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. You can hear how it sounds right here. 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 |
- l'oli del motorengine oil
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. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. 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.
Can I hear how this sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.