4. Trip or travel?

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.

Average: 4.2 (9 votes)
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Submitted by blogofanup on Tue, 01/07/2025 - 16:31

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I often take a trip to Shantiniketan, Bolpur, West Bengal, India, where Nobel Laureate Rabindranath wrote poems, prose, and Novels. The place makes me feel like I'm meditating and at peace. I welcome you all to our place.

Submitted by CINZIA VALENTI on Tue, 05/09/2023 - 14:30

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thank you for your useful explainations, what about "journey"?

Hello Cinzia Valenti,

'journey' is quite similar to 'trip' in how it's used, but we use 'trip' much more frequently.

We often use 'journey' for a longer trip (in terms of either time or distance) and often it involves stops in different locations along the way and/or implies some sort of discovery or adventure.

Here are a few places where you can read about all these words in a bit more detail:

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team

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Submitted by Superjet0597 on Sun, 03/09/2023 - 21:20

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I like travel because it braden the mind. Every month at the end of it, I go for a trip somewhere.

Submitted by VCHHL on Fri, 01/09/2023 - 20:34

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I am happy that my english is improved day by day, thanks

Submitted by marieki on Tue, 08/08/2023 - 19:33

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I'm happy to be apple to progress in english.
Thanks