Usage patterns 〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 へ 車くるま で 行い く to go to a place by car
I'm going to the station by car.
車くるま を 運うん 転てん する to drive a car
My father drives a car every day.
車くるま に 乗の る to get in / ride in a car
She got in her friend's car.
車くるま が 故こ 障しょう する for a car to break down
The car broke down on the way home.
〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 まで 車くるま で 〈 数すう 〉 分ふん it takes ... minutes by car to reach a place
It's ten minutes to school by car.
Expressions· 8 火ひ の 車くるま fiery chariot; hell-bound chariot · dire financial straits; desperate money troubles 横よこ 車ぐるま unreasonableness; perverseness; obstinacy · side wheel throw (judo) 横よこ 車ぐるま を 押お す push through unreasonably; have one's own way against all reason Show 3 more Show fewer Related words· 6 自動車 is the formal, technical word for 'automobile' used in official or written contexts, while 車 is the everyday, casual word for 'car'.
車 is the ordinary, everyday word for a car used in normal conversation, while カー is a katakana term more common in compounds, advertising, and product names.
車 is the general word for 'car' of any kind, while スポーツカー refers specifically to a low, high-performance sports model.
車 is the everyday, casual word for any car or vehicle, while 乗用車 is a more formal, technical term specifically for passenger cars.
Show 2 more Show fewer 車 is the general word for any car or vehicle, while ジープ specifically refers to a rugged four-wheel-drive vehicle.
車 specifically means a car or wheeled vehicle, while 乗り物 is the broader term covering any means of transport.
Don't confuse with 車輪 specifically means the mechanical 'wheel' of a vehicle, while 車 only takes on this narrower 'wheel' sense in certain compounds and otherwise means 'car'.
自転車 means 'bicycle' and shares the kanji 車 , but it is a distinct vehicle from 車 , which usually refers to a motor car.
Word family· 71 wheelchair
gear; cogwheel · cog in a machine; small part of a system
shoulder ride; carrying someone on one's shoulders · shoulder wheel (judo)
cajolery; wheedling; smooth talk
cart; wagon
Show 15 more Show fewer small car dealership; auto repair shop selling cars · wheelwright; cartwright · rickshawman; rickshaw station
wheel stop; parking block; parking curb · buffer stop; bumper; bumping post · wheel chock · bollard; vehicle barrier
arrow wheel; decorative windmill on a carp streamer pole
cost of a car; car purchase price · carfare; transportation fare · honorarium for travel; travel allowance
spinning wheel
baby carriage; pram
car; vehicle
four-wheeled cart for moving heavy objects
Inula japonica (plant) · small cart; small carriage · wheeled palanquin (castle-shaped box)
wheel tree (Trochodendron aralioides)
flywheel
sash roller; door roller; sliding door roller
handcart; wheelbarrow
ratchet; toothed wheel
wheelbarrow
See all 71 in Explore →
Written forms 車くるま Usage 91%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency word.
クルマ Usage 9%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling often used in advertising, product names, or for stylistic emphasis.
Etymology Native Japanese word. The kanji 車 is a pictograph of a wheeled vehicle and has been used for 'vehicle' or 'wheel' since ancient times.
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