Car in Japanese
Welcome to the Rocket Japanese lesson on cars – くるま (kuruma)! In this lesson, we’ll cover tons of car vocabulary, from hoods to trunks and everything in between.
If you’re traveling to Japan and plan on renting or even buying a car in Japanese, this lesson will be very useful for you. You’ll want to be able to look over your rental and talk about it, as well as feel comfortable describing anything that might go wrong or need fixing while you’re on the road. After this lesson, you’ll be an expert!
Resources for further reading:
How to Pronounce "Car" in Japanese
Let's start with the word for "car" in Japanese:
Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record
Rocket Record lets you perfect your Japanese pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!
車
くるま
kuruma
car
Useful Car Vocabulary
If you’re traveling to Japan and plan on renting or even buying a car, these words will be very useful for you. You’ll want to be able to look over the car and talk about it, as well as feel comfortable describing anything that might go wrong or need fixing to a mechanic while you’re on the road.
モーター
モーター
mōtā
motor
フロントガラス
フロント ガラス
furonto garasu
windshield
ドア
ドア
doa
door
トランク
トランク
toranku
trunk
車輪
しゃりん
sharin
(vehicle) wheel
タイヤ
タイヤ
taiya
tire
ハブキャップ
ハブキャップ
Habukyappu
hub cap
ナンバープレート
ナンバープレート
nanbāpurēto
license plate
グリル
グリル
guriru
grill
バンパー
バンパー
banpā
bumper
ワイパー
ワイパー
waipā
windshield wiper
ルーフ
ルーフ
rūfu
roof
サンルーフ
サン ルーフ
san-rūfu
sun roof
テールライト
テール ライト
tēru-raito
tail light
非常信号
ひじょう しんごう
hijō shingō
emergency signal (button)
I hope you enjoyed this lesson! When it comes to talking about cars, there's plenty of English-based vocabulary, so these words should be piece of cake to remember. Next time you’re driving somewhere, take some time to think about the different parts of your car in Japanese as you go. Here are a few recommended Japanese lessons to try next:
- Shopping is much easier if you know your clothes in Japanese.
- Describing the colors in Japanese is essential to spice up your conversational skills.
- Counting in Japanese is pretty straight forward. Let's start with numbers one between ten.
あんぜん うんてん を おねがいします (Anzen unten o onegaishimasu) "Please drive carefully"!
さようなら！ (Sayōnara!) "Goodbye!"
Sayaka Matsuura: Rocket Japanese
Make It Stick With Rocket Reinforcement
Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!