Pop in / pop out / pop round

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.

I'm just popping out to get some milk. I'll be back in a minute
I'm afraid David's not here at the moment. He's 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?
I'll 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.

I'll pop in and see you on Saturday. I'll be near your house anyway.

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

Sarah, why don't you pop round some time for a cup of tea? I haven't 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. It's time for me to pop round to my friend's house now for a cup of tea. I need a break after all this work.