Pour être honnête vs à vrai dire; apercevoir vs reperer

G. D.C1Kwiziq community member

Pour être honnête vs à vrai dire; apercevoir vs reperer

I translated "to be honest" as "à vrai dire" instead of "pour être honnête" but it wasn't accepted. Is there a difference between the two?

Also, my dictionary suggested repérer for "to spot," i.e., "je l'ai repéré par la baie..." Does this not work?

This question relates to:French writing exercise "A sudden reappearance"

Freeform Writing Exercise C1

Asked 2 years ago

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CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Gee,

1. "à vrai dire" and "pour être honnête": there is a difference

À vrai dire = to be exact (precise) / in fact

Pour être honnête = to be honest / to tell the truth

2. To spot / repérer:

"To spot" can be translated as "repérer" in the sense of physically looking out for something (like a pirate using a spyglass for example ;-) ). This is not the case here.

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Like32 years ago

G. D. asked: