Traduction/phrases

Traduction/phrases
Message de vaiana posté le 18-04-2020 à 00:58:34 (S | E | F)
Hello everybody
here are some sentences I've translated! would you mind helping me correct my mistakes please?
Thank you very much!

1- J’aimerais bien passer une année à Berlin ou à Vienne, mais j’ai du mal à faire un choix.
I'd like to spend a whole year in Berlin or in Vienna, but I struggle to make a choice.

2- Comme mes parents habitent dans une petite ville, ils ont absolument besoin de posséder leur propre voiture.
As my parents live in a small town, they absolutely need to have their own car / it's a need for them to have their own car.

3- J’ai appris par un voisin qu’un magasin avait ouvert récemment dans mon quartier.
I have been told by a neighbor that a shop had recently opened in my neighborhood.

4- Lorsque j’étais étudiante, j’essayais d’aller au cinéma au moins une fois par semaine.
When I was a student, I'd try to go to the movie theater at least once a week.

5- Ne vous inquiétez pas, Madame, nous vous le confirmerons par courriel dans les meilleurs délais.
Don't be worried, Mam, we'll confirm it to you by email within the best time.

6- L’annonce du gouvernement visant à calmer les esprits n’a fait que rendre la population plus inquiète.
The government's announcement targeting to ease people's minds only made the population to be more worried.

7- Si vous aviez fait davantage d’économies, vous auriez pu vous offrir un beau voyage aux États-Unis.
Had you saved more money, you could have afforded a nice trip to the U.S.

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de traviskidd, postée le 18-04-2020 à 02:06:57 (S | E)
Hello!

1- ...in either Berlin or Vienna, but I can't decide / I'm having trouble deciding which (one).
2- ok!
3- ok, but why "had"? Has the shop already closed down? ("Open up" is better for a new shop.)
4- ok!
5- Don't worry Ma'am (polite)/Madam (very formal), we'll send you a confirmation.... (within the best time? Do you mean without delay?)
6- I would say "hoping" or "aiming", and remove "to be".
7- ok!

See you

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de vaiana, postée le 18-04-2020 à 03:31:42 (S | E)
Hello and thank you!

I'd like to spend a whole year either in Berlin or Vienna, but I can't make a choice. isn't there another possible translation to stress 'j'ai du mal' than can't?

I have been told by a neighbor than a shop had recently opened up in my neighborhood.
Here I used 'had' because of the 'avait' in the French sentence... in French we use the indicative tense after 'que', I thought it was the same in English...

so... I have been told by a neighbor than a shop has recently opened up in my neighborhood.

Don't worry, Ma'am, we'll send you a confirmation /as soon as possible (I'd have preferred to use something else to translate that part of the sentence but I can't find better )

Hope that's better: the government's announcement aiming at cooling people's minds only made the population more worry.

See you!!

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de traviskidd, postée le 18-04-2020 à 04:44:21 (S | E)
Hello!

"Can't" is typical and natural, but if you want to stress "j'ai du mal" then why not "I'm having trouble"?

I noticed "avait" but it seemed a strange thing to say. Maybe in French you are emphasizing the idea of reported speech (A neighbor told me "A new shop has opened up" --> A neighbor told me a new shop had opened up), but this takes the idea of anteriority a little too far (in my opinion). The fact is that a new shop has opened up, which your neighbor has told you.

Maybe instead of "as soon as possible" you'd rather "shortly"?

You were right the first time with "easing" and "worried" (Hint: if I don't correct it, it's probably right )

See you.

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de gerold, postée le 18-04-2020 à 12:43:58 (S | E)
Hello traviskidd

"J'ai appris ... qu'un magasin avait ouvert récemment..." is quite correct. It is a question of "concordance des temps".
Of course, you can say (or hear), "J'ai appris ... qu'un magasin a ouvert récemment...", but some people would tell you that it's not totally correct.

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de vaiana, postée le 18-04-2020 à 14:00:33 (S | E)
L’annonce du gouvernement visant à calmer les esprits n’a fait que rendre la population plus inquiète.
The government's announcement aiming at easing people's minds only made the population more worried.

Thanks!

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de traviskidd, postée le 18-04-2020 à 19:50:15 (S | E)
Hello gerold. I'm sure you're right, but in English it would be strange to say "I learned in school today that one plus one equaled two." Because if it was true when you learned it, it's still true now! In other words, it's a "permanent" fact that doesn't depend on when you learned it. (Just out of curiosity, what's the rule in German?)

Hello vaiana, you're ! (Looking at your last sentence, I now think "aimed" is a little better than "aiming", but I'm splitting hairs now.)

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de gerold, postée le 18-04-2020 à 21:55:16 (S | E)
Bonsoir vaiana

Dans la troisième phrase, "that", correct, est devenu ensuite "than".

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de vaiana, postée le 18-04-2020 à 23:56:07 (S | E)
Thanks traviskidd and gerold!

And yes gerold it was a little typo.

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Réponse : Traduction/phrases de gerold, postée le 19-04-2020 à 11:12:47 (S | E)
Hello traviskidd

In German, there is no "concordance des temps" in this case : Ich habe erfahren, dass ein neuer Laden geöffnet hat (not hatte), j'ai appris qu'un nouveau magasin avait/a ouvert.


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Modifié par gerold le 19-04-2020 11:28

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