-
1 Colours
Not all English colour terms have a single exact equivalent in French: for instance, in some circumstances brown is marron, in others brun. If in doubt, look the word up in the dictionary.Colour termswhat colour is it?= c’est de quelle couleur? or (more formally) de quelle couleur est-il?it’s green= il est vert or elle est verteto paint sth green= peindre qch en vertto dye sth green= teindre qch en vertto wear green= porter du vertdressed in green= habillé de vertColour nouns are all masculine in French:I like green= j’aime le vertI prefer blue= je préfère le bleured suits her= le rouge lui va bienit’s a pretty yellow!= c’est un joli jaune!have you got it in white?= est-ce que vous l’avez en blanc?a pretty shade of blue= un joli ton de bleuit was a dreadful green= c’était un vert affreuxa range of greens= une gamme de vertsMost adjectives of colour agree with the noun they modify:a blue coat= un manteau bleua blue dress= une robe bleueblue clothes= des vêtements bleusSome that don’t agree are explained below.Words that are not true adjectivesSome words that translate English adjectives are really nouns in French, and so don’t show agreement:a brown shoe= une chaussure marronorange tablecloths= des nappes fpl orangehazel eyes= des yeux mpl noisetteOther French words like this include: cerise ( cherry-red), chocolat ( chocolate-brown) and émeraude ( emerald-green).Shades of colourExpressions like pale blue, dark green or light yellow are also invariable in French and show no agreement:a pale blue shirt= une chemise bleu pâledark green blankets= des couvertures fpl vert foncéa light yellow tie= une cravate jaune clairbright yellow socks= des chaussettes fpl jaune vifFrench can also use the colour nouns here: instead of une chemise bleu pâle you could say une chemise d’un bleu pâle ; and similarly des couvertures d’un vert foncé (etc). The nouns in French are normally used to translate English adjectives of this type ending in -er and -est:a darker blue= un bleu plus foncéthe dress was a darker blue= la robe était d’un bleu plus foncéSimilarly:a lighter blue= un bleu plus clair (etc.)In the following examples, blue stands for most basic colour terms:pale blue= bleu pâlelight blue= bleu clairbright blue= bleu vifdark blue= bleu foncédeep blue= bleu profondstrong blue= bleu soutenuOther types of compound in French are also invariable, and do not agree with their nouns:a navy-blue jacket= une veste bleu marineThese compounds include: bleu ciel ( sky-blue), vert pomme ( apple-green), bleu nuit ( midnight-blue), rouge sang ( blood-red) etc. However, all English compounds do not translate directly into French. If in doubt, check in the dictionary.French compounds consisting of two colour terms linked with a hyphen are also invariable:a blue-black material= une étoffe bleu-noira greenish-blue cup= une tasse bleu-verta greeny-yellow dress= une robe vert-jauneEnglish uses the ending -ish, or sometimes -y, to show that something is approximately a certain colour, e.g. a reddish hat or a greenish paint. The French equivalent is -âtre:blue-ish= bleuâtregreenish or greeny= verdâtregreyish= grisâtrereddish= rougeâtreyellowish or yellowy= jaunâtreetc.Other similar French words are rosâtre, noirâtre and blanchâtre. Note however that these words are often rather negative in French. It is better not to use them if you want to be complimentary about something. Use instead tirant sur le rouge/jaune etc.To describe a special colour, English can add -coloured to a noun such as raspberry (framboise) or flesh (chair). Note how this is said in French, where the two-word compound with couleur is invariable, and, unlike English, never has a hyphen:a chocolate-coloured skirt= une jupe couleur chocolatraspberry-coloured fabric= du tissu couleur framboiseflesh-coloured tights= un collant couleur chairColour verbsEnglish makes some colour verbs by adding -en (e.g. blacken). Similarly French has some verbs in -ir made from colour terms:to blacken= noircirto redden= rougirto whiten= blanchirThe other French colour terms that behave like this are: bleu (bleuir), jaune (jaunir), rose (rosir) and vert (verdir). It is always safe, however, to use devenir, thus:to turn purple= devenir violetDescribing peopleNote the use of the definite article in the following:to have black hair= avoir les cheveux noirsto have blue eyes= avoir les yeux bleusNote the use of à in the following:a girl with blue eyes= une jeune fille aux yeux bleusthe man with black hair= l’homme aux cheveux noirsNot all colours have direct equivalents in French. The following words are used for describing the colour of someone’s hair (note that les cheveux is plural in French):fair= blonddark= brunblonde or blond= blondbrown= châtain invred= rouxblack= noirgrey= griswhite= blancCheck other terms such as yellow, ginger, auburn, mousey etc. in the dictionary.Note these nouns in French:a fair-haired man= un blonda fair-haired woman= une blondea dark-haired man= un bruna dark-haired woman= une bruneThe following words are useful for describing the colour of someone’s eyes:blue= bleulight blue= bleu clair invlight brown= marron clair invbrown= marron invhazel= noisette invgreen= vertgrey= grisgreyish-green= gris-vert invdark= noir -
2 expense
