En retard au travail

Cornelia H.B2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

En retard au travail

I used “en retard pour le travail”. I knew it was wrong but did not think of an alternative. Is there a Lawless lesson that can help me with this construction?


Thank you!



Thank you!

Asked 3 years ago
CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Cornelia,

I hope your research was fruitful. Here is a little explanation on how to use ‘à’ or ‘pour’, albeit not with ‘en retard’. However, I do hope it gives you a better picture overall:

Préposition ‘à’:

location → je vis à MadridI live in Madrid

            → en retard au travaillate to/for work

speed/distance → j’habite à 100 mètresI live 100 meters away

                      → il conduit à vive allure = he drives at stop speed

composition/flavour → une glace à la vanille = a vanilla ice-cream

means of transport → je marche à pied I walk on foot

ATTENTION : je pars en voiture = I leave by car

price → un article à 20 eurosan item at 20 euros

time → il part à 15 heures he leaves at 3 pm

container → une corbeille à pain = a bread basket

ATTENTION : un pot de confiture

mouth/lips → du rouge à lèvreslipstick

                → une cigarette à la bouche a cigarette in the mouth

 

 

Préposition ‘pour’:

duration → il est absent pour toute la journée he is away for the whole day

destination → il part pour Cubahe leaves for Cuba

goal → tu ne vis que pour ton travail = you only live for your work

cause → pour qu’il t’apprécie, soit plus gentilso that he likes you, be nicer

consequence → j’ai dû le faire chanter pour qu’il parteI had to blackmail him to leave

concession / point of view → pour être honnête... to be frank…

                                      → pour lui, tu es un génie to him, you are a genius

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Cornelia,

Try this link

Expressing timeliness in French - late/early - precise

Does this help you?

Jim

Cornelia H.B2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thank you, Jim. My question was not clear enough. English speakers like myself tend to literally translate the word « for » with « pour ». But, I know that is not always correct. My question is how should I know that I should say « en retard AU travail », instead of « en retard POUR LE travail »? Is there a grammar rule regarding expressions like this, and the prepositions that we are to use?

Thank you

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Translating prepositions literally is a surefire way to get off the right track. That said, the adverbial phrase en retard works with several different prepositions and changes meaning subtly with them. Here is a link that has more on this:

https://www.thoughtco.com/en-retard-1371198

Cornelia H.B2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thank you, Chris. That helps more, but still leaves me uncertain on how to guess what the appropriate preposition should be. I will research further.

En retard au travail

I used “en retard pour le travail”. I knew it was wrong but did not think of an alternative. Is there a Lawless lesson that can help me with this construction?


Thank you!



Thank you!

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