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Adjectives + Car
Everybody loves to buy a new car! But if you want to save money, you can buy a used car. Sometimes in advertisements these are called pre-owned cars, in order to make it sounds a little nicer than “used.” If you’re on vacation, you might want to use a rental car for a few days before returning it.
People who are car enthusiasts might own a classic car or a vintage car – these are very old cars, with an old-fashioned style. They are usually well-preserved since they are kept as collectors’ items.
When the police are trying not to be observed, they might use an unmarked car – that’s a regular car that doesn’t have lights or the word “Police” on it. Criminals use a getaway car to escape from the scene of the crime.
To protect money and other valuable things, banks and other companies use an armored car, which is bullet-proof and resistant to fire.
Verbs + Car
When you turn the key to start the motor, that is called starting the car. If the motor suddenly stops functioning, we say that the car stalled. When a car stalls, you usually just need to start it again. But if it’s a more serious problem and the car won’t start, then we say the car broke down.
When a car increases its speed, the car accelerates or speeds up. When it decreases its speed, it slows down.
When you drive your car to the side of the road and stop, you have pulled over the car. We also use the phrasal verb pull up when a car comes in front of a building, for example, “A red car pulled up to the hotel.”
Note that we say you get into and get out of a car, different from a train or bus (for which we use get on/get off).
If you lose control of the car, for example on a rainy or icy road, then the car is skidding.
Car + Noun
You can buy a car at a car dealership, and the person who helps you is a car salesman.
The place where you can wash your car is called the car wash.
Finally, it’s important to get car insurance, which will pay for the damage if you get into a car accident / car crash!
Image sources: DirkvdM, Liftarn, Bidgee, CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz
