🏙️ City Life & Society Vocabulary

Part 1: City Life Collocations

Collocations are words that naturally go together. Master these to talk about urban life naturally!

Collocation	Example	Meaning
cost of living	"The cost of living here is very high."	How expensive it is to live somewhere
public transport	"Public transport is excellent in this city."	Buses, trains, metro systems
nightlife	"The nightlife here is amazing!"	Evening entertainment and activities
rush hour	"Avoid driving during rush hour."	Peak traffic times
urban sprawl	"Urban sprawl is destroying the countryside."	Uncontrolled city expansion
city center	"I work in the city center."	Main business/commercial area

Cost of living - Always used with "high" or "low"

Public transport - British English (American: public transportation)

Rush hour - Usually morning and evening

1. The of living is very high.

2. transport is excellent here.

3. The here is amazing!

4. Avoid driving during hour.

5. I work in the center.

Idioms are expressions with meanings different from the literal words. These urban idioms are very common!

Concrete jungle - City with many tall buildings
"New York is a real concrete jungle."
Rat race - Competitive urban lifestyle
"I'm tired of the rat race."
Big fish in a small pond - Important person in small place
"He was a big fish in a small pond."
Urban jungle - Dangerous city environment
"The streets can be an urban jungle at night."
City that never sleeps - Very active city
"New York is the city that never sleeps."
Small town mentality - Narrow-minded thinking
"Don't have such a small town mentality!"
Bright lights, big city - Excitement of urban life
"She was drawn to the bright lights, big city."
Fish out of water - Uncomfortable in new environment
"I felt like a fish out of water in the big city."

1. New York is a real concrete .

2. I'm tired of the rat .

3. He was a big in a small pond.

4. New York is the city that never .

5. I felt like a fish out of .

Phrasal verbs are verbs combined with prepositions or adverbs that create new meanings!

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
get around	Travel/move in the city	"It's easy to get around by metro."
move away	Leave to live elsewhere	"They moved away from the city."
settle in	Become comfortable in new place	"It took time to settle in to city life."
hang out	Spend time casually	"We hang out at the park."
check out	Visit/investigate	"Let's check out that new restaurant."
run into	Meet unexpectedly	"I ran into an old friend downtown."
drop by	Visit briefly	"Drop by my office sometime."
head out	Leave/go somewhere	"Let's head out to the city center."

1. It's easy to around by metro.

2. They away from the city.

3. Let's out that new restaurant.

4. I into an old friend.

5. Let's out to the city center.

Practice city life vocabulary with a native English speaker!

Book Now

Test your English speaking skills!

Start Test

🏙️ Excellent! Now you can talk about city life like a true urbanite!