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I've heard that "ride" can be used instead of "drive". If so, what does it mean to "ride a car"? Is it simply almost thesame as "drive a car", or does it mean like "to get on a car", or is it totally nonsensical?

Plus, how do you discribe a scene in Mr. Bean movie, where he sit on top of his car? Was he "riding" a car?

Thanks!

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  • Consider the difference between "riding in(side of) a car", "riding on (top of) a car". You can ride a horse, but you can't ride a car in the same way.
    – user3169
    Commented Feb 23, 2018 at 7:08

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Plus, how do you discribe a scene in Mr. Bean movie, where he sit on top of his car? Was he "riding" a car?

Yes, that's riding a car. But it's not very sensical and never happens in reality.

For all other intents and purposes, though, you don't ride a car. You ride in a car. The reason why you drive a car is because the infinitive form of the verb is to drive. You're driving the car forward -- the whole car -- not the inside of it or a part of it. When you ride in a car, however, you're just an object inside of it.

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  • Just to add to that - you would only use “ride” when talking about a car when you’re in America. In Europe we only use “ride” for other forms of transport like bikes and horses. Here, you could say that you’re driving somewhere, even if you’re not the person driving the car.
    – Andre
    Commented Feb 23, 2018 at 16:01
  • What abous a bus? You "ride a bus" or "ride in a bus"?
    – Alan Evangelista
    Commented Jul 19, 2019 at 15:21
  • I know that "in a bus" and "on a bus" are both correct.
    – Static Bounce
    Commented Dec 22, 2023 at 23:55

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