help with a sentence from english to french

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could help me with this sentence:

He tricked his class into believing that he was their friend:

I came up with....

Il fait croire à sa classe qu'il était un ami tout en étant au contraire

is my sentence right? I thought by the sense in english I would end up using the word "tricher" or anarquer but i couldn't really think of a way to throw it in.

thanks in advance

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Permalink Reply by Sou on November 6, 2012 at 4:09pm

How would you translate these two sentences in French? With subordinate clauses?

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on November 6, 2012 at 4:22pm

You can use "ing" forms like this:

He scares me looking at me like that.

Seeing him, you'd think he never washed.

or alternatively, you could use a "full blown" subordinate like this:

He scares me when(ever) he looks at me like that.

When(ever) you see him, you'd think he never washed. / ...you get the impression he never washes (etc).

When you look at him, you'd think he never washed.

In the second of the sentences, "to" with the infinitive also actually works:

To see/look at him, you'd think he never washed.

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Permalink Reply by Sou on November 6, 2012 at 4:38pm

Thanks.

Is there a difference of style or meaning whether you use -ing form or a subordinate (or an infinitive for the last example) ?

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on November 6, 2012 at 7:05pm

Are these the 2 versions you mean?

1:Seeing him, you'd think he never washed.

2:To see/look at him, you'd think he never washed.

I like the second version better .As to why it is hard to say but it seems a more stylish turn of phrase.I think it gives that phrase a bit of extra emphasis in the sentence than just saying "Seeing him" because ,initially there is a bit of a grammatical disconnect between the two halves of the sentence until you get the overall meaning.

As to any difference in meaning I think there is more of an element of causation in the second sentence.You draw the conclusion that he never washed as a result of looking at him whereas , in the first example that link is less well drawn (obviously it is implied).

That said ,the meanings are really very close indeed.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Loose on November 8, 2012 at 3:13pm

Il fait croire à sa classe d'être son meilleur ami, bien au contraire.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on November 8, 2012 at 5:45pm

I think that is the best so far.

Would it be more stylish to say "la classe" to avoid repeating "son" ,"sa" ? (or is that far too fussy/wrong ?)