expense [ɪk'spens]1 noun∎ at great/little expense à grands/peu de frais;∎ at no extra expense sans supplément de frais;∎ regardless of expense sans regarder à la dépense;∎ anything we can do to offset the expense tout ce que nous pouvons faire pour compenser le coût ou les coûts ou les frais;∎ it's not so much the expense I'm worried about ce n'est pas tant le coût que cela représente qui m'inquiète;∎ that's an expense I hadn't reckoned with c'est une dépense que je n'avais pas prévue;∎ if it can really be done with such little expense si cela peut vraiment se faire à si peu de frais;∎ the huge expense of moving house le coût énorme qu'entraîne un déménagement;∎ to go to considerable expense to do sth faire beaucoup de frais pour faire qch;∎ don't go to any expense over it ne vous mettez pas en frais pour cela;∎ they didn't want to go to the expense of hiring a car ils ne voulaient pas faire les frais de louer une voiture;∎ I don't want to put you to any expense je ne veux pas vous faire faire des dépenses;∎ no expense was spared on n'a pas regardé à la dépense;∎ without any thought for the expense sans penser au coût que cela représentait;∎ to do sth at great personal expense faire qch à grands frais personnels;∎ at (one's) own expense à (ses) propres frais;∎ she had the book published at her own expense elle a publié le livre à ses frais ou à compte d'auteur;∎ it's not worth the expense c'est trop cher pour ce que c'est(b) (expensiveness) cherté f, coût m élevé∎ a joke at somebody else's expense une plaisanterie aux dépens de quelqu'un d'autre;∎ at the expense of sth au détriment de qch;∎ to succeed at other people's expense réussir aux dépens des autres;∎ not at my expense, you won't pas à mes dépens, il n'en est pas question∎ no, that's my expense non, c'est sur mon compteCommerce frais mpl;∎ to meet/cover sb's expenses rembourser/couvrir les frais de qn;∎ it's on expenses c'est l'entreprise qui paie, cela passe dans les notes de frais;∎ to live on expenses vivre sur ses notes de frais, vivre aux frais de son entreprise;∎ to incur expenses faire des dépenses;∎ to put sth on expenses mettre qch dans les notes de frais;∎ to cut down on expenses réduire les frais;∎ to get expenses (be paid expenses) être indemnisé de ses frais;∎ to have all expenses paid être défrayé de tout;∎ travelling expenses frais mpl de déplacement;∎ accommodation expenses frais mpl d'hôtel ou de séjour;∎ entertainment expenses frais mpl de représentation;∎ incidental expenses faux frais mpl;∎ all expenses paid tous frais payés►► Commerce expense account1 nounnote f de frais(lunch, dinner) qui passe dans les notes de frais;∎ the firm gives him an expense account for basic entertaining l'entreprise lui attribue une allocation pour ses frais de représentation;∎ to put sth on the expense account mettre qch sur la note de frais;expenses budget budget m des dépenses;expenses claim form note f de frais
См. также в других словарях:
Basic beryllium acetate — is the chemical compound with the formula Be4O(O2CCH3)6. Although this compound has no applications and has been only lightly studied, it adopts a distinctive structure and exhibits remarkable thermal stability. Basic acetates consist of an… … Wikipedia
Basic English — Basic English, also known as Simple English, is an English based controlled language created (in essence as a simplified subset of English) by linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for… … Wikipedia
Compound option — or split fee option[1][2] is option on an option. The exercise payoff of a compound option involves the value of another option. A compound option then has two expiration dates and two strike prices. Usually, compounded options are used for… … Wikipedia
Compound of twenty tetrahemihexahedra — Type Uniform compound Index UC19 Polyhedra 20 tetrahemihexahedra Faces … Wikipedia
Compound annual growth rate — (CAGR) is a business and investing specific term for the smoothed annualized gain of an investment over a given time period.[1] CAGR is not an accounting term, but remains widely used, particularly in growth industries or to compare the growth… … Wikipedia
Compound (linguistics) — In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding or composition is the word formation that creates compound lexemes (the other word formation process being derivation). Compounding… … Wikipedia
Basic salt — Salt Salt, n. [AS. sealt; akin to OS. & OFries. salt, D. zout, G. salz, Icel., Sw., & Dan. salt, L. sal, Gr. ?, Russ. sole, Ir. & Gael. salann, W. halen, of unknown origin. Cf. {Sal}, {Salad}, {Salary}, {Saline}, {Sauce}, {Sausage}.] 1. The… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Compound interest — The effect of earning 20% annual interest on an initial $1,000 investment at various compounding frequencies Compound interest arises when interest is added to the principal, so that from that moment on, the interest that has been added also… … Wikipedia
Compound locomotive — For the principles and other applications of the compound steam engine, see compound engine. De Glehn redirects here. For people and places named Glehn, de Glehn or von Glehn, see Glehn. A compound locomotive is a steam locomotive or engine unit… … Wikipedia
Compound engine — For compound steam locomotives, see Compound locomotive. Cutaway of triple expansion compound steam engine, 1888 … Wikipedia
compound — 01. Some scientists fear that there are many different chemicals in our water, mixing and forming all kinds of deadly [compounds]. 02. There are more than 4,000 different chemical [compounds], including heavy metals and pesticides, found in… … Grammatical examples in English