taʻavale
The Samoan word for car is taʻavale.
taʻavale is a noun used to refer to an automobile, which is a vehicle steered by a driver.
Meaning: automobile, a vehicle steered by a driver (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
In Samoan, taʻavale is used for both singular and plural forms. The word does not change its ending to indicate whether you are talking about one car or multiple cars.
Did you know?
- The term taʻavale is not built from a word for 'motor' or 'engine', unlike many other Pacific languages that use loanwords for modern machinery.
- The glottal stop represented by the ʻ in taʻavale is a distinct consonant sound that requires a brief closure of the vocal cords, similar to a tiny hiccup.
- While taʻavale is the standard term, you may hear the loanword 'motokara' in casual conversation, which is a direct adaptation of the English 'motor car'.
Examples in context
- E mata'ituina le va'a nei!This car is awesome!
- E tasi le taʻavale.There is one car.
- O loʻo i luga o le taʻavale.It is on top of the car.
Example conversation
Tau and Mere are talking in the driveway.
- TauMere, o lau taʻavale lea?Mere, is that your car?
- MereIoe, o laʻu taʻavale lenā.Yes, that is my car.
- TauE matua leva le lanu.The color is very nice.
- MereFaʻafetai, Tau.Thank you, Tau.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “car” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
