Being British, I have next to zero context for the word “automobile.” In fact I only really associate it with that one seen from The Simpsons where I heard it for the first time, and have maybe heard people use it once or twice in my lifetime exclusively when they’re taking the piss.
So with 自動車 shall I just add the synonym “car” and remember “longer = more formal”?
Or it it more of an obsolete word that people only use jokingly or to sound archaic? In that case “motorcar” would suit me more, but “automobile” does seem to be an amost literal translation.
自動車 is a very normal word for car (Americans seem to have automobiles).
Dict says:
じどうしゃ 自動車
[乗用車] a car; (米書) an automobile, (米話) an auto (複 ~s); (主に英書・やや古) a motorcar; [タクシー] a taxi (→ タクシー); [トラック] a truck, (英) a lorry (→ トラック); [バス] a bus (複 ~es) (→ バス); [各種自動車の総称] a motor vehicle. (→ 車)
People don’t use this for everyday car conversations (like, no one would say “I got a new automobile”), but stuff like “the automobile industry” is normal to hear.
But I am American, so maybe that doesn’t change anything.
And no one says “auto” to mean car. Not anymore anyway. Unless its like “auto show”.
We use it in French the same way yu mentioned “automobile industry”. To me it is helpful that wanikani use automobile instead of car, it makes the Japanese 自動+車 (auto move + cart) easier to stick due to the shared “auto” part
Well it’s in British dictionaries but sometimes listed as American. Even for things like “the automobile industry” press would say “the car industry” here, maybe “automotive industry.” I think most of us know “auto” and “automobile” passively but would always say “car.”
I’ve always thought of automobile as a generic term encompassing car, truck, van, etc. But people also use the term car generically and the internet doesn’t seem to agree with my view. So maybe I’ve just always been wrong. The Wikipedia article for car literally has automobile in parentheses.
Also, I found this uhh, “non-English” Wikipedia page: