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21 few
few [fju:]a. ( = not many) peu (de)• there are always the few who think that... il y a toujours la minorité qui croit que...• how many? -- quite a few combien ? -- pas mal (inf)• too few of them realize that... trop peu d'entre eux sont conscients que...* * *Note: When few is used as a quantifier to indicate the smallness or insufficiency of a given number or quantity ( few houses, few people, few shops) it is translated by peu de: peu de maisons, peu de gens, peu de magasins. Equally the few is translated by le peu de: the few people who knew her le peu de gens qui la connaissaient. For examples and particular usages see I 1 in the entryWhen few is used as a quantifier in certain expressions to mean several, translations vary according to the expression: see I 2 in the entryWhen a few is used as a quantifier ( a few books), it can often be translated by quelques: quelques livres; however, for expressions such as quite a few books, a good few books, see II in the entryFor translations of few used as a pronoun ( few of us succeeded, I only need a few) see II, III in the entryFor translations of the few used as a noun ( the few who voted for him) see III in the entry[fjuː] 1.(comparative fewer; superlative fewest) quantifier1) ( not many) peu defew visitors/letters — peu de visiteurs/lettres
2) (some, several)2.over the next few days/weeks — ( in past) dans les jours/semaines qui ont suivi; ( in future) dans les jours/semaines à venir
a few quantifier, pronoun quelquesa few people/houses — quelques personnes/maisons
I would like a few more — j'en voudrais quelques-uns/quelques-unes de plus
quite a few people/houses — pas mal (colloq) de gens/maisons, un bon nombre de personnes/maisons
a few of the soldiers/countries — quelques-uns or certains des soldats/pays
there were only a few of them — il n'y en avait que quelques-uns/quelques-unes
3.quite a few ou a good few of the tourists come from Germany — un bon nombre des touristes viennent d'Allemagne
••to have had a few (too many) — (colloq) avoir bu quelques verres (de trop)
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22 little
I.little1 [ˈlɪtl]II.little2 [ˈlɪtl]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. adjective2. pronoun3. adverb━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. adjective( = not much) peu de► a little... ( = some) un peu de...• would you like a little milk in your tea? voulez-vous un peu de lait dans votre thé ?• we're having a little trouble nous avons un petit problème► no little...2. pronouna. ( = not much) pas grand-chose• that has very little to do with it! ça n'a pas grand-chose à voir !• however little you give, we'll be grateful votre contribution, même la plus modeste, sera la bienvenueb. ( = small amount) the little I have seen is excellent le peu que j'en ai vu est excellent• every little helps ( = gift) tous les dons sont les bienvenus3. adverba. ( = not much) they spoke very little on the way home ils n'ont pas dit grand-chose sur le chemin du retour► a little... ( = somewhat) un peu...b. ( = not at all) he little imagined that... il était loin de s'imaginer que...• little did he think that... il était loin de se douter que...c. ( = rarely) rarement• you could get one for as little as £20 on peut en trouver pour seulement 20 livres• you can eat well for as little as $5 on peut bien manger pour 5 dollars• I like him as little as you do je ne l'aime pas plus que toi► little by little petit à petit peu à peu► to make little of sth ( = accomplish easily) faire qch sans aucun mal ; ( = play down) minimiser qch ; ( = underestimate) sous-estimer qch• the sailors made little of loading the huge boxes les marins chargeaient les énormes caisses sans aucun mal• he made little of his opportunities ( = failed to exploit) il n'a pas tiré parti des possibilités qu'il avait► to say little for sb ( = reflect badly on)* * *Note: When little is used as a quantifier ( little hope, little damage) it is translated by peu de: peu d'espoir, peu de dégâtsWhen a little is used as a pronoun ( give me a little) it is translated by un peu: donne-m'en un peuWhen little is used alone as a pronoun ( there's little I can do) it is very often translated by pas grand-chose: je ne peux pas faire grand-choseFor examples of these and other uses of little as a pronoun ( to do as little as possible etc) see II belowFor uses of little and a little as adverbs see the entry belowI 1. ['lɪtl](comparative less; superlative least) quantifier2. 3.too little money — trop peu or pas assez d'argent
1) ( not much) peu2) ( not at all)4.a little (bit) adverbial phrase ( slightly) un peu5.a little less/more — un peu moins/plus
as little as adverbial phraseII ['lɪtl]as little as £60 — juste 60 livres sterling
1) ( small) [house, smile, voice] petit (before n)poor little thing — pauvre petit/-e m/f
2) ( young) [sister, boy] petit (before n)3) ( in a small way) [farmer, businessman] petit (before n)4) ( expressing scorn)5) ( short) [snooze] petit (before n)••to make little of — ( not understand) ne pas comprendre grand-chose à [speech]
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23 many
many [ˈmenɪ]• many happy returns! bon anniversaire !• how many? combien ?• how many people? combien de personnes ?• there were so many (that...) il y en avait tant (que...)► too many* * *['menɪ] 1.(comparative more; superlative most) quantifier beaucoup de, un grand nombre demany times — de nombreuses fois, bien des fois
how many people/times? — combien de personnes/fois?
