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1 subject
1. adjective((of countries etc) not independent, but dominated by another power: subject nations.) assujetti2. noun1) (a person who is under the rule of a monarch or a member of a country that has a monarchy etc: We are loyal subjects of the Queen; He is a British subject.) sujet/-ette2) (someone or something that is talked about, written about etc: We discussed the price of food and similar subjects; What was the subject of the debate?; The teacher tried to think of a good subject for their essay; I've said all I can on that subject.) sujet3) (a branch of study or learning in school, university etc: He is taking exams in seven subjects; Mathematics is his best subject.) matière4) (a thing, person or circumstance suitable for, or requiring, a particular kind of treatment, reaction etc: I don't think her behaviour is a subject for laughter.) sujet (de)5) (in English, the word(s) representing the person or thing that usually does the action shown by the verb, and with which the verb agrees: The cat sat on the mat; He hit her because she broke his toy; He was hit by the ball.) sujet3. [səb'‹ekt] verb1) (to bring (a person, country etc) under control: They have subjected all the neighbouring states (to their rule).) assujettir2) (to cause to suffer, or submit (to something): He was subjected to cruel treatment; These tyres are subjected to various tests before leaving the factory.) soumettre•- subjective - subjectively - subject matter - change the subject - subject to -
2 agree
agree [ə'gri:]∎ to agree that... être d'accord avec le fait que...;∎ we all agree that he's innocent nous sommes tous d'accord pour dire qu'il est innocent, nous sommes tous d'avis qu'il est innocent;∎ everyone agrees that the party was a success tout le monde s'accorde à reconnaître que la fête était un succès;∎ I don't agree that the police should be armed je ne suis pas d'accord pour que la police soit armée∎ to agree to do sth accepter de ou consentir à faire qch∎ they agreed that they had made a mistake ils ont reconnu ou convenu qu'ils avaient fait une faute(d) (reach agreement on) convenir de;∎ to agree a date convenir d'une date;∎ to agree a price se mettre d'accord sur un prix;∎ to agree to do sth se mettre d'accord pour faire qch;∎ they agreed to share the cost ils se sont mis d'accord pour partager les frais;∎ they agreed to take a taxi ils ont décidé d'un commun accord de prendre un taxi;∎ it was agreed to continue the next day il a été convenu que l'on poursuivrait le lendemain;∎ we agreed to differ nous sommes restés chacun sur notre position;∎ it was agreed that the money should be invested il a été convenu que l'argent serait investi;∎ the budget has been agreed le budget a été adopté;∎ as agreed comme convenu;∎ unless otherwise agreed sauf accord contraire(e) (accept, approve → statement, plan) accepter;∎ Accountancy to agree the accounts or the books faire accorder les livres;∎ the figures were agreed between the accountants les chiffres ont été acceptés (d'un commun accord) par les experts-comptables∎ I quite agree je suis tout à fait d'accord (avec vous);∎ don't you agree? n'êtes-vous pas d'accord?;∎ I think it's too expensive and Peter agrees je pense que c'est trop cher et Peter est d'accord avec moi ou est du même avis;∎ to agree about sth être d'accord sur qch;∎ I agree about going on a holiday je suis d'accord pour partir en vacances;∎ I think we agree on or about the basic facts je pense que nous sommes d'accord sur l'essentiel;∎ to agree with sb être d'accord avec ou être du même avis que qn;∎ I agree with you entirely je suis entièrement d'accord avec vous;∎ I agree with you about the decor je suis d'accord avec vous pour ce qui est du décor;∎ they agree with me that it's a disgrace ils trouvent comme moi que c'est une honte;∎ I couldn't agree (with you) more je suis entièrement d'accord avec vous∎ to agree to a proposal donner son adhésion à ou accepter une proposition;∎ to agree to sb's request consentir à la requête de qn;∎ her parents have agreed to her going abroad ses parents ont consenti à ce qu'elle aille ou sont d'accord pour qu'elle aille à l'étranger∎ the doctors couldn't agree about the best treatment les médecins n'arrivaient pas à se mettre d'accord sur le traitement à suivre;∎ to agree on or upon a date convenir d'une date;∎ they agreed on Italy for the honeymoon ils se sont mis d'accord sur l'Italie pour la lune de miel;∎ that was the price we agreed on c'était le prix dont nous avions convenu ou sur lequel nous nous étions mis d'accord(d) (correspond → account, estimate, totals) concorder;∎ your statement doesn't agree with hers ta version ou ta déclaration ne correspond pas à la sienne, vos deux versions ne concordent pas∎ the verb agrees with the subject le verbe s'accorde avec le sujet∎ I don't agree with censorship je suis contre ou je n'admets pas la censure;∎ I don't agree with people smoking in public places je ne suis pas d'accord pour que les gens fument dans les lieux publics∎ the climate here agrees with me le climat d'ici me réussit ou me convient très bien;∎ rich food doesn't agree with me la nourriture riche ne me réussit pas -
