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Pop in / pop out / pop round

A question from Marita in Spain:
Could you explain the difference between pop in, pop out and pop round?

Gareth Rees answers:
Hello Marita. Thank you for your question about these three phrasal verbs: pop in, pop out,
pop round. To begin with, in these verbs, pop means to go somewhere for a short time. The
question is; where do you go?

If you pop out, you leave the building that you are in, perhaps your house or office, and go
outside, perhaps to do something like post a letter, buy some milk or have lunch. Look at
these examples.

Im just popping out to get some milk. Ill be back in a minute
Im afraid Davids not here at the moment. Hes just popped out for lunch. Can I take a
message?

Pop in has the opposite meaning. If you pop in somewhere, you go inside a building, or a
room. Here are some examples.

Simon, can you pop in to my office to discuss the sales figures?
Ill just pop in to the shop to buy a paper. Wait for me outside.

We often use pop in when we visit someone at home, in a very informal way.

Ill pop in and see you on Saturday. Ill be near your house anyway.

It is in that kind of situation that we often use pop round.




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Sarah, why dont you pop round some time for a cup of tea? I havent seen you in ages.

So, both pop in and pop round are used to talk about visiting someone briefly, usually at their
home. Pop out means to leave a building for a short time, and pop in means to go into a
building for a short time.

Pop out does have one more meaning. We use it when something moves out of position
because it is being pushed or it is under pressure. For example,

The cork unexpectedly popped out of the champagne bottle. The champagne went everywhere!

I hope that has helped you understand the differences between these phrasal verbs. Its time
for me to pop round to my friends house now for a cup of tea. I need a break after all this
work.
___________________________________________________________________________

Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA.
He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-
author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course
books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the
University of the Arts, London.