2.many a man would be glad of such an opportunity — plus d'un homme se réjouirait d'une telle occasion
pronoun beaucoupto have had one too many — (colloq) avoir bu un coup de trop (colloq)
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24 might
might [maɪt]1. modal verba. ( = may)━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► When might expresses present, future or past possibility, it is often translated by peut-être, with the appropriate tense of the French verb.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━b. ( = could)━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• you might have told me you weren't coming! tu aurais pu me prévenir que tu ne viendrais pas !might I suggest that...? puis-je me permettre de suggérer que... ?c. ( = should) I might have known j'aurais dû m'en douter━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━d. (emphatic) and, I might add, it was entirely his fault et j'ajouterais que c'était entièrement de sa faute• why did he give her his credit card? -- you might well ask! mais pourquoi lui a-t-il donné sa carte de crédit ? -- va savoir !• one might well ask whether... on est en droit de se demander si...• try as he might, he couldn't do it il a eu beau essayer, il n'y est pas arrivé2. noun* * *I [maɪt]1) ( indicating possibility)‘will you come?’ - ‘I might’ — ‘tu viendras?’ - ‘peut-être’
you might have guessed that... — vous aurez peut-être deviné que...
try as I might, I can't do it — j'ai beau essayer, je n'y arrive pas
he was thinking about what might have been — il pensait à ce qui se serait passé si les choses avaient été différentes
if they had acted quickly he might well be alive — s'ils avaient agi plus vite il serait peut-être encore en vie
4) sout ( when making requests)and who, might I ask, are you? —
and who might you be? — ( aggressive) on peut savoir qui vous êtes?
5) ( when making suggestions)6) (when making statement, argument)one might argue ou it might be argued that — on pourrait dire or faire valoir que
as you ou one might expect — comme de bien entendu
7) (expressing reproach, irritation)I might have known ou guessed! — j'aurais dû m'en douter!
8) ( in concessives)II [maɪt]they might not be fast but they're reliable — ils ne sont peut-être pas rapides mais on peut au moins compter sur eux; well I 2. 2
1) ( power) puissance f2) ( physical strength) force f -
25 nevertheless
nevertheless [‚nevəðəˈles]* * *[ˌnevəðə'les]1) ( all the same) quand même2) ( nonetheless) pourtant, néanmoins3) ( however) pourtant, néanmoinshe did nevertheless say that... — il a pourtant or néanmoins dit que...
