how to drive a car with a manual gearbox You always dreamed (I had a doubt reagarding dreamed /dreamt, I found both online ?) about learning, at least the basics of manual transmission driving? For

eric

how to drive a car with a manual gearbox You always dreamed (I had a doubt reagarding dreamed /dreamt, I found both online ?) about learning, at least the basics of manual transmission driving? Fortunatly, the base concept is easy to assimilate: everyone can shift the gears manually. This guide will help you go trough it when you will sit for good, on the driver's seat. 1# Preferably start (or should I say "you shall start" or "you should start" ?) on a flat ground. Buckle your belt once you are installed. For the training you can open your windows, it will help you to hear better the sound of the engine and to shift the gears in consequense. 2# Identify the pedals. In a manual transmission car, there are three of them. The left-most one is the clutch, the middle one is the brakes, and the one on the right is the accelerator : You can memorize in this order, "C B A". This arrangement of the pedals is the same in car with left side located wheel as well as right side wheel cars. 3# Understand the function of the clutch: The clutch disconects the transmission between the wheels and the engine, and allows to change the gear without damaging the mechanical gearbox. Before shifting the gear, you have to press the clutch pedal. (declutch) 4# Set the position of your seat in order to be able to push the clutch pedal up to the floor, whitout difficulty, with your left foot. The clutch pedal is the one on the left, next to the brakes. 5# Push the clutch pedal and hold it on the floor level. Take advantage of this moment to feel, with your foot the difference between the stroke of the clutch pedal and the strokes of the brakes and accelerator. You can take a short moment to train yourself 2 or 3 time to release the clutch smoothly (is steplessly ok too?) 6# Shift the gearlever to the neutral position. The neutral is the central position : it seems free when you push it on each side. We consider that the car has no gear engaged when: The shiftlever is on the neutral position OR When the clutch pedal is pushed ... To be continued I try to translate this text from french so I can get more specific vocabulary about cars. Here's the original text: http://fr.wikihow.com/conduire-une-voiture-manuelle thanks in advance for your corrections

Mar 6, 2015 6:06 AM

Corrections · 5

HAVE you always dreamed (I had a doubt reagarding dreamed /dreamt, I found both online ?) about learning at least the basics of DRIVING A MANUAL CAR?

Fortunately, the base concept is easy to assimilate: everyone can shift the gears manually. This guide will help you go through it when you DO IT FOR REAL, IN the driver's seat.

1# Preferably YOU SHOULD start (or should I say "you shall start" or "you should start" ?) ON flat ground. Buckle your belt once you are INSIDE. For training, you can open your windows, it will help you hear the sound of the engine BETTER and to shift the gears in SYNC.

2# identify the pedals. In a manual transmission car, there are three of them. The left-most one is the clutch, the middle one is the brakes, and the one on the right is the accelerator : You can memorize in this order, "C B A". This arrangement of the pedals is the same in car with left side located wheel as well as right side wheel cars.

3# Understand the function of the clutch: The clutch disconnects the transmission between the wheels and the engine, and allows IT TO change the gear without damaging the mechanical gearbox. Before shifting the gear, you have to press the pedal TO DE-CLUTCH. (declutch)

4# Set the position of your seat in order to be able to push the clutch pedal to the floor, without difficulty, with your left foot. The clutch pedal is the one on the left, next to the brakes.

5# Push the clutch pedal and hold it TO floor level. Take advantage of this moment to feel, with your foot the difference between the stroke of the clutch pedal and the strokes of the brakes and accelerator. You can take a short moment to train yourself 2 or 3 time to release the clutch smoothly (is steplessly ok too?)

6# Shift the gear-lever to the neutral position. The neutral is the central position: it WILL BE free when you push it on each side. We consider the car has no gear engaged when:

The shift lever is on the neutral position OR
When the clutch pedal is pushed

... To be continued

I try to translate this text from French so I can get more specific vocabulary about cars. Here's the original text:
http://fr.wikihow.com/conduire-une-voiture-manuelle

thanks in advance for your corrections

NOTES:

CAPITALS = CORRECTIONS

**Firstly, I didn’t make this entry sound more natural, since you are translating from French to English.

- Assimilate = better to say “understand”. Assimilate can mean different things, but its more of an academic term (in your context, it still means ‘to understand’, just a lot more formal).
- “when you will sit for good” – I looked at this forever….I’m still not sure what it means. I think your saying “when you actually drive a manual car, this guide will help you up to that stage”. That’s why I said = “when you do it for real”
- ‘you should start” = perfect!
- ‘installed’ – another term that means, in this context, ‘get into the car and sit down’. But it’s very formal and not used in this context in English when describing the above situation. “Once you are inside” = implies your sitting down and ready to drive.
- Steplessly – is not a word ;) could use ‘easily’.

Hope this helps, Always happy to help an italki teacher! Any questions? Feel free to ask.

March 6, 2015

Thanks AJ!

March 10, 2015

(The 'I'd' above is an error from an incomplete edit; for persons probably less fluent than Eric who might see this: the second sentence should just read 'British English would use...')

March 10, 2015

Both dreamt and dreamed are correct; they're variant past participles. I'd British English would use 'dreamt' more, while 'dreamed' is more common in the USA. In Canada, we tend to hear both. 'Dreamt' sounds maybe a little more formal, to my ear. There are a lot of variant words with mild regional associations like this in English. 'Whilst' is very unusual in American English, much more common among the British. Americans would say 'while'. They'd understand 'whilst', but would think it slightly old-fashioned. But I'd say whilst/while is a more pronounced difference, while dreamt/dreamed is less so.

March 10, 2015

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