The driver moves to the side of the road and stops. An officer can pull a driver over by making them stop there. These are different roles within the same traffic situation.

The idea

Use the driver/car pulled over without an object. For stopping another driver, use pull over the car / pull the car over, but pull him over. Add -ed to pull for pulled; do not add a third l.

Examples

  • The bus pulled over near the café.
  • Mina pulled over to read the map.
  • The officer pulled over the blue car.
  • The officer pulled the blue car over.
  • The officer pulled him over after the junction.
  • Omar pulled over and switched off the engine.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic English voice on your device. Quality and availability vary; it does not assess pronunciation.

Watch out

Pull over means more than passing a place: it includes moving to the side and stopping. It does not usually describe pulling a car by hand. The clothing noun pullover is one word, unlike this verb.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct option. The officer pulled ___. (him over / over him)

    Show answer or example answer

    him over

    The driver pronoun him goes between pulled and over.

  2. Choose the correct option. Mina ___ over yesterday. (pulled / pullled)

    Show answer or example answer

    pulled

    Pull already ends in ll; adding -ed gives pulled, not pullled.

  3. The driver moved to the side of the road and stopped. Choose the phrase for this action. The driver ___. (pulled over / drove past)

    Show answer or example answer

    pulled over

    The context says the driver moved aside and stopped: pulled over expresses both parts.

Use it today

Describe a driver stopping to look at a map. Then describe an officer stopping a car, once naming the car and once using a pronoun for the driver.