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26 ourselves
ourselves [‚aʊəˈselvz]a. (reflexive) nousb. (after prep) nousd. ( = us) nous* * *[aʊə'selvz, ɑː-]Note: When used as a reflexive pronoun, direct and indirect, ourselves is translated by nous in standard French: we've hurt ourselves = nous nous sommes fait mal. However, if the more informal on is used to translate we, the translation of ourselves will be se (or s' before a vowel): on s'est fait malWhen used as an emphatic the translation is nous-mêmes: we did it ourselves = nous l'avons fait nous-mêmesWhen used after a preposition ourselves is translated by nous or nous-mêmes1) ( refl) nous2) ( emphatic) nous-mêmes3) ( after prep)for ourselves — pour nous, pour nous-mêmes
(all) by ourselves — tout seuls/toutes seules
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27 still
still [stɪl]1. adverba. ( = up to this time) encorec. ( = nonetheless) tout de même• I didn't win; still, it's been good experience je n'ai pas gagné, mais ça a tout de même été une bonne expérienced. ( = however) I've got to find the money; still, that's my problem il faut que je trouve l'argent, mais ça, c'est mon problèmee. ( = even) encoref. ( = yet) encore2. adjectivea. ( = motionless) immobileb. ( = calm) calme3. adverb• hold still! ne bouge pas !4. nounb. ( = apparatus) alambic m5. compounds* * *I [stɪl]1) ( up to and including a point in time) encore; ( when nothing has changed) toujoursyou're still too young — ( not old enough yet) tu es encore trop jeune; ( you were and still are too young) tu es toujours trop jeune
2) ( expressing surprise) toujours, encore3) ( yet to happen) encorethere is still a chance that — il est encore possible que (+ subj)
4) ( nevertheless) quand mêmestill, it's the thought that counts — enfin, c'est l'intention qui compte
5) (with comparatives: even) encoreII 1. [stɪl]better/worse still — encore mieux/pire
1) ( distillery) distillerie f2) ( photo) photographie f or photo f de plateau3) ( quiet)2.the still of the night — littér le silence de la nuit
1) ( motionless) calme2) ( peaceful) tranquille3) [drink] non gazeux/-euse; [water] plat3.1) ( immobile) [lie, stay] immobileto hold [something] still — bien tenir [camera, mirror]
2) ( calmly)4.to keep ou stand still — ne pas bouger
transitive verb faire taire [critic]; calmer [doubt]•• -
28 than
than [ðæn, ðən]a. que• you'd be better going by car than by bus tu ferais mieux d'y aller en voiture plutôt qu'en autobus• more/less than 20 plus/moins de 20* * *Note: When than is used as a preposition in expressions of comparison, it is translated by que (or qu' before a vowel or mute ‘h’): he's taller than me = il est plus grand que moi; London is bigger than Oxford = Londres est plus grand qu'OxfordFor expressions with numbers, temperatures etc see the entry belowWhen than is used as a conjunction, it is translated by que and the verb following it is preceded by ne: it was farther than I thought = c'était plus loin que je ne pensais. However, French speakers often try to phrase the comparison differently: it was more difficult than we expected = c'était plus difficile que prévu. For other uses see the entry below[ðæn, ðən] 1.1) ( in comparisons) que2) (expressing quantity, degree, value) de2.more/less than 100 — plus/moins de 100
1) ( in comparisons) que2) ( expressing preferences)I'd sooner ou rather do X than do Y — je préférerais faire X que (de) faire Y
3) ( when)hardly ou no sooner had he left than the phone rang — à peine était-il parti que le téléphone a sonné
4) US ( from) -
29 who
who [hu:]• who's there? qui est là ?• who are you? qui êtes-vous ?• who has the book? (qui est-ce) qui a le livre ?• who does he think he is? il se prend pour qui ?• who came with you? (qui est-ce) qui est venu avec vous ?• who(m) did you see? qui avez-vous vu ?• who(m) did you speak to? à qui avez-vous parlé ?• who's the book by? le livre est de qui ?• who is he to tell me...? (indignantly) de quel droit est-ce qu'il me dit... ?* * *[huː]In questions qui on its own as the object of a verb requires inversion of the verb: who did he call? = qui a-t-il appelé? but qui followed by est-ce que or est-ce qui needs no inversion: qui est-ce qu'il a appelé? Note, however, that the form il a appelé qui? is also used in spoken French1) ( interrogative) ( as subject) qui (est-ce qui); ( as object) qui (est-ce que); ( after prepositions) quiwho did you invite? — qui est-ce que tu as invité?, qui as-tu invité?
I was strolling along when who should I see but Diane — je me promenais et devine qui j'ai rencontré...Diane
who shall I say is calling? — ( on phone) c'est de la part de qui?