3 BE
be [bi:]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verb3. modal verb6. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verba. être• who is that? -- it's me! qui est-ce ? -- c'est moi !• if I were you I would refuse si j'étais vous, je refuserais━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The following translations use ce + être because they contain an article or possessive in French.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► No article is used in French, unless the noun is qualified by an adjective.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• how are you? comment allez-vous ?d. ( = cost) coûter• how much is it? combien ça coûte ?e. ( = equal) fairef.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• to be cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/ashamed/right/wrong avoir froid/chaud/faim/soif/honte/raison/tort━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note how French makes the person, not the part of the body, the subject of the sentence in the following.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━g. (with age) avoir• how old is he? quel âge a-t-il ?► to be + -ing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French does not distinguish between simple and continuous actions as much as English does.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'm coming! j'arrive !• what have you been doing this week? qu'est-ce que tu as fait cette semaine ?• will you be seeing her tomorrow? est-ce que vous allez la voir demain ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► être en train de + infinitive emphasizes that one is in the middle of the action.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I haven't got time, I'm cooking the dinner je n'ai pas le temps, je suis en train de préparer le repas━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The imperfect tense is used for continuous action in the past.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► have/had been +... for/since━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French uses the present and imperfect where English uses the perfect and past perfect.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'd been at university for six weeks when my father got ill j'étais à l'université depuis six semaines quand mon père est tombé malade• he's a friend of yours, isn't he? c'est un ami à toi, n'est-ce pas ?• she wasn't happy, was she? elle n'était pas heureuse, n'est-ce pas ?• so it's all done, is it? tout est fait, alors ?• you're not ill, are you? tu n'es pas malade j'espère ?c. (in tag responses) they're getting married -- oh are they? ils vont se marier -- ah bon ?• he's going to complain about you -- oh is he? il va porter plainte contre toi -- ah vraiment ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• he's always late, isn't he? -- yes, he is il est toujours en retard, n'est-ce pas ? -- oui• is it what you expected? -- no it isn't est-ce que tu t'attendais à ça ? -- non━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The past participle in French passive constructions agrees with the subject.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The passive is used less in French than in English. It is often expressed by on + active verb.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• it is said that... on dit que...━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The reflexive can be used to describe how something is usually done.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━3. modal verb► am/are/is to + infinitivea. ( = will)• now the old lady has died, her house is to be sold maintenant que la vieille dame est décédée, sa maison va être mise en venteb. ( = must) you are to follow these instructions exactly tu dois suivre ces instructions scrupuleusementc. ( = should) he is to be pitied il est à plaindre• not to be confused with... à ne pas confondre avec...d. ( = be destined to) this was to have serious repercussions cela devait avoir de graves répercussionse. ( = can) these birds are to be found all over the world on trouve ces oiseaux dans le monde entiera. être ; ( = take place) avoir lieu• he is there at the moment, but he won't be there much longer il est là en ce moment mais il ne va pas rester très longtemps► there is/are ( = there exist(s)) il y a• here you are at last! te voilà enfin !• here you are! ( = take this) tiens (or tenez) !b. ► to have been (to a place)• where have you been? où étais-tu passé ?a. (weather, temperature) faire• it's fine/cold/dark il fait beau/froid/nuit• it's windy/foggy il y a du vent/du brouillard• it was then we realized that... c'est alors que nous nous sommes rendu compte que...• it was they who suggested that... ce sont eux qui ont suggéré que...• why is it that she is so popular? pourquoi a-t-elle tant de succès ?6. compounds* * *noun: abrév bill of exchange -
