20,000 Lieux de MystèreNew site user here, hi. I’ve been reading “20,000 Leagues under the Sea” in Jules Verne’s original French (“20,000 Lieux sous les Mers”) for my first time, having never read a translation (many translations of his works tend to have the reputation of poor quality). The first few chapters were a little challenging, as I had to look up quite a few vocabulary words relating to maritime matters. Two particular words which still cause me curiosity are “scaphandre” and “loch”.
(1) “Scaphandre” — I understand this means a diving suit, and given “20,000 Lieux” was written 150 years ago, obviously Verne meant the old-fashioned style with a large brass helmet. However, I would think modern French would use something like “costume / tenue de plongée”, while, insofar as I’m aware, English has always referred to diving suits, both old and modern, as simply “diving suits”. Therefore, is “scaphandre” a conspicuously old word in French, and is it still ever used ?
(2) “Loch” — This seems to translate either as a Scottish lake (and what I always call a lake, being Scottish myself, yet that is obviously not what Verne meant), or as a ship’s “log” (I assume closer to his meaning). However, for me a ship’s log, in English, tends to be a book or journal, albeit perhaps nowadays kept in digital format. Nonetheless, in “20,000 Lieux” it seems to be some kind of equipment, and I think Verne even refers to it at least once as “loch électronique”. What is it ?
(3) Finally, it was only upon actually reading the book that I realised the error I had made for my entire prior life regarding what its title means — the “20,000 Lieux” refers to the submarine’s lateral travel around the world, and not to its depth. My erstwhile foolish misinterpretation was as much to do with my poor command of English as my bad French, since, in this context, both “lieu” and “league” mean the same, i.e. about 3½ miles, or 5½km. That said, I would suggest the English translation of the title might be more clearly rendered as “20,000 Leagues around the Sea Above”. There might be some nuance between “sous” and “au dessous de” in French, which English doesn’t really articulate (“under”, “underneath”, and “beneath” all mean pretty much the same, I think).
Bonjour, Ma saison préférée est l'hiver. Je viens d'Inde où il fait toujours chaud. L'hiver canadien est très beau avec son fond blanc. Je ne dérange pas le froid et je l'appricie même. Et la neige , c'est le meilleur moment. Je viens d'apprendre à patiner et j'ai passé mon hiver dernier dans la patinoire.
Merci beaucoup pour cet exercise. Bonne journée et bonne soirée ( où que vous soyez!).
Could you please explain why we use "J'ai toujours voulu visiter Paris" - and for example "Hier je voulais visiter le musee"?
What is the grammatical explanation please for the two different tenses?
Merci ! :)
Bonjour, si vous veuillez, expliquer svp pourquoi il n’y a pas le subjonctif dans la phrase : Avant tout, il est primordial que vous identifiez au préalable
Merci beaucoup
New site user here, hi. I’ve been reading “20,000 Leagues under the Sea” in Jules Verne’s original French (“20,000 Lieux sous les Mers”) for my first time, having never read a translation (many translations of his works tend to have the reputation of poor quality). The first few chapters were a little challenging, as I had to look up quite a few vocabulary words relating to maritime matters. Two particular words which still cause me curiosity are “scaphandre” and “loch”.
(1) “Scaphandre” — I understand this means a diving suit, and given “20,000 Lieux” was written 150 years ago, obviously Verne meant the old-fashioned style with a large brass helmet. However, I would think modern French would use something like “costume / tenue de plongée”, while, insofar as I’m aware, English has always referred to diving suits, both old and modern, as simply “diving suits”. Therefore, is “scaphandre” a conspicuously old word in French, and is it still ever used ?
(2) “Loch” — This seems to translate either as a Scottish lake (and what I always call a lake, being Scottish myself, yet that is obviously not what Verne meant), or as a ship’s “log” (I assume closer to his meaning). However, for me a ship’s log, in English, tends to be a book or journal, albeit perhaps nowadays kept in digital format. Nonetheless, in “20,000 Lieux” it seems to be some kind of equipment, and I think Verne even refers to it at least once as “loch électronique”. What is it ?
(3) Finally, it was only upon actually reading the book that I realised the error I had made for my entire prior life regarding what its title means — the “20,000 Lieux” refers to the submarine’s lateral travel around the world, and not to its depth. My erstwhile foolish misinterpretation was as much to do with my poor command of English as my bad French, since, in this context, both “lieu” and “league” mean the same, i.e. about 3½ miles, or 5½km. That said, I would suggest the English translation of the title might be more clearly rendered as “20,000 Leagues around the Sea Above”. There might be some nuance between “sous” and “au dessous de” in French, which English doesn’t really articulate (“under”, “underneath”, and “beneath” all mean pretty much the same, I think).
My best guess right now is that à is used with definite articles, and dans is used with indefinite ones. So "Je vais au parc," and "Je vais dans un parc." Is that correct?
Further to my last question about this, I clearly don't understand the rule, as these are wrong, can you explain please? :
Ils ________ pendant les vacances.They will have lost weight during the holidays.(HINT: Conjugate "mincir" in Le Futur Antérieur)auront minciauront mincisLearn and Discuss »Report issue
7Cette sculpture est la plus belle ________ !This sculpture is the most beautiful you have ever seen!que tu aies jamais vueque tu aie jamais vu
I just heard someone in the show "Lupin" say what sounded like "merce" instead of "merci". Is "merce" an actual truncated form (like "ta" in English), or did the actor / character just trail off at the end of the word because she was distracted ? (It's the cop who's just taken Lupin into custody, & is transporting him by car, & she's talking with a petrol station attendant.)
Also, how common, & how slangy is "cimer" ?
In the example: "I always liked you." You give the answer: Vous m'avez toujours plu.
I think it should be: Je vous avez toujours plu.
I know that the verb "manquer" uses a strange inversion of the subject and object, but I don't think that applies to "plaire". Does it??
Bill, email woh1712@gmail .com
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