French Language

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!

"je n'en ai que faire" & "il en est tout autant" ... meaning?

I often accross phrases, where I think I know roughly what is meant, but can not quite understand the grammar behind them.

The two phrases I’d like to understand come from a poem called “La Montre et le Cadran Solaire“:

...

“J’attends", répondit-il, "que le soleil m’éclaire... “

“Attends-le donc, moi, je n’en ai que faire“,

Dit la montre; “sans lui, je vais toujours mon train“.

...

“Écoute, voilà l’heure; elle sonne à l’instant:

Une, deux, trois, quatre. Il en est tout autant“,

Dit-elle ...

 

(je vais toujours mon train“ is also a strange phrase, I guess it means something like “I always go by my mechanism“? But gramatically, again I don’t know, is it ok? Or poetic licence?)

kb

Views: 1073

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

'Je n'en ai que faire' : I don't care of it, I don't need it

'Il en est tout autant' = 'Il est quatre heures'

'Je vais toujours mon train' : I keep going

RSS

Follow BitterCoffey on Twitter

© 2024   Created by Neil Coffey.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service