4. Trip or travel?

Here's a vocabulary question for you!

The words trip and travel are often confused. Which answer is correct?

Sergei enjoyed his _____ to Hong Kong.
1) trip
2) travel

Read the explanation below to find out the difference.

trip (noun)
We use trip to talk about going to a place for a period of time. With this meaning, trip is a noun.

We went on a trip to Mexico.
My small children love a trip to the supermarket.
It's a five-hour trip to my parents' house.

We can use a variety of nouns before trip.

She's on a business trip.
The children are on a school trip to the zoo.
We took a boat trip on the Nile River.

Most of the time, trip refers to a specific time that we go somewhere. We don't use it to talk about the activity of travelling in general.

travel (verb or noun)
The word travel can be used as a noun or as a verb.

When we use travel as a verb, it means 'to go to a place', usually one that is far away.

My mother loves to travel. Every month, she goes on a trip somewhere.
He travels to Azerbaijan every few months for work.
The film is about two men who travelled from Germany to Beijing by bike.

When we use travel as a noun, we're talking about the activity of going somewhere in general, not about a specific trip. It's an uncountable noun.

My father's job involved a lot of travel.
Travel broadens the mind.
We share a love of travel.

We often use the word travel combined with other nouns or adjectives.

Her uncle was a travel agent.
Be sure to keep your travel documents safe.

My kids love air travel, but I like it less and less.
Business travel hasn't returned to previous levels.

Foreign travel can be expensive.
There's a discount for frequent travel.

A note on spelling!
British English: travelled, travelling, traveller
American English: traveled, traveling, traveler

Did you get the question right?! The correct answer is:

Sergei enjoyed his trip to Hong Kong.

Try this exercise

Choose the best answer.