in the car的本義是“在小汽車里”“汽車中”“車子里”等，如：　　

Please stay in the car. 請待在小汽車里。　　

I have to check the oil level in the car. 我必須檢查汽車中的油量。

Is there room for me in the car? 車子里還有我坐的地方嗎?

He sat in the car with a policeman on either side of him. 他坐在汽車里，兩旁各坐著一名警察。

The mother told her kids to stay put in the car while she ran into the store. 母親要求孩子們在她進商店購物時呆在車里等她。

It was a stupid thing for her to leave her car keys in the car; it was stolen! 她真傻，把車鑰匙留在車上，車被偷了！

但在一定的上下文中，該短語也可表示“用小汽車”“乘小汽車”“開車”等。如：　　

I’ll take you to the station in the car. 我開車送你到車站。

We went for a ride in the car. 我們開車兜風(fēng)。

We had a long ride in the car. 我們乘汽車走了一段長旅程。

There was no bus coming this way. I came in the car. 這個方向沒有公共汽車來，我是乘小汽車車來的。　　

由于這三個句子的語境很明確，均宜譯為“用汽車”“乘汽車”之類的意思，而不宜譯為“在汽車里”。