2) ( relative) ( as subject) qui; ( as object) que; ( after prepositions) quihis friend, who lives in Paris — son ami qui habite Paris
he/she who — celui/celle qui
they ou those who — ceux/celles qui
those who have something to say should speak up now — quiconque a quelque chose à dire doit le dire or ceux qui ont quelque chose à dire doivent le dire maintenant
3) ( whoever) -
30 yet
yet [jet]1. adverb• are you coming? -- not just yet est-ce que vous venez ? -- pas tout de suite► as yetb. ( = already) (in questions) déjà• have you had your lunch yet? avez-vous déjà déjeuné ?c. ( = so far) (with superlative) jusqu'icid. ( = still) encoree. ( = from now) we've got ages yet nous avons encore plein de temps2. conjunction( = however) pourtant ; ( = nevertheless) toutefois* * *[jet] 1.conjunction ( nevertheless) pourtant2.1) (up till now, so far: with negatives) encore, jusqu'à présent; ( in questions) déjà; ( with superlatives) jusqu'iciit's not ready yet —
not yet — pas encore, pas pour l'instant
this is his best/worst yet — c'est ce qu'il a fait de mieux/de pire jusqu'ici
it's the best yet — jusqu'ici, c'est le mieux
3) ( still) encore4) (even, still: with comparatives etc) encore -
31 IFA
( abbreviation independent financial adviser) conseiller(ère) m, f financier(ère) indépendant(e)In the past, when a manager moved on, many investors would wait to see how the new one fared, while others would not even realise there had been a change. Since the start of the bear market, however, independent financial advisers ( IFAs) have encouraged investors to view 'star' managers as the only chance of making money. If they move, you should follow - treating them as guardians of your money.
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32 Peter principle
the Peter principle le principe de Peter (théorème humoristique selon lequel chacun finit par atteindre son niveau d'incompétence)Of course, beware of the Peter Principle: You may promote someone to their level of incompetence, as has often happened with coders and insurance specialists who were elevated to the top of the heap. However, such a promotion may be worth the risk if the employee has the potential to become a manager. In that case, provide on-the-job training.
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33 SERPS
British FINANCE ( abbreviation State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme) = retraite versée par l'État, calculée sur le salaireTo get a maximum (but still small) Basic Pension, workers must contribute into the program for nearly fifty years. Originally enacted in 1975, SERPS was designed to significantly supplement the minimal and inadequate Basic Pension. At the same time, however, employers were allowed to "contract out" of SERPS if their private pension plans met or exceeded the SERPS provisions.
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34 bargaining
marchandage mbargaining chip monnaie f d'échange;∎ to use sb/sth as a bargaining chip utiliser qn/qch comme monnaie d'échange;bargaining position situation f permettant de négocier;∎ we are in a strong bargaining position nous sommes en position de force pour négocier;bargaining power pouvoir m de négociation;∎ they have considerable bargaining power ils ont beaucoup de poids dans les négociations;bargaining table table f des négociationsAs you might expect, larger companies have a distinct negotiating advantage, often using their leverage to qualify for high-volume discounts or get better deals. However, that doesn't mean that small- to medium-sized manufacturers can't beef up their bargaining power. For example, by joining or forming a purchasing cooperative, you can mass your company's orders with several other companies' orders, enabling all to receive a better price.
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35 clicks-and-mortar
COMPUTING clic et mortier (désigne une entreprise qui existe aussi bien sur l'Internet que dans le réel)E-tailers once ridiculed traditional traders for the sluggishness with which they set up internet sites. However, these " clicks-and-mortar" operations now look best placed to make e-commerce more reliable. They already boast stocked warehouses and supply infrastructure to keep their real world shops in business.
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36 cooling-off period
période f de réflexion, délai m de réflexionThe directives require suppliers of mail-order goods (as distinct from services) to provide written information about the company and terms of sale, as well as delivering goods promised within a 30-day period. Perhaps more importantly, however, they also give consumers a seven-day cooling-off period after the goods are delivered, during which time they can change their mind and receive a full refund.
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37 demutualize
= passer d'un statut de société mutuelle à un statut de société par actionsHowever, if the lender is allowed to increase sales arbitrarily, it effectively has a blank cheque to draw on the borrower's money... People who borrow from a building society which demutualizes are particularly vulnerable to this. Building societies, theoretically at least, act solely in their members' interests and have no interest in overcharging.
