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1 any
any [ˈenɪ]1. adjectivea.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The construction not... any is generally translated in French by pas... de.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━b. (in questions and "if" clauses) have you got any butter? avez-vous du beurre ?• did they find any survivors? ont-ils trouvé des survivants ?• are there any others? y en a-t-il d'autres ?• is there any risk? y a-t-il un risque ?c. ( = no matter which) n'importe quel ; ( = each and every) tout• you can come at any hour of the day or night vous pouvez venir à toute heure du jour ou de la nuit2. pronouna. (with negative) she has two brothers but I haven't got any elle a deux frères mais moi je n'en ai pas• a lot of people booked but hardly any came beaucoup de gens avaient réservé, mais presque personne n'est venub. (in questions and "if" clauses) have you got any? en avez-vous ?• few, if any, will come il viendra peu de gens, si tant est qu'il en viennec. ( = no matter which one) any of those books will do n'importe lequel de ces livres fera l'affaire3. adverba. ► any + comparative• are you feeling any better? vous sentez-vous un peu mieux ?• if it had been any colder we'd have frozen to death si la température avait encore baissé, nous serions morts de froid• do you want any more soup? voulez-vous encore de la soupe ?• I couldn't do that any more than I could fly je ne serais pas plus capable de faire cela que de volerb. ► not any + comparative* * *Note: When any is used as a determiner in negative sentences it is not usually translated in French: we don't have any money = nous n'avons pas d'argentWhen any is used as a determiner in questions it is translated by du, de l', de la or des according to the gender and number of the noun that follows: is there any soap? = y a-t-il du savon?; is there any flour? = y a-t-il de la farine?; are there any questions? = est-ce qu'il y a des questions?When any is used as a pronoun in negative sentences and in questions it is translated by en: we don't have any = nous n'en avons pas; have you got any? = est-ce que vous en avez?For adverbial uses such as any more, any longer, any better etc see III below['enɪ] 1.1) (with negative, implied negative)2) (in questions, conditional sentences)3) ( no matter which) n'importe quel/quelle, toutany complaints should be addressed to Mr Cook — pour toute réclamation adressez-vous à M. Cook
I do not wish to restrict your freedom in any way — je n'ai pas l'intention d'entraver votre liberté de quelque façon que ce soit
2.if you should want to discuss this at any time — si à un moment ou à un autre vous souhaitez discuter de cela
1) (with negative, implied negative)she doesn't like any of them — ( people) elle n'aime aucun d'entre eux/elles; ( things) elle n'en aime aucun/-e
2) (in questions, conditional sentences)I'd like some tea, if you have any — je voudrais du thé, si vous en avez
have any of you got a car? — est-ce que l'un/-e d'entre vous a une voiture?
3) ( no matter which) n'importe lequel/laquelle‘which colour would you like?’ - ‘any’ — ‘quelle couleur veux-tu?’ - ‘n'importe laquelle’
3.any of them could do it — n'importe qui d'entre eux/elles pourrait le faire
1) ( with comparatives)he doesn't live here any more ou longer — il n'habite plus ici
2) (colloq) ( at all) du tout -
2 any
❢ When any is used as a determiner in negative sentences it is not usually translated in French: we don't have any money = nous n'avons pas d'argent.When any is used as a determiner in questions it is translated by du, de l', de la or des according to the gender and number of the noun that follows: is there any soap? = y a-t-il du savon? ; is there any flour? = y a-t-il de la farine? ; are there any questions? = est-ce qu'il y a des questions? For examples and other determiner uses see A in the entry below. When any is used as a pronoun in negative sentences and in questions it is translated by en: we don't have any = nous n'en avons pas ; have you got any? = est-ce que vous en avez? For more examples and other pronoun uses see B below. For adverbial uses such as any more, any longer, any better etc see C below.A det1 (with negative, implied negative) he hasn't got any money/food il n'a pas d'argent/de nourriture ; they never receive any letters ils ne reçoivent jamais de lettres ; they hardly ate any cake ils n'ont presque pas mangé de gâteau ; I don't want any breakfast/lunch je ne veux pas de petit déjeuner/déjeuner ; I don't need any advice je n'ai pas besoin de conseils ; they couldn't get any details ils n'ont pas obtenu la moindre information ; he hasn't got any common sense il n'a aucun bon sens ;2 (in questions, conditional sentences) is there any tea/bread? est-ce qu'il y a du thé/pain? ; have you got any plums? est-ce que vous avez des prunes? ; if