• 31 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Car in French

A part of the car lights up: pick its French word, such as le capot, from four.

Parts of a Car in French

Name Date

What is this part called in French?

1 of 9

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. la roue
  2. le pneu
  3. le phare
  4. le capot
  5. le toit
  6. la portière
  7. la vitre
  8. le coffre
  9. le pare-brise
  10. le pare-chocs
  11. le rétroviseur
  12. l'essuie-glace
  13. la poignée
  14. le clignotant
  15. la plaque d'immatriculation
  16. l'aile
  17. la calandre
  18. le volant
  19. le siège
  20. la ceinture de sécurité
  21. le klaxon
  22. le frein à main
  23. l'accélérateur
  24. la pédale de frein
  25. le tableau de bord
  26. le levier de vitesse
  27. la boîte à gants
  28. le compteur de vitesse
  29. la pédale d'embrayage
  30. l'appuie-tête
  31. le pare-soleil

Original drawing made for this site in 2026 from plain geometry: a small model of a car drawn in a parallel projection, and a flat view of the cabin. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step The same car in Spanish: 24 wordsAnother language: 26 parts of a house in Spanish

All 31 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The car from outside 17

  1. la roue wheel Wheel. The spare in the trunk is la roue de secours.
  2. le pneu tire Tire. Short for pneumatique.
  3. le phare headlight Headlight. The same word is a lighthouse.
  4. le capot hood Hood. It covers the engine, le moteur.
  5. le toit roof Roof. One that opens is un toit ouvrant.
  6. la portière car door Car door. La porte, the house word, is said as often.
  7. la vitre car window Car window. Also la glace, the word inside essuie-glace.
  8. le coffre trunk Trunk. Canada also says la valise, which its term bank advises against.
  9. le pare-brise windshield Windshield. Parer plus brise: it wards off the breeze.
  10. le pare-chocs bumper Bumper. Spelled with s even for one. Also spelled pare-choc.
  11. le rétroviseur side mirror Side mirror. Short form: le rétro. The inside mirror shares the name.
  12. l'essuie-glace windshield wiper Windshield wiper. Masculine: un essuie-glace. Essuyer means to wipe.
  13. la poignée door handle Door handle. Une poignée is also a handful.
  14. le clignotant turn signal Turn signal. From clignoter, to blink. Belgium says le clignoteur.
  15. la plaque d'immatriculation license plate License plate. Also la plaque minéralogique.
  16. l'aile fender Fender. Feminine, and the same word as a bird's wing.
  17. la calandre grille Grille. It stands in front of the radiator.

Inside, at the front 14

  1. le volant steering wheel Steering wheel. Être au volant means to be driving.
  2. le siège seat Seat. The bench in the back is la banquette.
  3. la ceinture de sécurité seat belt Seat belt. Une ceinture alone is any belt.
  4. le klaxon horn Horn. The formal term is l'avertisseur sonore.
  5. le frein à main handbrake Handbrake. Word for word, brake by hand. Also le frein de stationnement.
  6. l'accélérateur gas pedal Gas pedal, on the right. Familiar French calls it le champignon.
  7. la pédale de frein brake pedal Brake pedal, in the middle. Le frein is the brake.
  8. le tableau de bord dashboard Dashboard. An aircraft cockpit has un tableau de bord too.
  9. le levier de vitesse gear stick Gear stick. Une vitesse is a gear as well as a speed.
  10. la boîte à gants glove compartment Glove compartment. Word for word, a box for gloves.
  11. le compteur de vitesse speedometer Speedometer. Un compteur counts or measures. Also l'indicateur de vitesse.
  12. la pédale d'embrayage clutch pedal Clutch pedal, on the left. An automatic car has none.
  13. l'appuie-tête headrest Headrest. Masculine: un appuie-tête. Also spelled appui-tête.
  14. le pare-soleil sun visor Sun visor. Parer plus soleil: it wards off the sun.

