So, you’re traveling in Italy and you’ve got a problem with la tua macchina but your car vocabulary consists of la macchina (the car), le ruote (the wheels) and lo sterzo (the steering wheel). How do you go about telling the mechanic that there’s a strange noise coming from the left rear passenger seat, that your door handle is loose, or that the clutch isn’t working properly?

Well that’s where Geoff’s Mega Car Vocabulary comes in handy!

Above: an early prototype of the FIAT Cinquecento

Okay, let’s start with the basics:

The body of the car is called la carrozzeria, and we use the same word for the mechanics body shop

Le ruote (the wheels) are fitted with gli pneumatici, commonly called le gomme (the tyres).

Le ruote are, hopefully, attached to le assi (the axels), which in turn are attached to il telaio (the chassis, or frame)

Sotto il cofano c’è il motore (under the hood/bonnet is the motor) which is fed with carburante (fuel) from il serbatoio (the fuel tank) and emits exhaust through il tubo di scappamento, or tubo di scarico (exhaust pipe)

Il bagagliaio (the boot/trunk) gives you a bit of extra space to load you baggage, shopping, parents in law, and so on.

Sopra: la macchina di Geoff

Now let’s open la portiera/lo sportello (the car door – we use both words), and salire in macchina (get into the car).

I always start by allacciando la cintura di sicurezza (putting my seat belt on), then I put la chiave (the key) in l’accensione (the ignition) to mettere in moto la macchina (start the car).

I use the la leva del cambio (the gear stick/shift) to ingranare la marcia (put it into gear), and release the freno a mano (handbrake). Then I use l’acceleratore (the accelerator) and la frizione (the clutch) to move off, and lo sterzo, also known as il volante (the steering wheel) to follow the road.

Sopra: la macchina di Serena

Now that I’ve taught you to drive, let’s continue with a useful word list. I suggest that you print it out and tape it to the inside of your windshield directly in front of the drivers seat so that you can study it while you’re driving (disclaimer: only joking!)