you have any doubts si vous avez le moindre doute ; if you have any money si vous avez de l'argent ;3 ( no matter which) n'importe quel/quelle, tout ; any hat/pen will do n'importe quel chapeau/stylo fera l'affaire ; you can have any cup you like vous pouvez prendre n'importe quelle tasse ; any teacher will tell you the same thing n'importe quel professeur te dira la même chose ; any information would be very useful tout renseignement serait très utile ; any complaints should be addressed to Mr Cook pour toute réclamation adressez-vous à M. Cook ; any child caught smoking will be punished tout enfant surpris à fumer sera puni ; I'm ready to help in any way I can je suis prêt à faire tout ce que je peux pour aider ; I do not wish to restrict your freedom in any way je n'ai pas l'intention d'entraver votre liberté de quelque façon que ce soit ; he might return at any time il peut revenir d'un moment à l'autre ; if you should want to discuss this at any time si à un moment ou à un autre vous souhaitez discuter de cela ; come round and see me any time passe me voir quand tu veux ; any one of you could have done it n'importe qui d'entre vous aurait pu le faire ; I don't buy any one brand in particular je n'achète aucune marque en particulier ; you can only take out £200 at any one time vous ne pouvez retirer que 200 livres sterling à chaque fois ; ⇒ case, chance, event, means, minute, old, rate.B pron1 (with negative, implied negative) he hasn't got any il n'en a pas ; there is hardly any left il n'en reste presque pas ; there aren't any others il n'y en a pas d'autres ; she doesn't like any of them ( people) elle n'aime aucun d'entre eux/elles ; ( things) elle n'en aime aucun/-e ;2 (in questions, conditional sentences) I'd like some tea, if you have any je voudrais du thé, si vous en avez ; have you got any? est-ce que vous en avez? ; have any of you got a car? est-ce que l'un/-e d'entre vous a une voiture? ; are any of them blue? y en a-t-il des bleus? ; we have very few blue shirts left, if any il doit rester très peu de chemises bleues, si toutefois il en reste ; if we have any, they'll be over there si nous en avons, ils/elles seront là-bas ;3 ( no matter which) n'importe lequel/laquelle ; ‘which colour would you like?’-‘any’ ‘quelle couleur veux-tu?’-‘n'importe laquelle’ ; any of those pens n'importe lequel de ces stylos ; any of them could do it n'importe qui d'entre eux/elles pourrait le faire.C adv1 ( with comparatives) there isn't any better lawyer in the country c'est le meilleur avocat du pays ; is he feeling any better? est-ce qu'il se sent mieux? ; have you got any more of these? est-ce que vous en avez d'autres? ; do you want any more wine? voulez-vous encore du vin? ; we can't give you any more than £4 an hour nous ne pouvons pas vous donner plus de 4 livres sterling de l'heure ; I can't paint pictures any more than I can write poetry je ne suis pas plus capable de peindre des tableaux que d'écrire des poèmes ; I don't like him any more than you do je ne l'aime guère plus que toi ; I don't know any more than that c'est tout ce que je sais ; any more of that and I'm leaving si ça continue je m'en vais ; any more stealing and you'll be in big trouble ○ si tu continues à voler tu vas avoir de gros problèmes ; he doesn't live here any more ou longer il n'habite plus ici ; I won't put up with it any longer ça ne peut pas continuer ainsi ; if we stay here any longer si nous restons plus longtemps ; can't you walk any faster? tu ne peux pas marcher plus vite? ; if it gets any hotter in here I shall have to leave s'il se met à faire plus chaud il faudra que je sorte ; I can't leave any later than 6 o'clock il faut que je parte à 6 heures au plus tard ;2 ○ ( at all) du tout ; that doesn't help me any ça ne m'aide pas du tout ; it didn't bother him any ça ne l'a pas du tout dérangé. -
3 and
and [ænd, ənd, nd, ən]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► For set expressions containing the word and, eg now and then, wait and see, look under the other words.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━a. et• and? et alors ?c. (+ infinitive verb) try and come tâchez de venird. (repetition, continuation) better and better de mieux en mieux* * *[ænd], unstressed [ənd]Note: When used as a straightforward conjunction, and is translated by et: to shout and sing = crier et chanter; Tom and Linda = Tom et Linda; my friend and colleague = mon ami et collègueand is sometimes used between two verbs in English to mean ‘in order to’ ( wait and see, try and relax etc). To translate these expressions, look under the appropriate verb entry (wait, try etc)For examples and other uses, see the entry below1) ( joining words or clauses) et2) ( in numbers)3) ( with repetition)4) ( for emphasis)5) ( in phrases)and that — (colloq) GB et tout ça
and how! — (colloq) et comment!