4 be
be [bi:]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verb3. modal verb6. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verba. être• who is that? -- it's me! qui est-ce ? -- c'est moi !• if I were you I would refuse si j'étais vous, je refuserais━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The following translations use ce + être because they contain an article or possessive in French.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► No article is used in French, unless the noun is qualified by an adjective.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• how are you? comment allez-vous ?d. ( = cost) coûter• how much is it? combien ça coûte ?e. ( = equal) fairef.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• to be cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/ashamed/right/wrong avoir froid/chaud/faim/soif/honte/raison/tort━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note how French makes the person, not the part of the body, the subject of the sentence in the following.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━g. (with age) avoir• how old is he? quel âge a-t-il ?► to be + -ing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French does not distinguish between simple and continuous actions as much as English does.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'm coming! j'arrive !• what have you been doing this week? qu'est-ce que tu as fait cette semaine ?• will you be seeing her tomorrow? est-ce que vous allez la voir demain ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► être en train de + infinitive emphasizes that one is in the middle of the action.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I haven't got time, I'm cooking the dinner je n'ai pas le temps, je suis en train de préparer le repas━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The imperfect tense is used for continuous action in the past.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► have/had been +... for/since━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French uses the present and imperfect where English uses the perfect and past perfect.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'd been at university for six weeks when my father got ill j'étais à l'université depuis six semaines quand mon père est tombé malade• he's a friend of yours, isn't he? c'est un ami à toi, n'est-ce pas ?• she wasn't happy, was she? elle n'était pas heureuse, n'est-ce pas ?• so it's all done, is it? tout est fait, alors ?• you're not ill, are you? tu n'es pas malade j'espère ?c. (in tag responses) they're getting married -- oh are they? ils vont se marier -- ah bon ?• he's going to complain about you -- oh is he? il va porter plainte contre toi -- ah vraiment ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• he's always late, isn't he? -- yes, he is il est toujours en retard, n'est-ce pas ? -- oui• is it what you expected? -- no it isn't est-ce que tu t'attendais à ça ? -- non━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The past participle in French passive constructions agrees with the subject.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The passive is used less in French than in English. It is often expressed by on + active verb.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• it is said that... on dit que...━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The reflexive can be used to describe how something is usually done.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━3. modal verb► am/are/is to + infinitivea. ( = will)• now the old lady has died, her house is to be sold maintenant que la vieille dame est décédée, sa maison va être mise en venteb. ( = must) you are to follow these instructions exactly tu dois suivre ces instructions scrupuleusementc. ( = should) he is to be pitied il est à plaindre• not to be confused with... à ne pas confondre avec...d. ( = be destined to) this was to have serious repercussions cela devait avoir de graves répercussionse. ( = can) these birds are to be found all over the world on trouve ces oiseaux dans le monde entiera. être ; ( = take place) avoir lieu• he is there at the moment, but he won't be there much longer il est là en ce moment mais il ne va pas rester très longtemps► there is/are ( = there exist(s)) il y a• here you are at last! te voilà enfin !• here you are! ( = take this) tiens (or tenez) !b. ► to have been (to a place)• where have you been? où étais-tu passé ?a. (weather, temperature) faire• it's fine/cold/dark il fait beau/froid/nuit• it's windy/foggy il y a du vent/du brouillard• it was then we realized that... c'est alors que nous nous sommes rendu compte que...• it was they who suggested that... ce sont eux qui ont suggéré que...• why is it that she is so popular? pourquoi a-t-elle tant de succès ?6. compounds* * *[biː, bɪ]1) gen êtreit's me —
2) ( in probability)were it not that... — si ce n'était que...
