Please help me on translation

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on June 29, 2009 at 9:06am

Hi Frank,

[quote]
"Connaissance" is almost always plural (hey, you already made that mistake more than once, Stephen).
[/quote]
Oh sorry. Here I have some confusion. I was talking one kind of knowledge, the 'French", but NOT all knowledges. Whether disregarding one kind or multiple knowledges, plural form must always be used?

{quote]
(just nitpicking here, but in order to talk about "connaissances" sinking in, you can use "acquis" - the infinitive form si "acquérir" - instead of "accumuler" : après avoir acquis des connaissances en français...)
[/quote]
Is there any difference in meaning on these 2 words? Thanks


B.R.
SL

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 29, 2009 at 11:21am

Hello Stephen,

The singular form is sometimes used, but rather to say "absolute knowledge". It would be very selfish to talk about oneself and use "la connaissance".

"J'ai des connaissances en maths" => I have some knowledge about mathematics

"J'ai la connaissance des maths" => I know absolutely everything about mathematics. Or maybe not everything, but I made a break through.

--

"accumuler" means to pile on, to stack up. You can "accumuler du travail". So "accumuler des connaissance" makes sense, and you can say it, it'd be perfectly right.
"acquérir" means to buy, to purchase, but also to develop, to gain. And it's commonly used with "connaissances".

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on June 29, 2009 at 3:32pm

Hi Frank,


[quote]
"acquérir" means to buy, to purchase, but also to develop, to gain. And it's commonly used with "connaissances".
[/quote]

Ex.

I decide to improve my English knowledge with determination

Je décide d'améliorer des connaissances anglaise avec la détermination


OR can I use:

Je décide si acquérir des connaissances anglaise avec la détermination



B.R.
SL

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 29, 2009 at 3:43pm

Either :

Je décide d'améliorer mes connaissances en anglais avec détermination

or

Je décide d'acquérir des connaissances en anglais avec détermination

Here, if you use "améliorer" it means that you already had some background knowledge, while if you use "acquérir", it means that you started from scratch.

Instead of "avec détermination", you can also use the verb "déterminer":

Je suis déterminé à améliorer mes connaissances en anglais

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on June 29, 2009 at 3:55pm

Hi Frank,

[quote]
Je décide d'améliorer mes connaissances en anglais avec détermination

or

Je décide d'acquérir des connaissances en anglais avec détermination
[/quote]
Can I use "anglais" as adjective by adding "e" at the end?

Je décide d'acquérir des connaissances anglaisE avec détermination


B.R.
SL

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 29, 2009 at 4:09pm

Hello Stephen,

This is not an option, because, the adjective can't be used to mean the language itself.

The adjective really means "coming from an English-speaking place".

"Je décide d'acquérir des connaissances anglaises" can be interpreted as:
- I want to meet English people
- I want to learn about English culture

But it doesn't mean than you are interested in the language.

An adjective like "anglais/anglaise/anglaises" should be freely interchangeable with "from UK". If it doesn't work, it means that you should use the noun instead.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hyatt on June 29, 2009 at 7:49pm

Please translate this to English: Ça vas bien!

Please translate this to French: Thank you for all your help.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 29, 2009 at 9:21pm

It just means : "I'm doing well !"

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hyatt on June 30, 2009 at 12:18am

Mostly I will be seeking translations of phrases and words, as I'm communicating with a couple of fellows from Sherbrooke, Quebec, and I am trying to impress them with my willingness to learn French; plus I'm throwing a bit of (what I know of) Hawaiian, having lived there for 6 years. My question this time is: could you please tell me the correct way of saying, "in the near future", as would be the correct way of using that term in French parlance? I'm deeply grateful for your help. Mahalo nui loa!
P.S. I have actually wanted to learn French since I was about 12 years old, but when I entered Junior High School, I got stuck with Deutsch, which is perhaps one of the worst-sounding languages in the civilized world (I sure hope you're not German!).
~cuddybear130 (my internet name)












s

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 30, 2009 at 12:30am

Hello Steve,

Here's how to say "in the near future" in French: "dans un futur proche".

And it's an excellent expression to know, as an alternative to "bientôt" (soon).

Steve, tu semble être très motivé alors tu parleras parfaitement le français dans un futur proche !

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on June 30, 2009 at 3:49am

Hi Frank,

[quote]
tu semble être très motivé alors tu parleras parfaitement le français dans un futur proche !
[/quote]
You seem to be very motivated. Anyway you will speak French perfectly in the near future

Can "alors" be used to connect these 2 sentences? Then how to translate it to English?

TIA

B.R.
SL

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 30, 2009 at 9:07am

Hey Stephen,

"Alors" can be either "then", or "so". In this case, "alors" stands for "so".

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