Picture scene

French car workshop vocabulary: explore the repair bay

Locate twelve workshop tools, machines, vehicle parts and safety objects in French, then follow a mechanic’s short explanation.

In short

In a repair bay, le pont élévateur lifts the car, le pneu is the tyre and la clé can mean a spanner. Explore twelve objects, then follow a mechanic pointing out a tyre, a tool and the air hose.

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A mechanic works on a raised car in a tidy repair bay.
Le pont élévateur raises the car for the mechanic. Illustration: Atelier

Inside a repair bay

A clean car repair bay viewed from the open entrance. A blue car is raised modestly on a two-post vehicle lift, its front left wheel still fitted and its bonnet

Le pneu is the rubber tyre; la jante is its metal rim. Together they form part of la roue (the wheel). Here la clé is a spanner. In la clé de la voiture, the same noun means the car key.

Le mécanicien montre les objets

La cliente regarde sa voiture depuis l’entrée de l’atelier. Le mécanicien lui montre la roue avant gauche. « Voici le pneu1, autour de la jante. Nous allons le remplacer. » Il désigne ensuite le mur de droite : « Le compresseur est là. Le tuyau d’air orange est à côté. »

Sur le mur de gauche, la cliente voit un établi et une servante rouge. « Et cet outil sur l’établi ? » demande-t-elle. « C’est une clé2 », répond le mécanicien. La batterie est visible sous le capot3 ouvert. La cliente reconnaît maintenant les objets dont il parle.

Read it in English

The customer looks at her car from the workshop entrance. The mechanic points to the front left wheel. “Here is the tyre, around the rim. We’re going to replace it.” He then points to the right wall: “The compressor is there. The orange air hose is beside it.”

On the left wall, the customer sees a workbench and a red tool chest. “And that tool on the workbench?” she asks. “That’s a spanner,” the mechanic replies. The battery is visible under the open bonnet. The customer now recognises the objects he is talking about.

Hear a location, find an object
FrenchEnglish
sur l’établion the workbench
sous le capotunder the bonnet
à côté du compresseurbeside the compressor
dans la servante d’atelierin the rolling tool chest
Question 1No account needed
He points to the rubber part around the rim. Which noun fits?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

le pneu. The rubber part is le pneu; la jante is the metal rim inside it.

Question 2No account needed
Which tool is lying on the workbench?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

la clé. The short exchange identifies the tool on l’établi as une clé, a spanner.

Question 3No account needed
Where should you look for the orange air hose?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

à côté du compresseur. The mechanic points to the right wall, beside le compresseur.