|
 |
"Whose" in French | ||
Tags: French | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Haldor Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5616 days ago 103 posts - 122 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Swedish Studies: French, Spanish | Message 1 of 8 22 March 2012 at 2:29pm | IP Logged |
|
How would you translate whose to French? I can think of a number of possibilities, first dont and à qui ( dont being similar to de + que) but also auquel(le/s) and duquel...
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| vermillon Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4679 days ago 602 posts - 1042 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, German | Message 2 of 8 22 March 2012 at 3:09pm | IP Logged |
|
The wiktionary says "De qui, dont, duquel, de laquelle, desquels, desquelles." And looking at the definition of "dont", they give the rest of the other words
So I guess you're correct. But if of course depends on the context. Did your question have a specific purpose, or was it intended to be general? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5382 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 3 of 8 22 March 2012 at 3:17pm | IP Logged |
|
Context is very important because the expression you choose could very well be dictated by the structure that the words used require.
How about giving us a few English examples and we start from there? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4950 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 4 of 8 22 March 2012 at 5:49pm | IP Logged |
|
Yup, those tricky French relative pronouns, like I said in the other thread about French as L3 from Spanish, it is one of the more difficult areas of French.
Well, the natives can correct me (though sometimes precisely because they are natives, they may not be as versed in the actual rules of their language as non-natives who depend on them for proper usage), this is in general how I apply them: 1) You are supposed to use "qui" when the relative clause is introduced by a preposition and the so-called antecedent (the noun the relative clause describes) is a person, and reserve "lequel" for objects and concepts. Le professeur à qui je parle sait sept langues. 2) BUT in colloquial French, "lequel" can be used instead of "qui": Le professeur auquel je parle sait sept langues. 3) "Dont" is used when the verb in the relative clause requires "de" as the preposition: Le professeur dont je parle sait sept langues. The difference between the sentences with "à" and "de" is that in the first I am talking TO the professor, in the 2nd I'm talking ABOUT him. "Dont" thus is only used to replace "de" when it is part of the prepositional verb. As far as I have learned "duquel", etc, can only be used when "de" is part of a compound preposition ("après de / loin de", etc), and should never be used when "de" is the stand-alone preposition. Because most of such prepositions tend to indicate spatial or temporal relation, I have never seen them used where the antecdent noun is a person. "Dont" alongside "en" are difficult for non-natives because often they are preemptive, meaning they are used when a verb with the preposition "de" is implied in the context but not explicitly expressed. To remember using them in this form requires a lot of practice and honestly, just intuition into when they tend to be needed, which takes time to master. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5382 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 5 of 8 22 March 2012 at 5:51pm | IP Logged |
|
I don't think that helps much with "whose" though...
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4950 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 6 of 8 22 March 2012 at 5:56pm | IP Logged |
|
The only real translation of "whose" is "dont":
Le cahier dont les pages sont arrachées est à moi. The notebook whose pages are torn out is mine. Dont is similar to "cuyo/cuya/cuyos/cuyas" in Spanish and "dessen/deren" in German. Edited by outcast on 22 March 2012 at 6:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5208 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 8 22 March 2012 at 6:30pm | IP Logged |
|
I think the point is that there isn't an equivalent to "whose" so you have to phrase it differently using "dont" which in this case is like "of whom"/"of which". Edited by garyb on 22 March 2012 at 6:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4950 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 8 of 8 22 March 2012 at 6:43pm | IP Logged |
|
Well, of course it is very rare to find a word or structure in a language that correlates 100% with the same word or structure in another. That's virtually impossible.
But the closest relative is "dont". Of course there maybe situations where other pronouns are better suited, or even just rephrasing the sentence entirely is better. Those are speficic instances that have to be adressed on their own. I'm just saying what I have read from no less then three sources, "whose" most often translate as "dont", but of course not always. "Of whom/of which" would better be "de qui/de quoi" which are not relative clauses at all, but rather interrogatives. You never use "dont" in an interrogative clause. Edited by outcast on 22 March 2012 at 6:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
