naît or né? - French Language2024-03-28T21:05:39Zhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/forum/topics/nait-or-ne?commentId=3179028%3AComment%3A20507&x=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThanks for your reply. I hadn…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2011-01-04:3179028:Comment:205072011-01-04T10:14:48.331ZCurt Jugghttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/CurtJugg
Thanks for your reply. I hadn't come across the historic present with <em>naître</em> before<em>.</em>
Thanks for your reply. I hadn't come across the historic present with <em>naître</em> before<em>.</em> Thanks for your reply.tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2011-01-04:3179028:Comment:205062011-01-04T10:10:41.179ZCurt Jugghttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/CurtJugg
Thanks for your reply.
Thanks for your reply. Yes, exactly. So literally it…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2011-01-04:3179028:Comment:205032011-01-04T01:14:11.812ZNeil Coffeyhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/NeilCoffey
Yes, exactly. So literally it is saying "...is born on 7 October 1895", but in English one would tend to write this in the past tense: "...was born on...".<br/>
Yes, exactly. So literally it is saying "...is born on 7 October 1895", but in English one would tend to write this in the past tense: "...was born on...".<br/> There are two perspectives of…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2011-01-04:3179028:Comment:205002011-01-04T00:43:52.183ZAdam Kimhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/AdamKim
<p>There are two perspectives of this.</p>
<p>1. It could be a form of "factual present" equivalent in English. English sentences of indisputable facts have the present tense as a rule of thumb.</p>
<p>2. Adverbs or prepositional phrases showing tenses are doing the trick.</p>
<p>There are two perspectives of this.</p>
<p>1. It could be a form of "factual present" equivalent in English. English sentences of indisputable facts have the present tense as a rule of thumb.</p>
<p>2. Adverbs or prepositional phrases showing tenses are doing the trick.</p> Thanks for your reply. As an…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2011-01-03:3179028:Comment:204962011-01-03T23:31:24.569ZCurt Jugghttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/CurtJugg
Thanks for your reply. As an example, on the dust cover of <em>Le Bon Usage </em>it says, "Maurice Grevisse naît le 7 octobre 1895 à Rulles (Belgique), d'un père forgeron et d'une mère couturière." Further down it says, "André Goosse naît à Liège (Belgique) le 16 avril 1926." Would these be examples of the "historic present"?
Thanks for your reply. As an example, on the dust cover of <em>Le Bon Usage </em>it says, "Maurice Grevisse naît le 7 octobre 1895 à Rulles (Belgique), d'un père forgeron et d'une mère couturière." Further down it says, "André Goosse naît à Liège (Belgique) le 16 avril 1926." Would these be examples of the "historic present"? It would be interesting to se…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2011-01-03:3179028:Comment:204922011-01-03T23:13:09.569ZNeil Coffeyhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/NeilCoffey
It would be interesting to see an actual example. It could be a typo. However, remember that it's reasonably common in French to use a "historic present"'-- i.e. you use a present tense to describe something that happens in the past. So the word <strong>naît</strong>, while literally meaning "is born", could effectively mean "was born" under the right circumstances.
It would be interesting to see an actual example. It could be a typo. However, remember that it's reasonably common in French to use a "historic present"'-- i.e. you use a present tense to describe something that happens in the past. So the word <strong>naît</strong>, while literally meaning "is born", could effectively mean "was born" under the right circumstances.