translation

Andrew L.C1Kwiziq community member

translation

The translation given for "Ta voiture est petite. - Oui, mais c'est petit dans mon garage.""Your car is small. - Yes, but my garage is small."

The second sentence seems like it should be the car that is small in the garage. Is the translation correct?

Asked 5 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Andrew,

If you say -

'C'est petit dans mon garage'

What is actually meant is -

'There isn't much room in my garage' 

Hope this helps!

 

Daniel T.A1Kwiziq community member

Perhaps an alternate translation could've been provided in addition to the one given, so that the context of the excercise was clear.

Otherwise, one might come up with (such as I did, and admittedly missing the point of the excercise): "Oui, mais c'est grand dans mon garage." ... pointing out that a car of such small size would actually appear big in a garage that's just as small.

From "C'est petit dans mon garage," I get the impression that it should be: "Your car is so small. - Yes, it's small even in my garage (which, by the way, doesn't have much room to begin with)."

Linda R.A2Kwiziq community member

I picked up on this issue also.  I thought the desired French translation could have  been:  "Oui, mais mon garage est petit."  But that would miss the point of the use of C'est.

If the English was given as 'There isn't much room in my garage'  or "It (my garage) is small"  I might not have been prompted to question it.  :)

Nonetheless, I learned something useful.  :)  

Andrew L. asked:

translation

The translation given for "Ta voiture est petite. - Oui, mais c'est petit dans mon garage.""Your car is small. - Yes, but my garage is small."

The second sentence seems like it should be the car that is small in the garage. Is the translation correct?

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