The Most Common Collocations and Phrases with “Car”

Adjective + “Car”

The adjectives commonly used in combination with CAR include luxury, economical, reliable, spacious, sports, compact/full-size, rental, and classic/vintage.

Examples:

A luxury car:
The market for luxury cars was badly hit by the recession.

An economical car:
Cars that are economical on fuel are in high demand.

A reliable car:
My car may be old, but it is reliable.

A spacious car:
Sophie’s new car is really spacious. It seats five adults comfortably.

A sports car:
Do you know who owns that red open-topped sports car?

A compact/full-size car:
Compact cars are a lot easier to park than full-size ones.

A rental car:
I usually use a rental car when I go on a holiday.

Classic and vintage cars:
Very old cars with an old-fashioned style (generally, a classic car is a vehicle manufactured before 2000, while a vintage car refers to those manufactured between 1919 and 1930).
My older brother loves American classic cars.

Verb + “Car”

The verbs that are commonly used with “car” include drive, park, get into/out of, fix/repair, crash, start, skid, and break down.

Examples:

Drive a car:
My brother doesn’t let anyone drive his luxury car.

Park a car:
I always forget where I park my car.

Get into/out of a car:
Last night, a police officer stopped me and asked me to get out of the car. Then he fined me for speeding.

Fix:
They couldn’t fix my car, and now I have to buy a new one.

Crash:
I was sleepy and nearly crashed my car last night.

Start:
My car wouldn’t start, so I had to borrow my father's.

Skid:
My car skidded and hit the tree when I suddenly braked.

Break down:
Our car broke down on the way to work, so we missed the meeting.

“Car” + Noun

The following nouns are commonly used with the word “car”: car alarm, car accident/crash/ wreck, car park, car keys, car enthusiast, car salesman, car dealership, and car insurance.

Examples:

Car alarm:
Someone tried to steal my car last night. Luckily my car alarm went off, and I woke up just in time.

Car crash:
He didn’t survive the car crash.

Car park:
The car park was full, and I had to park my car down the street.

Car keys:
I usually lose my car keys.

Car enthusiast:
David is a car enthusiast who collects and sells sports cars.

Car salesman:
A dishonest car salesman can spoil the market for his competitors.

Car dealership:
Sam works as a salesman in a car dealership.

Car insurance:
You have to get car insurance to be able to pay for the damage if you get into a car crash.