Could you help me finding some equivalents for these five words?

Question

So today we are here to give you some information about right of way rules in relation to turns. So we'll start with a basic left turn. What we want to remember on the left turn is that cars going straight have the right of way over cars that are turning. So if we're here waiting to make a left turn and there are a number of cars which are going straight and we both have a green light. The cars that are going straight have the right of way. Which means we have to wait for them before we make our left turn. Where do you wait? The rule of thumb, if the light is green we want to wait up here in the intersection. As soon as this line clears and we have enough gap then we're able to execute our left turn safely. The right of way rules for a right turn if we reverse it. Let's say we're making a right turn into this roadway and there are cars that are coming from this direction that are making a left turn into the same roadway. The vehicle closer to the turn would have the right of way. Therefore the car to the right gets to go first over the car that's making the left into the same roadway. There's lots of different variations on turns these are some of the right of way rules. Hope that will help you with that and help you to pass your road test.

I am teaching my mother how to drive. How would you simplify the highlighted words in simple English? Do not simplify the sentences, please, and not a simplified defenition from a dictionary. Just a very simple equivalent to substitue in the actual context.

Should I use simple instead of basic ? What should I use instead of over and in relation to ? And so forth the rule of thumb and wait up

A milion thanks.

Answer 1

With little explanation, more accessible versions are, in order:

• ...rules in relation to turns... -> ...rules about turns...
• ...a basic left turn... -> a simple left turn
• ...have right of way over cars that are turning... -> ...go before cars that are turning...
• ...The rule of thumb is ... -> Usually
• ...we want to wait up here... -> ...we want to wait here...

The suggestions are all more common English words and, though not always exactly the same meaning, give very much the same idea.

Answer 2

(Note: right-of-way is usually hyphenated.)

So today we are here to give you some information about right of way rules in relation to turns.

"rules in relation to turns" can have a single-word substitution as "rules regarding turns"

Even more simple would be "rules about turns", but you've already used "about" in the sentence and it would be awkward to use it again.

So we'll start with a basic left turn.

When comparing "basic" to "simple" here, "basic" carries a stronger suggestion that there are other more complicated left turns to be discussed. If you say "simple" it might be read as suggesting all left turns are simple.

It doesn't seem you are discussing any other kinds of left turns here, so it's not clear why you need a word in that slot at all. Why not: "So we'll start with a left turn."

What we want to remember on the left turn is that cars going straight have the right of way over cars that are turning.

The phrase "right-of-way" is not used so often, and I doubt most people would be able to say whether "over" is "correct" or not. You generally just say "In this situation, I have the right-of-way." and not "In this situation, I have the right-of-way over you."

The reason is that the very concept of right-of-way is unique. There is no need to identify who you have right-of-way "over", you simply have the right-of-way. The word "priority" is different and very clearly used with "over". Because A can have priority over B, and B can have priority over C.

So more proper would be to present it as a contrast, like "have the right of way as opposed to cars that are turning" or "have the right of way vs. cars that are turning".

But if you say "over" people would know what you meant.

The rule of thumb, if the light is green we want to wait up here in the intersection.

wait up could just be wait. Even better would be pause. Pausing suggests a more temporary state of waiting; you could "wait for a year" but you would not generally "pause for a year".

You are using a comma here where you shouldn't. It should be "The rule of thumb is that if the light is green..."

(Note: Some more casual writing styles might get away with "The rule of thumb is: if the light is green..." or "Rule of thumb: if the light is green...")

To be less idiomatic, you could say "The general rule is that..."

Answer 3

1. Basic has a similar mining to simple, but please note that they have different meanings, that makes them unreplaceable. There are many basic things that are not simple and vice versa. So, I think basic is more appropriate than simple, here.
2. You can replace "in relation to" with a simple "for".
3. Over is used completely correct in this sentence.
4. Using the "rule of thumb" idiom fits well in this sentence, so if you want to change it, I think you should change the style of your sentence.
5. You can simply use "wait" or "wait up" (in North American English) .

By the way, I think more attention should be paid to the punctuation.