A question about one of the above sentences

Catherine B.B2Kwiziq community member

A question about one of the above sentences

In the sentence above that says "Elle a une petite voix: on l'entend peu", why is that translated as "She has a small voice: We don't hear her much". I would have thought that "on l'entend peu" would have translated to 'we hear her much'. Would you please explain this? Thank you. Catherine
Asked 8 years ago
LauraNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer
Bonjour Catherine -

Peu means little, so "on l'entend peu" can be translated as either "we hear her little" or, more idiomatically, "we don't hear her much."
Carole S.A2Kwiziq community member

It literally translates as 'we hear her little' which clearly isn't good English hence ' we don't hear her much'

Eleanor W.B1Kwiziq community member

I think that it is saying that we could hardly hear her. Or only just hear her so the effort off hearing her was a little Rather than the emphasis that should then be used.

Catherine B. asked:

A question about one of the above sentences

In the sentence above that says "Elle a une petite voix: on l'entend peu", why is that translated as "She has a small voice: We don't hear her much". I would have thought that "on l'entend peu" would have translated to 'we hear her much'. Would you please explain this? Thank you. Catherine

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