I and Could I the base form of the verb follows, so get and have, not gets or getting. Could I have …? is usually a little more formal than Can I get …?. With I'd like … you say calmly what you want and finish with please. All three frames are right at home at A2.