{"id":3049,"date":"2017-09-06T16:21:41","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T20:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglocomprod.wpengine.com\/?p=3049\/"},"modified":"2018-09-06T15:59:47","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T19:59:47","slug":"french-words-that-are-hard-to-translate-into-english-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anglocom.com\/en\/french-words-that-are-hard-to-translate-into-english-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"French Words That Are Hard to Translate into English (II)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t
Here are more French words that tend to stump native English speakers. As we saw in Part I of this series, every linguistic group perceives and describes reality a little differently. What\u2019s normal in one language (saying that a child has been \u201cgood,\u201d for example) can seem strange in another (in French, well-behaved children are sage<\/em>, or \u201cwise\u201d). That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to understand what makes a language tick. French is full of abstract concepts. English, on the other hand, loves verbs and compelling images. The more of them you use, the more your English will seem spontaneous and natural. Let\u2019s look at a few examples.<\/div><\/div>\n

D\u00e9passement<\/h2>\n

English doesn\u2019t have an exact equivalent for d\u00e9passement<\/em>, whose abstract formulation hides the action taking place. To convey the same idea in English, you have to take a different approach.<\/p>\n

Le r\u00f4le de l\u2019opposition officielle est de pousser le gouvernement \u00e0 l\u2019action, au d\u00e9passement.<\/span>
\n<\/em>The role of the official opposition is to prod the government to do more, to do better.<\/p>\n

Il a vraiment le go\u00fbt du d\u00e9passement.<\/span>
\n<\/em>He has a real desire to excel.<\/p>\n

Le sport appelle le d\u00e9passement de soi.<\/span>
\n<\/em>In sport, you have to push your limits.<\/p>\n

Je vois dans cette d\u00e9cision un appel au d\u00e9passement.<\/span>
\n<\/em>I see in this decision an invitation to reach out to others.<\/p>\n

Le pr\u00e9sident nous a invit\u00e9s au travail, au d\u00e9passement, \u00e0 l\u2019excellence.<\/span>
\n<\/em>The president urged us to work hard, harder and hardest.<\/p>\n

Il nous a laiss\u00e9 un souvenir de d\u00e9passement.<\/em><\/span>
\nHe will be remembered for going beyond the call of duty.<\/p>\n

Here, English expresses the notion of d\u00e9passement<\/em> as a verb, which is why the language is often thought of as being more direct and action packed. If the situation calls for an English noun, think hard about the idea being conveyed, then name that idea.<\/p>\n

On lui a d\u00e9cern\u00e9 un prix dans la cat\u00e9gorie \u00ab D\u00e9passement de soi \u00bb.<\/span>
\n<\/em>He won an award in the \u201cOutstanding Achievement\u201d category.<\/p>\n

Cette loi comporte une incitation au d\u00e9passement.<\/span>
\n<\/em>This law contains a performance incentive.<\/p>\n

Le respect des autres et le d\u00e9passement de soi sont des valeurs importantes.<\/span>
\n<\/em>Respect for others and selflessness are two important values.<\/p>\n

Faire partie de cette \u00e9quipe demande un d\u00e9passement extraordinaire.<\/span>
\n<\/em>It takes almost superhuman effort to be chosen for this team.<\/p>\n

Il faut encourager l\u2019excellence et le d\u00e9passement chez les jeunes.<\/span>
\n<\/em>We need to instill drive and excellence in our young people.<\/p>\n

Encadrement<\/h2>\n

Encadrement<\/em> occupies a semantic field that\u2019s a bit too vast for English tastes. Best to find a more straightforward or descriptive way of rendering the term. When translating encadrement<\/em>, keep in mind that it often refers to an act of control, management, or supervision.<\/p>\n

Il nous faut un meilleur encadrement des activit\u00e9s.<\/span>
\n<\/em>We need to monitor the activities better.<\/p>\n

Est-ce qu\u2019on a offert un encadrement ad\u00e9quat?<\/span>
\n<\/em>Were their needs properly addressed?<\/p>\n

