to insist

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on June 11, 2012 at 9:21pm

J'insiste qu'il parte. (I think)

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Permalink Reply by Christine on June 11, 2012 at 10:50pm

I'd go with "J'insiste pour qu'il parte".

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on February 26, 2013 at 2:28pm

I learned that "tenir à" is a way to say "insist."  Is this used as often as "insister?"  The example they gave was "Elle tient à vous parler."  So if it's correct, I guess the translation would be "Je tiens à ce qu'il quitte."  

Using "insister" google said "J'insiste pour qu'il quitte."  I'm surprised to see "pour"

 

 

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 26, 2013 at 4:13pm

I think Christine lives in Switzerland  so I am sure she is right about the "pour"(I too wasn't familiar with that idiom).

I have a feeling "tenir à" is a common expression .I doubt it has exactly the same meanings as "insister" but it does seem pretty close.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on February 26, 2013 at 4:18pm

Hi George -- for what it's worth, I think the "pour" would be usual in France too, but we have various members here who live in France, so I'd be interested to hear their opinions.

It looks a bit odd compared with English, but of course French has no obligation to adopt the same preposition/construction as English or any other language.

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on February 26, 2013 at 5:32pm

Hello

1) The verb  "tenir à" :

Elle tient à vous parler => correct

Je tiens à ce qu'il parte => correct.

je tiens à ce qu'il quitte => nearly correct, because of "quitter". "quitter" is  nearly always used with a complement = "quitter someone"," quitter something", "quitter somewhere". Then "Je tiens à ce qu'il quitte cette maison" is correct. so I think the translation is better with "parte" because there is no complement in the English sentence.

the verb "insister" : 2 ways commonly used, the 2 ways are close but slight different.

"insister sur" is used as  "call attention to"

"insister pour" is used as "ask with strength"

"insister" is not used with other prepositions. It can be use without preposition, "j'insiste" the context gives the meaning.

2) the 2 words ("tenir à" and "insister") are different, their meanings are slight different, but the effect is more or less the same.

"tenir à" and "insister pour" are commonly used. "tenir à" is often used  instead of "insister" and vice versa.

meaning :

- ("tenir à") :  "elle tient à vous parler" means that she wants, she wish with desire to speak with you.

- ("insister pour") : "elle insiste pour vous parler" means that she asks with strength, maybe several times to speak with you

"insister pour" is a little stronger than "tenir à"

in a talk the 2 words are possible, 2 people speaking together :

Jean : je tiens à lui parler !    => I wish to speak with her, it's a big desire.

Paul : elle est fatiguée

Jean : j'insiste => I ask another time, to make her change his mind.

the opposite is possible :

Jean : j'insiste pour lui parler => I ask with strength  to speak with her

Paul : elle est fatiguée

Jean : Je tiens à lui parler => here, it's rather a plea. The tone is more kind.

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