How this list was compiled: Every label was read again on 2026-09-30 in two dictionaries. First the French-English dictionary of WordReference (https://www.wordreference.com/fren/ followed by the word), which gives the gender and the car meaning of all 31 labels. Second Le Robert, Dico en ligne (https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/ followed by the word): aile, accélérateur, appuie-tête, boîte (boîte à gants), calandre, capot, ceinture (ceinture de sécurité), clignotant, coffre, compteur (compteur de vitesse), essuie-glace, frein (frein à main, pédale de frein), klaxon, levier (levier de changement de vitesse), parebrise, parechoc, pare-soleil, pédale (pédale d'embrayage), phare, plaque (plaque d'immatriculation), pneu, poignée, portière, rétroviseur, roue, siège, tableau (tableau de bord), toit, vitre, volant. Larousse (https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/ followed by the word) was read the same day for boîte à gants, ceinture de sécurité, compteur de vitesse, levier de changement de vitesse, plaque d'immatriculation and tableau de bord, with its synonym planche de bord. Canadian usage: TERMIUM Plus, the Government of Canada's term bank (https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-fra.html?lang=fra&i=1&index=alt&srchtxt= followed by the English term), read 2026-09-30 for trunk, car door, tire, windshield wiper, fender, parking brake, head restraint, speedometer, gearshift lever, horn, glove compartment, sun visor and licence plate. Le clignoteur as the word of Belgium: WordReference and Le Robert. The words for the car itself (la voiture, l'auto, le char): WordReference. Where the pedals sit (accelerator on the right, brake to its left, clutch under the left foot): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_controls, read 2026-09-20. The genders were first taken from the French Wiktionary on 2026-09-20; the two dictionaries above agree with every one. Licence: own work

The drawing: Original drawing made for this site in 2026 from plain geometry: a small model of a car drawn in a parallel projection, and a flat view of the cabin. Nothing was traced, no real model is shown, and the plate and the dials are blank. Licence: own work

How it works

This drawing carries 31 parts of a car in French: 17 outside and 14 at the driver's place. Each word comes with le, la or l'. A part lights up, and you pick its word from four.

Read the full guide

How a round goes

A part of the car lights up and you pick its French word, such as le phare, from four. A wrong pick shows the right word.

Type the French word instead

In More options, pick Type it. Accents are forgiven and the article may be dropped, so retroviseur counts for le rétroviseur. Find it runs the other way: a French word is given and you tap or click that part. The same menu turns every word into English.

Le, la or l'

Twenty words here are masculine and eleven feminine. L' hides the gender: l'aile is feminine, while l'essuie-glace, l'accélérateur and l'appuie-tête are masculine.

  • Pare- comes from parer, to ward off: le pare-brise stops the breeze, le pare-chocs knocks, le pare-soleil the sun.
  • From left to right the pedals are l'embrayage, le frein and l'accélérateur: clutch, brake, gas.
  • For a worksheet, Print blank gives both views with 31 numbered lines, and the other print button gives the key.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a car in French?

Outside: le capot (hood), le pare-brise (windshield), le coffre (trunk), la portière (door), le phare (headlight), la roue (wheel) and le pneu (tire). Inside: le volant (steering wheel), le siège (seat) and la ceinture de sécurité (seat belt). Under the hood is le moteur.

Is the trunk le coffre or la valise?

Le coffre is the standard word. La valise is heard in Canada, where TERMIUM Plus, the federal government's term bank, marks it as a word to avoid. La malle is a dated word for the same space. All three count when typed.

Is a car door la porte or la portière?

Both. La portière is the word made for vehicles, and TERMIUM Plus notes that la porte is used as often. The drawing shows la portière, and la porte passes when typed.

How do you say car in French?

La voiture, a feminine noun. L'auto is a familiar short form of l'automobile, and in Canada le char is a familiar word for a car, according to WordReference. None of them is asked here, because the whole car is not one of its parts.

Where were the French words checked?

Each word, its gender and its car meaning in WordReference and in Le Robert's or Larousse's online dictionary. Canadian usage comes from TERMIUM Plus, the Government of Canada's term bank.

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