Hello, moms and dads raising bilingual kids! Do you ever wonder whether your English sounds natural when chatting with your little ones about everyday things? If so, you’re in the right place! Have you read our first post on handy phrases for bilingual homes? If not, or if you’d like a quick refresher, be sure to check it out here.
This time, we’re focusing on one very specific, everyday situation: traffic lights! 🚦
Picture this: you’re crossing the street with your toddler, who’s fascinated by the passing cars and the traffic lights changing colors. They point at the lights with their tiny little finger, and, of course, you naturally want to talk about what’s happening around you. But what exactly should you say in English? Read on for some handy, natural-sounding phrases you can use in this everyday moment with your little one!
A Little Chat About Traffic Lights
Mom: All right, sweetheart. The light is flashing, so we’d better wait for the next green light.
Toddler: Okay!
M: Do you know why we have traffic lights?
T: Safety first!
M: That’s right! Safety comes first. Traffic lights help prevent accidents.
T: Red!
M: That’s right! The pedestrian light is red, so we must wait. Let’s wait until it’s safe to cross.
M: Look! The traffic light for cars is flashing. Let’s wait and see what happens.
T: Green!
M: Yes! The green walking light is on. Let’s check that the cars have stopped. Now, hold my hand, and let’s cross the street.
T: Cross!
M: That’s right! We’re crossing the street. Nice and slowly, sweetheart.
T: Nice!
M: That’s it! We’re doing a great job staying safe.
| Phrase | In Other Words |
| The light is flashing. | The light is blinking. |
| Safety comes first. | Safety first. |
| pedestrian light | walking light (more child-friendly) |
| The walking light is on. | Look, we have the green walking light! / The little green walking person is on! (other child-friendly variations) |
| Let’s cross nice and slowly. | Let’s cross slowly and carefully. / Let’s take our time crossing. / Let’s walk across nice and slow! |
Light Vs. Lights
We use traffic light (singular) when we mean one traffic signal (1) or when we’re talking about a physical traffic-light unit (2). Notice that we use a or the before the singular noun when appropriate.
- “Look at that traffic light!” (1 or 2 – depending on the context: look at the signal or look at the physical unit)
- “The traffic light is red.” (1 – talking about the signal)
- “The traffic light just turned green.” (1 – specific signal)
- “Stop at the next traffic light.” (2 – talking about a traffic-light installation or location, rather than a particular colored light)
We use traffic lights (plural) when we mean traffic signals in general (1) or refer to more than one set of traffic signals (units) (2). We often use the plural when talking about traffic lights as a system or a general feature of roads.
- “Do you know why we have traffic lights?” (1- the general system)
- “Traffic lights help prevent accidents.” (1 – making a general statement about the function of traffic lights as such)
- “Look at all those traffic lights!” (2 – multiple traffic-light units)
- “There are traffic lights at the next intersection.” (2 – traffic signals installed at that location)
❗You can say both “There is a traffic light” and “There are traffic lights” when referring to one traffic-light unit standing by the side of the road, for example. Both can be natural, but they emphasize slightly different things:
“There is a traffic light.” = This treats the traffic light as one physical object or installation.
“There are traffic lights” = Here, traffic lights refers collectively to the traffic signals at a location.
However, if you’re pointing to one specific unit standing by the roadside, “There’s a traffic light” is generally the more straightforward choice.
Common Collocations
- Drivers and pedestrians must obey traffic lights.
- Always follow the traffic lights when driving.
- We need to stop at the traffic light.
- We’re waiting at the traffic light.
- Let’s wait for the lights to change.
- Watch the traffic lights, sweetheart.
- We’re approaching a traffic light.
- We’ll turn left when we reach the traffic lights.
- You must never go through a red light.
- That car just ran a red light! (= it drove through a red signal without stopping)
- They installed traffic lights at the intersection.
- Look, the light is turning red!
- Look! The light is flashing.
- The light is blinking.
- The light changed from red to green.
- The light is staying red for a while.
- The red light is on.
- The yellow/amber light warns drivers that the signal is changing. (🇬🇧: amber is common in British English)
- Look, there’s a traffic light up ahead.
- There’s a traffic light on the corner.
- The traffic lights are hanging above the road.
- The traffic light is mounted on a pole.
- Let’s use the pedestrian crossing.
- We’re crossing at the zebra crossing.
- Look at the pedestrian signal.
- We need to wait for the walk signal.
- Let’s look both ways before crossing.
Handy Phrases
- Don’t rush. / There’s no need to rush.
- Let’s stay on the sidewalk.
- Now it’s our turn to cross.
- Good noticing! / good spotting! / Good eye! / Well spotted!
- Nice and safe, hand in hand.
- There! It’s green. / There it goes! It’s green again! / There we go! It’s green!
- Just a little longer.
- Hang on a second.
- Almost there. / It won’t be long.
- Have a good look.
- Can you see any cars coming?
- Keep your eyes open.
- Right, off we go! Steady now.
- Let’s get going. Nice and easy.
- We’re nearly there!
- You got it! /Exactly!
- Would you look at that!
- Isn’t that neat? / That’s interesting, isn’t it?
We hope you found this post useful and that these phrases will come in handy the next time you chat with your little one! Let us know if you have any questions or suggestions for future posts like this.
