Name: How to use 'pop' in informal English: Ask BBC Learning English
Uploaded: 2025-02-18T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 3 min 17 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Bubbles pop. Balloons pop. But do you know how to use pop in informal English?

Some people ask me about pop in and pop out. What does it mean?

Ok, that was João's question, but we want to hear from you, so send us your questions to our email address.

Ok, so in informal English, pop just means go somewhere for a short time.

I'm just going to pop to the hairdressers. I'm back. Don't ask.

You could also use pop with the preposition out.

And this means you go out of the place you're in for a short amount of time.

I'm just going to pop out and take this call.

We often use it to talk about leaving home for a short time.

I'm just going to pop out to get some milk. I'm back.

We can also use pop in or into if you go inside a place for a short time.

I'm just going to pop in the bank and get some money out.

We often use pop in to talk about visiting someone in their home.

We can also use pop over or pop round to mean go to someone's house for a short time.

Do you want to pop round for a cuppa later?

So I'll pop over means I'll come to your home.

Ok, I'll pop over and see you this afternoon.

It's getting cold. I'm going to pop back inside.

So use pop up if you're going up somewhere for a short time.

Or pop down, for example, if you're going downstairs.

I'll pop up in a bit. I'm just doing some filming.

Careful though because sometimes words have more than one use in English.

Sian's videos keep popping up on my feed.

So as you can see, pop is a very useful word to know in English.

In British English, you might also hear nip.

Ok, so we've looked at lots of ways to use pop to talk about moving somewhere.

But you can also use pop in informal English instead of put.

I'm just going to pop the food in the oven.

Oh, and I'll pop a bit of cake in the oven too.

Just pop my glasses on. Can't see very well.

So as you can see, pop is super useful in English.

But check below for some more information on this topic.

And don't forget to pop back next week for another great video.

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How to use 'pop' in informal English: Ask BBC Learning English

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