6) ( alike)7) ( with negative) -
4 anybody
anybody [ˈenɪbɒdɪ]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• was (there) anybody there? est-ce qu'il y avait quelqu'un ?• did anybody see you? est-ce que quelqu'un t'a vu ?• if anybody can do it, he can si quelqu'un peut le faire c'est bien lui━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note the different ways of translating anybody in affirmative sentences.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• anybody who wants to do it should say so now si quelqu'un veut le faire qu'il le dise tout de suite• he's not just anybody, he's the boss (inf) ce n'est pas n'importe qui, c'est le patron• anybody with any sense would know that! toute personne sensée sait ça !• anybody else would have cried, but not him tout autre que lui aurait pleuré* * *['enɪbɒdɪ]1) (with negative, implied negative) personneI don't like him and nor does anybody else — je ne l'aime pas, d'ailleurs personne ne l'aime
2) (in questions, conditional sentences) quelqu'unif anybody asks, tell them I've gone out — si quelqu'un me cherche, dis que je suis sorti
3) ( no matter who)anybody but you/his boss would say yes — tout autre que toi/ton patron dirait oui
‘who shall I invite?’ - ‘anybody but him’ — ‘qui vais-je inviter?’ - ‘n'importe qui, sauf lui’
anybody who wants to, can go — tous ceux qui le veulent, peuvent y aller
4) ( somebody unimportant)5) ( somebody important) -
5 anything
anything [ˈenɪθɪŋ]a.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• anything but! (reply to question) pas du tout !b.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► In questions and if clauses, anything can usually be translated by quelque chose.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• was there anything in the box? y avait-il quelque chose dans la boîte ?• did you see anything interesting? tu as vu quelque chose d'intéressant ?• can anything be done? peut-on faire quelque chose ?• is there anything more boring than...? y a-t-il rien de plus ennuyeux que... ?• it is, if anything, even smaller c'est peut-être encore plus petitc. ( = no matter what) n'importe quoi• they eat anything ( = they're not fussy) ils mangent de tout* * *['enɪθɪŋ]1) (with negative, implied negative) rienshe didn't say/do anything — elle n'a rien dit/fait
2) (in questions, conditional sentences) quelque choseif anything happens ou should happen to her — s'il lui arrive quoi que ce soit
is there anything in the rumour that...? — est-il vrai que...?
3) ( no matter what) toutI'd do ou give anything to get that job — je ferais tout pour obtenir cet emploi
she likes anything sweet/to do with football — elle aime tout ce qui est sucré/qui a rapport au football
to cost anything between £50 and £100 — coûter de 50 à 100 livres sterling
he was anything but happy/a liar — il n'était pas du tout heureux/menteur
‘was it interesting?’ - ‘anything but!’ — ‘est-ce que c'était intéressant?’ - ‘tout sauf ça’
he wasn't annoyed, if anything, he was quite pleased — il n'était pas fâché, au contraire, il était content
••as easy/funny as anything — facile/drôle comme tout
to run/laugh/work like anything — courir/rire/travailler comme un fou (colloq)
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6 anywhere
anywhere [ˈenɪwεər]a. ( = no matter where) n'importe où• have you seen it anywhere? l'avez-vous vu quelque part ?• anywhere else? ailleurs ?• are you going anywhere nice this summer? tu pars quelque part cet été ?* * *['enɪweə(r)], US [-hweər]1) (with negative, implied negative)you won't get anywhere if you don't pass your exams — fig tu n'arriveras à rien si tu ne réussis pas tes examens
crying isn't going to get you anywhere — fig ça ne t'avancera à rien de pleurer
2) (in questions, conditional sentences) quelque partwe're going to Spain, if anywhere — si on va quelque part, ce sera en Espagne
3) ( no matter where)anywhere in the world/in England — partout dans le monde/en Angleterre
anywhere except ou but Bournemouth — partout sauf à Bournemouth
anywhere she goes, he follows her — il la suit partout où elle va
‘where do you want to go?’ - ‘anywhere exotic/hot’ — ‘où veux-tu aller?’ - ‘dans un endroit exotique/où il fait chaud’
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7 anybody
