How do you say the word “car” in Spanish?

The two most common ways of saying car in Spanish are “carro” and “coche” – although you will also sometimes hear the word “auto”. Where are they each used?

Carro vs Coche?

In reality, carro and coche have exactly the same meaning in Spanish. The answer for whether to say carro or coche depends on where you are – it’s totally regional.

• Coche is commonly heard in most parts of Spain.
• Carro is more commonly used in latinoamerica.

If you try to say coche in Mexico or Colombia, you might be met with blank stares. In Argentina a “carro” would actually refer to a vehicle pulled by oxen or horses.

Automóvil is the more formal version of coche, and you will probably only notice is used in Spanish insurance paperwork, commercials, or car trademarks. That said, countries like Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile are more likely to use the shortened version, “auto” in everyday speech – not coche or carro.

At the risk of overcomplicating things, both coche and carro sometimes also refer to train cars, depending on the contextual clues. Carro can also refer to a shopping cart in some Spanish-speaking countries.

Where do they say coche? Where do they say carro?

Here is a map detailing the Spanish-speaking countries where each term for a car is more commonly used.

Fun facts:

• Carro is not actually an anglicism of the English word “car” – it is actually derived from the Latin word carrus (an ancient 2-wheeled, horse-drawn chariot).
• Coche is derived from the Hungarian kocsi, o kocsi széker, or a 4-wheeled horse-drawn coach or wagon common in Kocs (a small town in the North of Hungary.) This is also the origin of the English word “coach”.
• Auto is short for automóvil, which is derived from the Greek auto (self) and the Latin mobilis, (movable). This is also the origin of the English word automobile.

Careful, because in some Spanish-speaking geographies (such as Madrid or Venezuela), coche refers to a baby stroller (short for “cochecito”) rather than an automobile.

in Puerto Rico the pronunciation of the word carro makes it sound more like cajo – so be on the lookout for that as well.

Spanish slang for car

Here are some of the slang terms for cars that you may hear in the Spanish-speaking world:

• Mueble
• Guagua
• Nave
• Ranfla

What is the most common word for car in Spanish?

In summation, you are more likely to hear coche referring to cars in Spain, and carro or auto referring to cars in Latin America (with some exceptions to both rules of thumb).

Different types of automobiles in Spanish

Besides carro and coche, here are the Spanish names for various other vehicles:

Here are some other car-related Spanish vocabulary words and phrases that you may want to brush up on:

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