Present continuous action

LewisC1Kwiziq community member

Present continuous action

Bonjour, team. "Anne est en train d'aller à Paris." In addition to, "Anne is going to Paris", would a more precise translation be, "Anne is on her way to Paris"? Would the second translation be correct?

This question relates to:French lesson "Être en train de : expressing ongoing actions in the present"

Asked 2 years ago

Like1Answer2

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Translating between languages isn't an exact science and requires knowledge of the context.
From your question I glean that you have understood what the phrase "être en train de...." expresses. Which English translation you choose is now a matter of context and taste. But, to put it succinctly, "Anne is on her way to Paris" is within the bounds of the French original sentence.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Like02 years ago

AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Lewis !

Actually no: the sentence "Anne est en train d'aller à Paris." doesn't literally mean this.

Of course, as Chris stated, you can always take liberties as a translator, and indeed, even in English, "Anne is going to Paris" and "Anne is on her way to Paris" mean roughly the same thing, but they are still two different sentences :)

In French, the equivalent would be "Anne est en train d'aller à Paris" vs "Anne est en route pour Paris".

I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !

Like12 years ago

Lewis asked:View original

Present continuous action

Don't have an account yet? Join today

« Why do we use "après que" instead of "après" if there is no subjunctive verb to follow?Can you also say: Je vis dans Perth »

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level