Cars and driving in Esperanto: car parts, road and traffic

A car is aŭto, short for aŭtomobilo, and the usual verb for driving it is stiri, literally "to steer": Mi stiras la aŭton. – "I am driving the car." Veturi means "to travel in a vehicle", and a professional driver is a ŝoforo. Most words here are built from a few roots with -il- "tool", -ej- "place" and -ist- "professional". Streets, bridges and the first direction phrases are on city, directions and transport; emergencies are in travel phrases. Pronunciation guides split words into syllables, with the stressed syllable in capitals.

#The car and its parts

Several car words come from the Academy's Official Additions: aŭto, ŝoforo, garaĝo, panei, stiri. In Tatoeba (export of 7 October 2026) sekurzono occurs in 44 sentences and sekurrimeno in 2.

#Driving verbs

ReVo defines preterpasi as "to pass by"; English Wiktionary adds "overtake", and Tatoeba uses it that way (sentence 3149109).

#Stiri, veturi, konduki and ŝofori compared

Stiri is the usual choice and takes the vehicle as its object: stiri aŭton. Veturi never has an object; you travel per aŭto or aŭte, both "by car". The person at the wheel is a ŝoforo: ReVo defines it as a professional driver (busŝoforo), but Tatoeba uses it for any driver, in 199 sentences. ReVo also has veturigisto for anyone who directs a vehicle, and aŭtisto "motorist".

#Roads, traffic and places

For "traffic light", Tatoeba has trafiklumo in 75 sentences and semaforo in 44. Colours work as on the colours page: Ĉe ruĝa lumo oni haltas, ĉe verda oni veturas. – "At a red light you stop, at a green light you go." Speed uses hore "per hour": La rapidlimo estas kvindek kilometroj hore. – "The speed limit is fifty kilometres per hour."

#Licences, insurance and the police

Ĉu vi havas stirpermesilon? – "Do you have a driving licence?" La policisto petas mian kondukpermesilon kaj la asekuron. – "The police officer asks for my driving licence and insurance." Oni ne rajtas superi la rapidlimon. – "You may not exceed the speed limit." Tatoeba has stirpermesilo in 70 sentences and kondukpermesilo in 33.

#Breakdowns and accidents

Panei means to stop working suddenly, and ReVo's own example is mia aŭto paneas. A road accident is a trafikakcidento, and a crash between vehicles is a kolizio, from kolizii "to collide". For Voku ambulancon! and Voku la policon! see the emergency table in travel phrases. Vundita "wounded" is a participle of vundi; see participles.

#Driving to a place: the -n of direction

PMEG shows the rule with a bird that flugas en la ĉambro "flies about in the room" or en la ĉambron "flies into the room". The same pair works with veturi. More on this in the accusative page; the city version is on city, directions and transport.

#How the words are built

A root plus suffixes gives a family: stiri, stirilo, stirejo, stiristo, stirlernejo "driving school". See word building and suffixes.

#Common questions

#How do you say "car" in Esperanto?

Aŭto, short for aŭtomobilo. A lorry is kamiono, a bus is buso or aŭtobuso, and a taxi is taksio.

#How do you say "to drive" in Esperanto?

Stiri: stiri aŭton "drive a car". Veturi means "to travel in a vehicle" and takes no object.

#How do you say "driving licence" in Esperanto?

Kondukpermesilo or stirpermesilo. ReVo also lists stirrajtigilo.

#How do you say "traffic light" in Esperanto?

Semaforo is a ReVo headword, and ReVo notes that trafiklumo is also possible; trafiklumo (plural trafiklumoj) is the compound used in Vikipedio and Tatoeba.

#What do you say when your car breaks down?

Mia aŭto paneis. Mi bezonas helpon. – "My car has broken down. I need help." Add Ĉu vi povas remorki ĝin? – "Can you tow it?"

#Sources

• PMEG: N por direkto
• ReVo, cars and parts: aŭto, aŭtomobilo, kamiono, kamioneto, ŝarĝaŭto, rado, stiri, stirilo, stirejo, stiristo, stirlernejo, pneŭo, motoro, kapoto, kofrujo, glaco, glacoviŝilo, retrospegulo, sekurzono, sekurrimeno, bremso, akcelilo, kluĉilo, rapidumo, rapidumstango, hupo, duonlumo, plenlumo, ĝirlumo, bremsolumo, benzino, numerplato
• ReVo, driving: veturi, veturigi, ŝofori, konduki, startigi, halti, akceli, preterpasi, parki, parkumi, turni, kolizii, kroĉi, benzinumi, aŭtisto
• ReVo, roads and places: vojo, ŝoseo, aŭtovojo, trafikcirklo, semaforo, trafikŝildo, piediranto, tunelo, rapido, benzinejo, garaĝo, riparejo
• ReVo, documents and accidents: kondukpermesilo, asekuro, monpuno, polico, panei, akcidento, krevi, remorki, vundi, helpi, bezoni, riparisto
• Vikipedio: Kondukpermesilo, Vikipedio: Trafiklumoj
• English Wiktionary: rapidlimo, preterpasi
• Tatoeba: sentence counts from the Esperanto export of 7 October 2026 (CC BY 2.0 FR)