1 (with negative, implied negative) personne ; there wasn't anybody in the house/car il n'y avait personne dans la maison/voiture ; there's never anybody at home il n'y a jamais personne chez eux ; without anybody knowing sans que personne le sache ; I didn't have anybody to talk to il n'y avait personne avec qui j'aurais pu parler ; I don't like him and nor does anybody else je ne l'aime pas, d'ailleurs personne ne l'aime ; hardly anybody came il n'est venu presque personne ;2 (in questions, conditional sentences) quelqu'un ; is there anybody in the house/car? est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un dans la maison/voiture? ; did anybody see him? est-ce que quelqu'un l'a vu? ; if anybody asks, tell them I've gone out si quelqu'un me cherche, dis que je suis sorti ; if anybody can persuade him, John can si quelqu'un peut le convaincre, c'est John ; is anybody nice/interesting coming? y a-t-il quelqu'un de sympa ○ /d'intéressant qui vient? ;3 ( no matter who) anybody could do it tout le monde pourrait le faire ; anybody but him/you/his wife tout le monde sauf lui/toi/sa femme ; anybody who wants to, can go tous ceux qui le veulent, peuvent y aller ; anybody but you would have given it to him n'importe qui d'autre que toi le lui aurait donné ; anybody with any intelligence would realize that n'importe quelle personne un peu sensée se serait rendu compte que ; anybody can make a mistake/break a glass ça arrive à tout le monde de faire une erreur/casser un verre ; anybody would think you were deaf tout le monde doit croire que tu es sourd ; you can invite anybody (you like) tu peux inviter qui tu veux ;4 ( somebody unimportant) she's not just anybody, she's the boss ce n'est pas n'importe qui, c'est la patronne ; we can't ask just anybody to do it, we need a skilled mechanic nous ne pouvons pas demander à n'importe qui de le faire, nous avons besoin d'un vrai mécanicien ; I wouldn't give it to just anybody je ne le/la donnerais pas à n'importe qui ;5 ( somebody important) anybody who was anybody was at the party tous les gens importants étaient à la soirée ; he isn't anybody in this town ce n'est pas quelqu'un d'important dans cette ville. ⇒ guess. -
8 anything
1 (with negative, implied negative) rien ; she didn't say/do anything elle n'a rien dit/fait ; they never do anything ils ne font jamais rien ; he didn't have anything to do il n'avait rien à faire ; she doesn't want anything (too) expensive/cheap elle ne veut rien de (trop) cher/de bon marché ; there was hardly anything left il ne restait presque rien ; don't believe anything he says ne crois pas un mot de ce qu'il dit ;2 (in questions, conditional sentences) quelque chose ; is there anything in the box? est-ce qu'il y a quelque chose dans le carton? ; have you got anything in blue/red? est-ce que vous avez quelque chose en bleu/rouge? ; if anything happens ou should happen to her si quoi que ce soit lui arrive ; is there anything to be done? peut-on faire quelque chose? ; is there anything in the rumour that…? est-il vrai que…? ; is there anything in what he says? est-ce qu'il y a du vrai dans ce qu'il dit? ;3 ( no matter what) tout ; anything is possible tout est possible ; you can have anything (you like) tu peux avoir tout ce que tu veux ; she'll eat anything elle mange tout or n'importe quoi ; I'd do ou give anything to get that job je ferais tout pour obtenir cet emploi ; they'd do anything for you ils sont toujours prêts à rendre service ; she likes anything sweet/to do with football elle aime tout ce qui est sucré/qui a rapport au football ; it could cost anything between £50 and £100 ça peut coûter de 50 à 100 livres sterling ; he was anything but happy/intelligent/a liar il n'était pas du tout heureux/intelligent/menteur ; ‘was it interesting?’-‘anything but!’ ‘est-ce que c'était intéressant?’-‘tout sauf ça’ ; he wasn't annoyed, if anything, he was quite pleased il n'était pas fâché, au contraire, il était content.anything goes tout est permis ; as easy/funny as anything facile/drôle comme tout ; to run/laugh/work like anything courir/rire/travailler comme un fou ○ ; do you need a towel or anything? as-tu besoin d'une serviette ou de quelque chose? ; it's not that I don't like you or anything ce n'est pas que je ne t'aime pas. -
9 anywhere