had it not been for Frank, I'd have missed the train — sans Frank j'aurais raté le train
3) ( phrases)let ou leave him be — laisse-le tranquille
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5 Usage note : have
When used as an auxiliary in present perfect, future perfect and past perfect tenses, have is normally translated by avoir:I have seen= j’ai vuI had seen= j’avais vuHowever, some verbs in French, especially verbs of movement and change of state (e.g. aller, venir, descendre, mourir), take être rather than avoir in these tenses:he has left= il est partiIn this case, remember the past participle agrees with the subject of the verb:she has gone= elle est alléeReflexive verbs (e.g. se lever, se coucher) always conjugate with être:she has fainted= elle s’est évanouieFor translations of time expressions using for or since (he has been in London for six months, he has been in London since June), see the entries for and since.For translations of time expressions using just (I have just finished my essay, he has just gone), see the entry just1.to have to meaning must is translated by either devoir or the impersonal construction il faut que + subjunctive:I have to leave now= il faut que je parte maintenant or je dois partir maintenantIn negative sentences, not to have to is generally translated by ne pas être obligé de e.g.you don’t have to go= tu n’es pas obligé d’y allerFor examples and particular usages see the entry have.When have is used as a straightforward transitive verb meaning possess, have (or have got) can generally be translated by avoir, e.g.I have (got) a car= j’ai une voitureshe has a good memory= elle a une bonne mémoirethey have (got) problems= ils ont des problèmesFor examples and particular usages see entry ; see also got.have is also used with certain noun objects where the whole expression is equivalent to a verb:to have dinner = to dineto have a try = to tryto have a walk = to walkIn such cases the phrase is very often translated by the equivalent verb in French (dîner, essayer, se promener). For translations consult the appropriate noun entry (dinner, try, walk).had is used in English at the beginning of a clause to replace an expression with if. Such expressions are generally translated by si + past perfect tense, e.g.had I taken the train, this would never have happened= si j’avais pris le train, ce ne serait jamais arrivéhad there been a fire, we would all have been killed= s’il y avait eu un incendie, nous serions tous mortsFor examples of the above and all other uses of have see the entry. -
6 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. -
7 Usage note : which
In questionsWhen which is used as a pronoun in questions it is translated by lequel, laquelle, lesquels or lesquelles according to the gender and number of the noun it is referring to:there are three peaches, which do you want?= il y a trois pêches, laquelle veux-tu?‘Lucy’s borrowed three of your books’ ‘which did she take?’= ‘Lucy t’a emprunté trois livres’ ‘lesquels a-t-elle pris?’The exception to this is when which is followed by a superlative adjective, when the translation is quel, quelle, quels or quelles:which is the biggest (apple)?= quelle est la plus grande?which are the least expensive (books)?= quels sont les moins chers?In relative clauses as subject or objectthe book which is on the table= le livre qui est sur la tablethe books which are on the table= les livres qui sont sur la tablethe book which Tina is reading= le livre que lit TinaNote the inversion of subject and verb ; this is the case where the subject is a noun but not where the subject is a pronoun:the book which I am reading= le livre que je lisIn compound tenses such as the present perfect and past perfect, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the noun que is referring to:the books which I gave you= les livres que je t’ai donnésthe dresses which she bought yesterday= les robes qu’elle a achetées hierIn relative clauses after a prepositionHere the translation is lequel, laquelle, lesquels or lesquelles according to the gender and number of the noun referred to:the road by which we came or the road which we came by= la route par laquelle nous sommes venusthe expressions for which we have translations= les expressions pour lesquelles nous avons une traductionRemember that if the preposition would normally be translated by à in French (to, at etc.), the preposition + which is translated by auquel, à laquelle, auxquels or auxquelles:the addresses to which we sent letters= les adresses auxquelles nous avons envoyé des lettresWith prepositions normally translated by de (of, from etc.) the translation of the preposition which becomes dont:a blue book, the title of which I’ve forgotten= un livre bleu dont j’ai oublié le titreHowever, if de is part of a prepositional group, as for example in the case of près de meaning near, the translation becomes duquel, de laquelle, desquels or desquelles:the village near which they live= le village près duquel ils habitentthe houses near which she was waiting= les maisons près desquelles elle attendaita hill at the top of which there is a house= une colline au sommet de laquelle il y a une maisonAs a determinerIn questionsWhen which is used as a determiner in questions it is translated by quel, quelle, quels or quelles according to the gender and number of the noun that follows:which car is yours?= quelle voiture est la vôtre?which books did he borrow?= quels livres a-t-il empruntés?Note that in the second example the object precedes the verb so that the past participle agrees in gender and number with the object. -
