How to Say "Minibus" in French

minibus

/mi.ni.bys/masculine

The English word 'minibus' is translated into French as minibus.

A minibus refers to a small bus. See also marshrutka (noun).

Meaning: a small bus (noun)

Which one should you use?

The term minibus is used for small buses, whereas autocar is the term often used for larger coaches used for long-distance travel.

The word minibus is a masculine noun, so you would use the masculine article to say le minibus (the minibus).

The word has three syllables and is pronounced /mi.ni.bys/.

In Senegal, you might encounter a car rapide, which translates to 'fast car', even though these ubiquitous minibuses are famously slow and heavily loaded.
The word bus in minibus is actually a shortened version of autobus, a word that French exported to English in the 19th century.
French distinguishes between a minibus and a navette, where the latter specifically implies a repetitive back-and-forth route, such as between a hotel and an airport.

Ce minibus peut prendre 25 passagers.
This minibus holds twenty-five passengers.
This sentence shows how to express the passenger capacity of a minibus.
Tatoeba #2682929 by GLOBULE38, translation #12463793 by sundown
Le minibus est arrivé à l'heure prévue.
The minibus arrived at the scheduled time.
Le chauffeur du minibus est très sympathique.
The minibus driver is very friendly.
Nous avons réservé un minibus pour le groupe.
We reserved a minibus for the group.
1 more sentence on Tatoeba

Emma and Nathan are planning their transport to the airport.

Emma

Est-ce qu'on prend un taxi ou un minibus ?
Should we take a taxi or a minibus?
Nathan

Le minibus est moins cher pour nous.
The minibus is cheaper for us.
Emma

D'accord, je réserve le minibus maintenant.
Okay, I will book the minibus now.
Nathan

C'est parfait, merci Emma.
That's perfect, thank you Emma.

Sources

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