{"id":34266,"date":"2021-10-26T05:29:44","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T03:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=34266"},"modified":"2021-10-25T03:16:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T01:16:46","slug":"french-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-vehicles\/","title":{"rendered":"French Vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve written about transportation before \u2026 and I\u2019ve also written about the efforts that cities like Paris are making to reduce their presence in their midst, but I realized recently that I\u2019ve never done a review of basic French vocabulary for\u00a0les v\u00e9hicules<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Photo CC0\u00a0Jose Muesse via Pexels.com<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

French vehicles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Les v\u00e9hicules<\/strong><\/td>\nVe<\/em>hicles<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Les v\u00e9hicules \u00e0 deux roues<\/strong><\/td>\nTwo-wheeled vehicles<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
La bicyclette<\/strong><\/td>\nBicycle<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Le v\u00e9lo<\/strong><\/td>\nBicycle<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
La moto<\/strong><\/td>\nMotorcycle<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
La mobylette<\/strong><\/td>\nMoped\/scooter<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Les v\u00e9hicules \u00e0 quatre roues<\/strong><\/td>\nFour-wheeled vehicles<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
La voiture<\/strong><\/td>\nCar<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Le camion<\/strong><\/td>\nTruck<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Le monospace<\/strong><\/td>\nMinivan<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Le fourgon<\/strong><\/td>\nBox truck<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Le taxi (l\u2019Uber)<\/strong><\/td>\nTaxi (Uber)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Les transports en commun<\/strong><\/td>\nPublic transportation<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
L\u2019autobus \/ le bus<\/strong><\/td>\nCity\/urban bus<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
L\u2019autocar \/ le car<\/strong><\/td>\nTour bus<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Les engins agricoles<\/strong><\/td>\nFarm\/agricultural vehicles<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Le tracteur<\/strong><\/td>\nTractor<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
La moissonneuse-batteuse<\/strong><\/td>\nCo<\/em>mbine<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Les v\u00e9hicules officiels <\/strong><\/td>\nOfficial vehicles<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
La voiture de police<\/strong><\/td>\nPolice car<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Le camion des pompiers<\/strong><\/td>\nFire truck<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
L\u2019ambulance<\/strong><\/td>\nAmbulance<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Exploring les vehicules<\/h3>\n

V\u00e9lo ou bicyclette:<\/strong> While the words\u00a0v\u00e9lo\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0bicyclette<\/strong> are synonyms, the research of these authors<\/a> shows that the word v\u00e9lo\u00a0<\/strong>tends to be associated with more sporting and serious contexts while the word\u00a0bicyclette<\/strong>\u00a0is more often related to a more pedestrian context (no pun intended!). In my own personal experience, v\u00e9lo\u00a0<\/strong>is more common in general vernacular, but\u00a0this Google Ngram analysis<\/a> of word usage in books gives the lead to\u00a0bicyclette<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Autobus ou autocar:<\/strong> This article<\/a> from the European tour operator Groupito does a nice job outlining the differences between\u00a0un bus<\/strong> (short for\u00a0autobus<\/em>) and\u00a0un car<\/strong> (short for\u00a0autocar<\/em>). Un bus est \u201cun v\u00e9hicule sp\u00e9cialis\u00e9 dans le transport urbain \u00e0 vitesse r\u00e9duite, sur des trajets d\u00e9finis, et avec des arr\u00eats fr\u00e9quents. Les passagers peuvent d\u2019ailleurs voyager debout. Par exemple, pour vous rendre de la maison \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cole du village, vous prendrez un autobus<\/strong>\u201d.1<\/a><\/sup>A bus is \u201ca vehicle designed for urban transport at reduced speeds, over a defined route, and with frequent stops. Passengers can travel standing up. For example, you would take a bus to go from your house to the village school.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Un autocar (ou un car) \u201cest un v\u00e9hicule permettant des transports interurbains ou des trajets longue distance comme des voyages touristiques\u201d<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>A car is a vehicle for intercity trips and long distance voyages like tour groups<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Les voitures fran\u00e7aises:<\/strong>\u00a0France has three main car companies that may be familiar to you. The oldest is Peugeot who released their first car in 1889, followed in 1898 by Renault, and then finally Citro\u00ebn whose DS3<\/a><\/sup>The letters DS in French are pronounced like the French word d\u00e9esse \/ goddess.<\/em><\/span> car line eventually evolved into its own brand. You can read more about these brands (and France\u2019s super car brand Bugatti and youngest car company Alpine) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a little video to help you practice some of your new vocabulary. Kids videos can be a great way to review.<\/p>\n