1 (with negative, implied negative) you can't go anywhere tu ne peux aller nulle part ; there isn't anywhere to sit/sleep il n'y a pas de place pour s'asseoir/dormir ; we didn't go anywhere special/interesting nous ne sommes allés nulle part de spécial/d'intéressant ; they didn't go anywhere this weekend ils ne sont allés nulle part ce weekend ; you won't get anywhere if you don't pass your exams fig tu n'arriveras à rien si tu ne réussis pas tes examens ; crying isn't going to get you anywhere fig ça ne t'avancera à rien de pleurer ; James came second but I didn't come anywhere James est arrivé deuxième mais moi, je ne suis pas entré dans le classement ;2 (in questions, conditional sentences) quelque part ; have you got a radio/a comb anywhere? avez-vous une radio/un peigne quelque part? ; did you go anywhere nice? est-ce que tu es allé dans un endroit agréable? ; we're going to Spain, if anywhere si on va quelque part, ce sera en Espagne ; have you seen Andrew anywhere? est-ce que tu as vu Andrew quelque part? ; can you think of anywhere she might be? as-tu la moindre idée de l'endroit où elle peut être? ;3 ( no matter where) anywhere you like où tu veux ; anywhere in the world/in England partout dans le monde/en Angleterre ; anywhere except ou but Bournemouth partout sauf à Bournemouth ; I'll go anywhere where there's sun j'irai n'importe où du moment qu'il y a du soleil ; anywhere she goes, he follows her il la suit partout où elle va ; ‘where do you want to go?’-‘anywhere exotic/hot’ ‘où veux-tu aller?’-‘dans un endroit exotique/où il fait chaud’ ; anywhere between 50 and 100 people entre 50 et 100 personnes. -
10 Usage note : be
I am tired= je suis fatiguéCaroline is French= Caroline est françaisethe children are in the garden= les enfants sont dans le jardinIt functions in very much the same way as to be does in English and it is safe to assume it will work as a translation in the great majority of cases.Note, however, that when you are specifying a person’s profession or trade, a/an is not translated:she’s a doctor= elle est médecinClaudie is still a student= Claudie est toujours étudianteThis is true of any noun used in apposition when the subject is a person:he’s a widower= il est veufButLyons is a beautiful city= Lyon est une belle villeFor more information or expressions involving professions and trades consult the usage note Shops, Trades and Professions.For the conjugation of the verb être see the French verb tables.Grammatical functionsThe passiveêtre is used to form the passive in French just as to be is used in English. Note, however, that the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject:the rabbit was killed by a fox= le lapin a été tué par un renardthe window had been broken= la fenêtre avait été casséetheir books will be sold= leurs livres seront vendusour doors have been repainted red= nos portes ont été repeintes en rougeIn spoken language, French native speakers find the passive cumbersome and will avoid it where possible by using the impersonal on where a person or people are clearly involved : on a repeint nos portes en rouge.Progressive tensesIn French the idea of something happening over a period of time cannot be expressed using the verb être in the way that to be is used as an auxiliary verb in English.The presentFrench uses simply the present tense where English uses the progressive form with to be:I am working= je travailleBen is reading a book= Ben lit un livreIn order to accentuate duration être en train de is used: je suis en train de travailler ; Ben est en train de lire un livre.The futureFrench also uses the present tense where English uses the progressive form with to be:we are going to London tomorrow= nous allons à Londres demainI’m (just) coming!= j’arrive!I’m (just) going!= j’y vais!The pastTo express the distinction between she read a newspaper and she was reading a newspaper French uses the perfect and the imperfect tenses: elle a lu un journal/elle lisait un journal:he wrote to his mother= il a écrit à sa mèrehe was writing to his mother= il écrivait à sa mèreHowever, in order to accentuate the notion of describing an activity which went on over a period of time, the phrase être en train de (= to be in the process of) is often used:‘what was he doing when you arrived?’‘he was cooking the dinner’= ‘qu’est-ce qu’il faisait quand tu es arrivé?’ ‘il était en train de préparer le dîner’she was just finishing her essay when …= elle était juste en train de finir sa dissertation quand …The compound pastCompound past tenses in the progressive form in English are generally translated by the imperfect in French:I’ve been looking for you= je te cherchaisFor progressive forms + for and since (I’ve been waiting for an hour, I had been waiting for an hour, I’ve been waiting since Monday etc.) see the entries for and since.ObligationWhen to be is used as an auxiliary verb with another verb in the infinitive ( to be to do) expressing obligation, a fixed arrangement or destiny, devoir is used:she’s to do it at once= elle doit le faire tout de suitewhat am I to do?= qu’est-ce que je dois faire?he was to arrive last Monday= il devait arriver lundi derniershe was never to see him again= elle ne devait plus le revoir.In tag questionsFrench has no direct equivalent of tag questions like isn’t he? or wasn’t it? There is a general tag question n’est-ce pas? (literally isn’t it so?) which will work in many cases:their house is lovely, isn’t it?= leur maison est très belle, n’est-ce pas?he’s a doctor, isn’t he?= il est médecin, n’est-ce pas?it was a very good meal, wasn’t it?= c’était un très bon repas, n’est-ce pas?However, n’est-ce pas can very rarely be used for positive tag questions and some other way will be found to express the extra meaning contained in the tag: par hasard ( by any chance) can be very useful as a translation:‘I can’t find my glasses’ ‘they’re not in the kitchen, are they?’= ‘je ne trouve pas mes lunettes’ ‘elles ne sont pas dans la cuisine, par hasard?’you haven’t seen Gaby, have you?= tu n’as pas vu Gaby, par hasard?In cases where an opinion is being sought, si? meaning more or less or is it? or was it? etc. can be useful:it’s not broken, is it?= ce n’est pas cassé, si?he wasn’t serious, was he?= il n’était pas sérieux, si?In many other cases the tag question is simply not translated at all and the speaker’s intonation will convey the implied question.In short answersAgain, there is no direct equivalent for short answers like yes I am, no he’s not etc. Where the answer yes is given to contradict a negative question or statement, the most useful translation is si:‘you’re not going out tonight’ ‘yes I am’= ‘tu ne sors pas ce soir’ ‘si’In reply to a standard enquiry the tag will not be translated:‘are you a doctor?’ ‘yes I am’= ‘êtes-vous médecin?’ ‘oui’‘was it raining?’ ‘yes it was’= ‘est-ce qu’il pleuvait?’ ‘oui’ProbabilityFor expressions of probability and supposition ( if I were you etc.) see the entry be.Other functionsExpressing sensations and feelingsIn expressing physical and mental sensations, the verb used in French is avoir:to be cold= avoir froidto be hot= avoir chaudI’m cold= j’ai froidto be thirsty= avoir soifto be hungry= avoir faimto be ashamed= avoir hontemy hands are cold= j’ai froid aux mainsIf, however, you are in doubt as to which verb to use in such expressions, you should consult the entry for the appropriate adjective.Discussing health and how people areIn expressions of health and polite enquiries about how people are, aller is used:how are you?= comment allez-vous?( more informally) comment vas-tu?( very informally as a greeting) ça va?are you well?= vous allez bien?how is your daughter?= comment va votre fille?my father is better today= mon père va mieux aujourd’huiDiscussing weather and temperatureIn expressions of weather and temperature faire is generally used:it’s cold= il fait froidit’s windy= il fait du ventIf in doubt, consult the appropriate adjective entry.Visiting somewhereWhen to be is used in the present perfect tense to mean go, visit etc., French will generally use the verbs venir, aller etc. rather than être:I’ve never been to Sweden= je ne suis jamais allé en Suèdehave you been to the Louvre?= est-ce que tu es déjà allé au Louvre?or est-ce que tu as déjà visité le Louvre?Paul has been to see us three times= Paul est venu nous voir trois foisNote too:has the postman been?= est-ce que le facteur est passé?The translation for an expression or idiom containing the verb to be will be found in the dictionary at the entry for another word in the expression: for to be in danger see danger, for it would be best to … see best etc.This dictionary contains usage notes on topics such as the clock, time units, age, weight measurement, days of the week, and shops, trades and professions, many of which include translations of particular uses of to be. -
