connaissance

Hi folks,

With such knowledge I can talk about weather and greetings without much difficulty
Avec une telle connaissance je peux parler du temps et de la salutation sans beaucoup de difficulté

Any mistake made? Thanks

B.R.
S.L

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 23, 2009 at 9:42pm

"without much..." can't be translated as-is in french. Just use "sans" : "sans difficulté".

Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on June 24, 2009 at 2:55am

Hi Frank,

Then the whole sentence will be;
Avec une telle connaissance je peux parler du temps et de la salutation sans difficulté

Thanks

B.R.
SL

Permalink Reply by Frank on June 24, 2009 at 10:31am

Hey Stephen,

Yes, this sentence is correct.

However, "salutation" is often used if a very formal context (as in "salutations distinguées" to sign off a formal letter), or in sports (like in judo, before and after a fight). Not much for casual greetings. The most common way to translate "greetings" would be "dire bonjour" :

"Avec de telles connaissances, je peux parler du temps et dire bonjour sans difficulté"

"Connaissance" is almost always plural if you mean "knowledge". Using the singular form is correct, but a bit overzealous ("avec une telle connaissance" could be understood as "as I'm a genius").

"sans difficulté" is absolutely right, but french people love the word "problem". It's even ridiculous to watch how often we use it. Instead of "sans difficulté", "sans problème" would sound more natural, at least in spoken french.

Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on June 24, 2009 at 2:52pm

Hi Frank,

Thanks for your explanation.

The final sentence should read as;

"Avec de telles connaissances, je peux parler du temps et dire bonjour sans problème"

Thanks

B.R.
SL

Permalink Reply by Frank on June 24, 2009 at 5:39pm

Hello Stephen,

Your final sentence is perfect :)

Permalink Reply by Crack1 on June 24, 2009 at 6:21pm

What is the meaning of '"Avec de telles connaissances' ?

Permalink Reply by Frank on June 24, 2009 at 6:24pm

Hello Crack1,

It means "with this knowledge".

Permalink Reply by Crack1 on June 24, 2009 at 6:41pm

With this knowledge I could talk about time and the salutation without any difficulty.

The above doesn't sound good English.
Could you translate into correct English?

Permalink Reply by Frank on June 24, 2009 at 6:52pm

"With this knowledge I can tell the time and say hello without any difficulty"

The "with this knowledge" part is a bit weird and unnecessary, both in French and English.

Permalink Reply by Crack1 on June 24, 2009 at 9:33pm

I would agree with to say the words 'With this knowledge' is weird.

He has some knowledge of French/English so as to tell the time and say hello without any difficulty"

Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on June 25, 2009 at 3:32am

I think "parler du temps" would more readily be interpreted as meaning talking about the weather, though, no? P.S. Is the "with this knowledge" bit really so terribly bad?

Permalink Reply by Crack1 on June 25, 2009 at 9:45pm

I have no knowledge of working in mines.

To the best of my knowledge, Neil knows everything when it comes to French.

I have some knowledge about hardware.

With this knowledge ..... [ Sounds odd to my ears.]