Akatsuki Triglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 6306 days ago 226 posts - 236 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, English Studies: Norwegian
| Message 1 of 7 02 July 2009 at 12:55pm | IP Logged |
I am having a hard time translating the sentence on saisit l'importance... into English. I am aware of the meaning in French but I can't give an accurate translation in English, can someone please enlighten me? Maybe it's easier than I think and I'm just blindfolded.
Thanks in advance!
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stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5840 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin
| Message 2 of 7 02 July 2009 at 11:57pm | IP Logged |
Without seeing the sentence in context, it's difficult to give the best translation but something like 'we grasped the importance...'
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TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5931 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian
| Message 3 of 7 02 July 2009 at 11:57pm | IP Logged |
You could translate saisir l'importance as grasp/comprehend/understand the importance.
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Akatsuki Triglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 6306 days ago 226 posts - 236 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, English Studies: Norwegian
| Message 4 of 7 03 July 2009 at 12:43am | IP Logged |
Thanks! I thought about that as well but I just couldn't fit that in the translation. It seems to me it was rather a problem with my English than with my French. Anyhow, the sentence goes like this: on saisit l'importance de cette réponse puisqu'elle va précéder le geste définitif.
We understand the importance of this answer as it will precede the definitive gesture. - Is that an accurate translation?
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staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5705 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written)
| Message 5 of 7 03 July 2009 at 2:04pm | IP Logged |
Translation:
One figures out the importance
One understands the importance
The French word "on" means one, they, we, you
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Akatsuki Triglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 6306 days ago 226 posts - 236 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, English Studies: Norwegian
| Message 6 of 7 03 July 2009 at 2:11pm | IP Logged |
Makes sense. Thanks for the quick reply.
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Supremor Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5931 days ago 6 posts - 7 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian, Polish
| Message 7 of 7 05 July 2009 at 10:27pm | IP Logged |
I much prefer the use of "we," than "one" in this context. Using "one" sounds terribly contrived. I would translate the sentence:
"We grasped the importance of this reply/answer..."
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