l'oli del motor
“l'oli del motor” — engine oil in Valencian. Noun, level A1, topic — transport. Literally the oil of the motor; I check it once every two months. In a live sentence: “Cada dos mesos miro l'oli del motor” — Once every two months I check the engine oil. One of 104 words in the set “transport” in the Valencian course.
In short
| Written in Valencian | l'oli del motor |
| Translation | engine oil |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally the oil of the motor; I check it once every two months
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Cada dos mesos miro l'oli del motorOnce every two months I check the engine oil
Nearby words: transport
Bus, metro, taxi, stop, station. These are words you need to recognize in writing — off a departure board and off a sign.
- l'estacióstationBoth the metro stop and the train station: estació de metro, estació de tren. The article la shrinks before the vowel: l'estació
- el metrometroMasculine and unchanging: el metro, vaig en metro. The same word is the meter of length
- l'autobúsbusIn the plural the apostrophe disappears: els autobusos. The intercity coach has another name — l'autocar
- el taxitaxiMasculine: el taxi. Taxis are taken at the stand — la parada de taxis — not hailed by hand
- el bitlletticketThe ticket — of train, plane, cinema; I bought it online
- l'horaritimetableThe schedule; it changes in September
- la sortidadepartureThe going-out — the departure time on the board
- l'arribadaarrivalThe arrival; expected at nine
- la viaplatformThe platform and the track in one; the train leaves from the fifth
- el vagócarriageThe train carriage; ours is the fourth
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “transport”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “engine oil” in Valencian?
Literally the oil of the motor; I check it once every two months
- How do you say “departure” in Valencian?
The going-out — the departure time on the board
- How do you say “bus” in Valencian?
In the plural the apostrophe disappears: els autobusos. The intercity coach has another name — l'autocar
- How do you say “carriage” in Valencian?
The train carriage; ours is the fourth
- How do you say “timetable” in Valencian?
The schedule; it changes in September
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “engine oil” in Valencian?
«l'oli del motor». In a live sentence: “Cada dos mesos miro l'oli del motor” — Once every two months I check the engine oil. Noun, level A1, from the set “transport”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally the oil of the motor; I check it once every two months. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.