8 Usage note : you
In English you is used to address everybody, whereas French has two forms: tu and vous. The usual word to use when you are speaking to anyone you do not know very well is vous. This is sometimes called the polite form and is used for the subject, object, indirect object and emphatic pronoun:would you like some coffee?= voulez-vous du café?can I help you?= est-ce que je peux vous aider?what can I do for you?= qu’est-ce que je peux faire pour vous?The more informal pronoun tu is used between close friends and family members, within groups of children and young people, by adults when talking to children and always when talking to animals ; tu is the subject form, the direct and indirect object form is te (t’ before a vowel) and the form for emphatic use or use after a preposition is toi:would you like some coffee?= veux-tu du café?can I help you?= est-ce que je peux t’aider?there’s a letter for you= il y a une lettre pour toiAs a general rule, when talking to a French person use vous, wait to see how they address you and follow suit. It is safer to wait for the French person to suggest using tu. The suggestion will usually be phrased as on se tutoie? or on peut se tutoyer?Note that tu is only a singular pronoun and vous is the plural form of tu.Remember that in French the object and indirect object pronouns are always placed before the verb:she knows you= elle vous connaît or elle te connaîtIn compound tenses like the present perfect and the past perfect, the past participle agrees in number and gender with the direct object:I saw you on Saturday(to one male: polite form)= je vous ai vu samedi(to one female: polite form)= je vous ai vue samedi(to one male: informal form)= je t’ai vu samedi(to one female: informal form)= je t’ai vue samedi(to two or more people, male or mixed)= je vous ai vus samedi(to two or more females)= je vous ai vues samediWhen you is used impersonally as the more informal form of one, it is translated by on for the subject form and by vous or te for the object form, depending on whether the comment is being made amongst friends or in a more formal context:you can do as you like here= on peut faire ce qu’on veut icithese mushrooms can make you ill= ces champignons peuvent vous rendre malade or ces champignons peuvent te rendre maladeyou could easily lose your bag here= on pourrait facilement perdre son sac iciNote that your used with on is translated by son/sa/ses according to the gender and number of the noun that follows.For verb forms with vous, tu and on see the French verb tables.For particular usages see the entry you. -
9 Usage note : it
When it is used as a subject pronoun to refer to a specific object (or animal) il or elle is used in French according to the gender of the object referred to:‘where is the book/chair?’ ‘it’s in the kitchen’= ‘où est le livre/la chaise?’ ‘il/elle est dans la cuisine’‘do you like my skirt?’ ‘it’s lovely’= ‘est-ce que tu aimes ma jupe?’ ‘elle est très jolie’However, if the object referred to is named in the same sentence, it is translated by ce (c’ before a vowel):it’s a good film= c’est un bon filmWhen it is used as an object pronoun it is translated by le or la (l’ before a vowel) according to the gender of the object referred to:it’s my book/my chair and I want it= c’est mon livre/ma chaise et je le/la veuxNote that the object pronoun normally comes before the verb in French and that in compound tenses like the perfect and the past perfect, the past participle agrees with it:I liked his shirt - did you notice it?= j’ai aimé sa chemise - est-ce que tu l’as remarquée? or l’as-tu remarquée?In imperatives only, the pronoun comes after the verb:it’s my book - give it to me= c’est mon livre - donne-le-moi (note the hyphens)When it is used vaguely or impersonally followed by an adjective the translation is ce (c’ before a vowel):it’s difficult= c’est difficileit’s sad= c’est tristeBut when it is used impersonally followed by an adjective + verb the translation is il:it’s difficult to understand how…= il est difficile de comprendre comment …If in doubt consult the entry for the adjective in question.For translations for impersonal verb uses (it’s raining, it’s snowing) consult the entry for the verb in question.it is used in expressions of days of the week (it’s Friday) and clock time (it’s 5 o’clock). This dictionary contains usage notes on these and many other topics. For other impersonal and idiomatic uses see the entry it.When it is used after a preposition in English the two words (prep + it) are often translated by one word in French. If the preposition would normally be translated by de in French (e.g. of, about, from etc.) the prep + it = en:I’ve heard about it= j’en ai entendu parlerIf the preposition would normally be translated by à in French (e.g. to, in, at etc.) the prep + it = y:they went to it= ils y sont allésFor translations of it following prepositions not normally translated by de or à (e.g. above, under, over etc.) consult the entry for the preposition. -
10 all