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38 employment
(occupation) emploi m; (recruitment) embauche f;∎ to be without employment être sans emploi;∎ to give sb employment donner un emploi à qn;∎ to seek employment chercher un emploiBritish Employment Act = loi sur l'égalité des chances pour l'emploi;employment agency agence f de placement;employment bureau bureau m de placement;employment costs coûts m pl salariaux;employment law droit m social;employment legislation législation f du travail;employment policy politique f de l'emploi;employment protection protection f de l'emploi;employment regulations code m du travail;employment and training contract contrat m de qualification;employment tribunal ≃ conseil m des prud'hommesMany economists say the Berlusconi government's proposals are quite mild because they will end up removing the application of Article 18 in the case of very few workers, and will not even affect those currently employed. However, the unions see Article 18 as the cornerstone of employment protection law and believe even a modest change could open the way to a more rigorous set of reforms.
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39 front-end
(a) front-end fee frais m pl d'entrée;front-end loading = système de prélèvement des frais sur les premiers versementsfront-end processor processeur m frontalThe charges for buying into a trust are usually at the standard rate. Dunedin, however, has no front-end fee for its share plan other than stamp duty.
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40 gilt-edged
(a) gilt-edged investment placement m de père de famille;gilt-edged market marché m des valeurs de premier ordre;gilt-edged market maker teneur m marché des valeurs de premier ordre;gilt-edged stock, gilt-edged securities valeurs f pl de premier ordre ou de père de familleFive years ago, the prospect of a 10 per cent profit in the course of a year would not have set investors' pulses racing. However, in the context of the dire performance of the UK stock market in the past two years, and the poor prospective returns from gilt-edged stock and cash deposits, a 10 per cent return from the FTSE 100 in 2002 takes on a new appeal, and would go some way to restoring two years of capital destruction since the index peaked at 6930 in December 1999.
См. также в других словарях:
however — 1. When ever is being used as an intensive after the interrogative adverb how, as in How ever did you do it?, the two words should always be written separately. 2. However, in the meaning ‘nevertheless’, has many possible positions in a clause.… … Modern English usage
However — How*ev er, conj. Nevertheless; notwithstanding; yet; still; though; as, I shall not oppose your design; I can not, however, approve of it. [1913 Webster] In your excuse your love does little say; You might howe er have took a better way. Dryden.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
However — How*ev er, adv. [Sometimes contracted into howe er.] 1. In whetever manner, way, or degree. [1913 Webster] However yet they me despise and spite. Spenser. [1913 Webster] Howe er the business goes, you have made fault. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. At… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
however — [hou eer′hou ev′ər] adv. [ME hou ever] 1. no matter how; in whatever manner 2. to whatever degree or extent 3. by what means [however did he escape?]: intensive form of HOW1 4. nevertheless; yet; in spite of that; all the same: often used as a… … English World dictionary
however — index notwithstanding, regardless, unless Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
however — late 14c., from HOW (Cf. how) + EVER (Cf. ever) … Etymology dictionary
however — [adv] still, nevertheless after all, all the same, anyhow, be that as it may, but, despite, for all that, howbeit, in spite of, nonetheless, notwithstanding, on the other hand, per contra, though, withal, without regard to, yet; concept 544 … New thesaurus
however — ► ADVERB 1) used to introduce a statement contrasting with a previous one. 2) in whatever way. 3) to whatever extent … English terms dictionary
however — how|ev|er [ hau evər ] function word *** However can be used in the following ways: as a way of showing how a sentence is related to what has already been said: Prices have been rising. It is unlikely, however, that this increase will continue.… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
however */*/*/ — UK [haʊˈevə(r)] / US [haʊˈevər] adverb, conjunction Summary: However can be used in the following ways: as a way of showing how a sentence is related to what has already been said: Prices have been rising. It is unlikely, however, that this… … English dictionary
however — [[t]haʊe̱və(r)[/t]] ♦ 1) ADV: ADV with cl You use however when you are adding a comment which is surprising or which contrasts with what has just been said. This was not an easy decision. It is, however, a decision that we feel is dictated by our … English dictionary