Discuss and learn French: French vocabulary, French grammar, French culture etc.
French Vocab Games app for iPhone/iPad French-English dictionary French grammar French vocab/phrases
For the latest updates, follow @FrenchUpdates on Twitter!
Ils se détestent
several definitions for "they hate each other" add "les uns les autres." I don't see the need. Is it OK without it?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Charles D on -
You may not see the need, but the French do. "Ils se detestent" can also be translated as "they hate themselves"--"les uns les autres" is added to better refine the meaning to "the hate each other" (literally: "they hate themselves, the one, the other"). It may not be good English, but it is good French.
-
Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on
-
In general, "l'un l'autre" or "les uns les autres" used either when there's an actual syntactic need (e.g. "les uns contre les autres") or if there is ambiguity. Theoretically, "ils se détestent" could mean "they hate themselves" in the sense of "each of them hates him/herself" rather than "they hate one another". (To put it another way, it could have either a reflexive or a reciprocal meaning.)
But if there's no actual ambiguity in the context, then "Ils se détestent" on its own is fine.
© 2024 Created by Neil Coffey.
Powered by