all [ɔ:l]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. adjective2. pronoun3. adverb4. noun5. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. adjective• all the others tous (or toutes) les autres━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Articles or pronouns often need to be added in French.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• all three accused were found guilty of fraud les accusés ont tous (les) trois été reconnus coupables de fraude2. pronouna. ( = everything) tout• he's seen it all, done it all il a tout vu, tout fait• it all happened so quickly tout s'est passé si vite► all that (subject of relative clause) tout ce qui• you can have all that's left tu peux prendre tout ce qui reste► all (that) (object of relative clause) tout ce que ; (after verb taking "de") tout ce dont• all I want is to sleep tout ce que je veux, c'est dormir• all I remember is... tout ce dont je me souviens, c'est...• the girls all knew that... les filles savaient toutes que...• the peaches? I've eaten them all! les pêches ? je les ai toutes mangées !• education should be open to all who want it l'éducation devrait être accessible à tous ceux qui veulent en bénéficier► superlative + of all• best of all, the reforms will cost nothing et surtout, ces réformes ne coûteront rien• I love his short stories, I've read all of them j'aime beaucoup ses nouvelles, je les ai toutes lues► all of + number ( = at least)• exploring the village took all of ten minutes ( = only) la visite du village a bien dû prendre dix minutes3. adverba. ( = entirely) tout━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► When used with a feminine adjective starting with a consonant, tout agrees.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• she left her daughters all alone in the flat elle a laissé ses filles toutes seules dans l'appartementb. (in scores) the score was two all (tennis, squash) les joueurs étaient à deux jeux (or sets) partout ; (other sports) le score était de deux à deux• what's the score? -- two all quel est le score ? -- deux partout or deux à deux4. noun• all along the road tout le long de la route► all but ( = nearly) presque ; ( = all except) tous sauf• we thought, all in all, it wasn't a bad idea nous avons pensé que, l'un dans l'autre, ce n'était pas une mauvaise idée► all one• it's all over! c'est fini !• this was all the more surprising since... c'était d'autant plus surprenant que...• all the more so since... d'autant plus que...► all the better! tant mieux !► all too• that's all very well but... c'est bien beau mais...• the dog ate the sausage, mustard and all le chien a mangé la saucisse avec la moutarde et tout (inf)• what with the snow and all, we didn't go avec la neige et tout le reste, nous n'y sommes pas allés► as all that• it's not as important as all that ce n'est pas si important que ça► for all... ( = despite) malgré• for all its beauty, the city... malgré sa beauté, la ville...• for all that malgré tout► for all I know...• for all I know he could be right il a peut-être raison, je n'en sais rien• for all I know, they're still living together autant que je sache, ils vivent encore ensemble► if... at all• they won't attempt it, if they have any sense at all ils ne vont pas essayer s'ils ont un peu de bon sens• the little grammar they learn, if they study grammar at all le peu de grammaire qu'ils apprennent, si tant est qu'il étudient la grammaire► no... at all• have you any comments? -- none at all! vous avez des commentaires à faire ? -- absolument aucun !► not... at all ( = not in the least) pas... du tout• are you disappointed? -- not at all! vous êtes déçu ? -- pas du tout• thank you! -- not at all! merci ! -- de rien !► not all that ( = not so)6. compounds• all clear! ( = you can go through) la voie est libre ; ( = the alert is over) l'alerte est passée• to give sb the all clear ( = authorize) donner le feu vert à qn ; (doctor to patient) dire à qn que tout va bien ► all-embracing adjective global• to go all out for monetary union jeter toutes ses forces dans la bataille pour l'union monétaire ► all-out strike noun grève f générale• to be a good all-rounder être bon en tout ► all-seater stadium noun (British) stade n'ayant que des places assises• all-weather court (Tennis) (terrain m en) quick m ► all-year-round adjective [resort] ouvert toute l'année* * *[ɔːl] 1.1) ( everything) toutall will be revealed — hum vous saurez tout hum
that's all — ( all contexts) c'est tout
2) ( the only thing) toutthat's all we need! — iron il ne manquait plus que ça!
3) ( everyone) tousthank you, one and all — merci à (vous) tous
‘all welcome’ — ‘venez nombreux’
4) ( the whole amount)5) ( emphasizing entirety)2.what's it all for? — ( all contexts) à quoi ça sert (tout ça)?
1) ( each one of) tous/toutes2) ( the whole of) tout/toute3) ( total)4) ( any)3.1) (emphatic: completely) toutit's all about... — c'est l'histoire de...
2) (emphatic: nothing but)to be all smiles — ( happy) être tout souriant; ( two-faced) être tout sourire
3) Sport4. 5.all+ combining form ( completely)all-digital/-electronic — entièrement numérique/électronique
6.all-female/-male — [group] composé uniquement de femmes/d'hommes
all along adverbial phrase [know etc] depuis le début, toujours7.all but adverbial phrase pratiquement, presque8.all of adverbial phrase9.all that adverbial phrase10.all the adverbial phrase11.all the more — [difficult, effective] d'autant plus (before adj)
all too adverbial phrase [accurate, easy, widespread, often] bien trop12.and all adverbial phrase1)2) (colloq) GB13.at all adverbial phrasenot at all! — ( acknowledging thanks) de rien!; ( answering query) pas du tout!
14.is it at all likely that...? — y a-t-il la moindre possibilité que...? (+ subj)
for all prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase1) ( despite)for all that — malgré tout, quand même
2) ( as regards)15.of all prepositional phrase1) ( in rank)first/last of all — pour commencer/finir
2) ( emphatic)••he's not all there — (colloq) il n'a pas toute sa tête
it's all go (colloq) here! — GB on s'active (colloq) ici!
that's all very well —
См. также в других словарях:
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