Il y a danger que cette loi f\u00e9d\u00e9rale \u00e9vince le gouvernement du Qu\u00e9bec de la r\u00e9glementation et de l\u2019encadrement du droit civil.<\/span>
\n<\/em>This federal law risks preventing the Quebec government from making regulations under civil law.<\/p>\n

Elle a particip\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019encadrement du personnel.<\/span>
\n<\/em>She helped train the staff.<\/p>\n

Depending on the context, encadrement<\/em> can also be translated as a noun.<\/p>\n

Cette entente pr\u00e9voit l\u2019encadrement du commerce du bois d\u2019oeuvre par l\u2019imposition de quotas sur les exportations.<\/span>
\n<\/em>This agreement calls for managed trade in softwood lumber, limiting exports through quotas.<\/p>\n

Le rapport proposait un plan d\u2019encadrement complet.<\/span>
\n<\/em>Our report proposed a comprehensive plan.<\/p>\n

Il aurait pu y avoir un encadrement en ce qui a trait aux possibles conflits d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eats.<\/span>
\n<\/em>There could have been provisions regarding potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

Other possibilities include\u00a0guidance, direction\u00a0(for encadrement d\u2019une activit\u00e9<\/em>);\u00a0mentoring, tutoring\u00a0(for encadrement d\u2019une \u00e9l\u00e8ve<\/em>);\u00a0framework;\u00a0supervision, training\u00a0(for encadrement de personnel<\/em>);\u00a0upbringing;\u00a0atmosphere, environment\u00a0(as in cadre physique<\/em>), etc.<\/p>\n

Intervenant<\/h2>\n

This handy word simply designates somebody doing something in a given situation. Unfortunately, English is devoid of a catch\u2011all equivalent. There are \u201cintervenors\u201d in a courtroom, but in any other context, you\u2019ll need to be more specific.<\/p>\n

Le congr\u00e8s attirera de nombreux intervenants du milieu hospitalier.<\/em><\/span>
\n<\/em>The convention will attract many hospital practitioners\/workers.<\/p>\n

Les intervenants du secteur agricole comprennent ces enjeux.<\/span>
\n<\/em>Those involved\/Those who work in farming understand this challenge.<\/p>\n

Il faut consulter les intervenants de tous les milieux.<\/span>
\n<\/em>We need to bring stakeholders from all sectors to the table.<\/p>\n

Comme d\u2019autres intervenants l\u2019ont fait avant lui, il a f\u00e9licit\u00e9 le d\u00e9put\u00e9 pour sa contribution.<\/span>
\n<\/em>Like other speakers before him, he congratulated the member for his contribution.<\/p>\n

Tous les intervenants ont reconnu ce fait.<\/span>
\n<\/em>Everybody acknowledged the fact.<\/p>\n

Nous travaillons avec les intervenants de l\u2019industrie foresti\u00e8re.<\/span>
\n<\/em>We are working with the forest industry.<\/p>\n

De nombreux intervenants ont fait valoir leur opinion lors de la consultation.<\/span>
\n<\/em>Many people spoke out during the consultation.<\/p>\n

Notre firme est avant tout un r\u00e9seau de comp\u00e9tences qui r\u00e9unit une trentaine d\u2019intervenants<\/em> <\/span>(formateurs, consultants, conf\u00e9renciers).<\/span>
\n<\/em>Our firm is first and foremost a group of some thirty skilled resource people (instructors, consultants, speakers).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t
Abstraction can give the best of us pause, but it\u2019s not the only challenge for French\u2011to\u2011English translators. Some French words conjure up images that are impossible to translate concisely, because English just doesn\u2019t use the same metaphors. You\u2019ll find examples in our next post.<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Translated excerpt from Les trucs d’anglais qu’on a oubli\u00e9 de vous enseigner (Stuff about English they forgot to teach you), by Anglocom president, Grant Hamilton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-translator-toolbox"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrench Words That Are Hard to Translate into English (II) - Anglocom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The second of three excerpts from the book Les trucs d'anglais qu'on a oubli\u00e9 de vous enseigner on hard-to-translate French words.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/anglocom.com\/en\/french-words-that-are-hard-to-translate-into-english-ii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"French Words That Are Hard to Translate into English (II) - 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