Alaor Santos
Senior Member
Portuguese Brazil
Hi! Can someone help me? What do you say when the gear on a car is not engaged? We say "dead gear" in Portuguese. Thanks!
Maxiogee, can we say "the car is not in any gear" or "the car is free-wheeling"?
free-wheeling usually denotes motion, whereas a car could be in neutral or not in gear while stopped at lights.I'd be more likely to hear that without the "any" — "the car is not in gear".
The other is fine — free-wheeling is illegal in this country, to the best of my knowledge.