11 Usage note : do
she’s doing her homework= elle fait ses devoirswhat are you doing?= qu’est-ce que tu fais?what has he done with the newspaper?= qu’est-ce qu’il a fait du journal?faire functions in very much the same way as to do does in English and it is safe to assume it will work in the great majority of cases. For the conjugation of the verb faire, see the French verb tables.Grammatical functionsIn questionsIn French there is no use of an auxiliary verb in questions equivalent to the use of do in English.When the subject is a pronoun, the question is formed in French either by inverting the subject and verb and putting a hyphen between the two ( veux-tu?) or by prefacing the subject + verb by est-ce que (literally is it that):do you like Mozart?= aimes-tu Mozart? or est-ce que tu aimes Mozart?did you put the glasses in the cupboard?= as-tu mis les verres dans le placard? or est-ce que tu as mis les verres dans le placard?When the subject is a noun there are again two possibilities:did your sister ring?= est-ce que ta sœur a téléphoné? or ta sœur a-t-elle téléphoné?did Max find his keys?= est-ce que Max a trouvé ses clés? or Max a-t-il trouvé ses clés?In negativesEqually, auxiliaries are not used in negatives in French:I don’t like Mozart= je n’aime pas Mozartyou didn’t feed the cat= tu n’as pas donné à manger au chatdon’t do that!= ne fais pas ça!In emphatic usesThere is no verbal equivalent for the use of do in such expressions as I DO like your dress. A French speaker will find another way, according to the context, of expressing the force of the English do. Here are a few useful examples:I DO like your dress= j’aime beaucoup ta robeI DO hope she remembers= j’espère qu’elle n’oubliera pasI DO think you should see a doctor= je crois vraiment que tu devrais voir un médecinWhen referring back to another verbIn this case the verb to do is not translated at all:I don’t like him any more than you do= je ne l’aime pas plus que toiI live in Oxford and so does Lily= j’habite à Oxford et Lily aussishe gets paid more than I do= elle est payée plus que moiI haven’t written as much as I ought to have done= je n’ai pas écrit autant que j’aurais dû‘I love strawberries’ ‘so do I’= ‘j’adore les fraises’ ‘moi aussi’In polite requestsIn polite requests the phrase je vous en prie can often be used to render the meaning of do:do sit down= asseyez-vous, je vous en priedo have a piece of cake= prenez un morceau de gâteau, je vous en prie‘may I take a peach?’ ‘yes, do’= ‘puis-je prendre une pêche?’ ‘je vous en prie’In imperativesIn French there is no use of an auxiliary verb in imperatives:don’t shut the door= ne ferme pas la portedon’t tell her anything= ne lui dis riendo be quiet!= tais-toi!In tag questionsFrench has no direct equivalent of tag questions like doesn’t he? or didn’t it? There is a general tag question n’est-ce pas? (literally isn’t it so?) which will work in many cases:you like fish, don’t you?= tu aimes le poisson, n’est-ce pas?he lives in London, doesn’t he?= il habite à Londres, n’est-ce pas?However, n’est-ce pas can very rarely be used for positive tag questions and some other way will be found to express the meaning contained in the tag: par hasard can often be useful as a translation:Lola didn’t phone, did she?= Lola n’a pas téléphoné par hasard?Paul doesn’t work here, does he?= Paul ne travaille pas ici par hasard?In many cases the tag is not translated at all and the speaker’s intonation will convey what is implied:you didn’t tidy your room, did you? (i.e. you ought to have done)= tu n’as pas rangé ta chambre?In short answersAgain, there is no direct French equivalent for short answers like yes I do, no he doesn’t etc. Where the answer yes is given to contradict a negative question or statement, the most useful translation is si:‘Marion didn’t say that’ ‘yes she did’= ‘Marion n’a pas dit ça’ ‘si’‘they don’t sell vegetables at the baker’s’ ‘yes they do’= ‘ils ne vendent pas les légumes à la boulangerie’ ‘si’In response to a standard enquiry the tag will not be translated:‘do you like strawberries?’ ‘yes I do’= ‘aimez-vous les fraises?’ ‘oui ’For more examples and particular usages, see the entry do.
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