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may have to do

French translation: nous devrons peut-être nous contenter de

17:36 May 25, 2016
English to French translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: may have to do
Bonsoir à tous,

Que veut dire "may have to do" dans la phrase suivante ?

"We may discover that wind, solar, biomass, etc., all piled on top of each other, may have to do, but their success may turn out to require an effort that started a generation ago."

Je vous mets également les deux phrases qui précèdent pour un peu plus de contexte :

"ALTERNATIVE sources of energy can become a satisfactory substitute for fossil fuels if we put as much effort and genius in the effort as we did in producing the first atomic bomb.The most satisfactory single alternative would be hydrogen fusion but that quasi-miracle may be beyond our capability.

Est-ce que cela signifie que ces énergies pourraient fonctionner ?

Merci d'avance pour votre aide précieuse !
Isabelle Meschi
France
Local time: 20:51
French translation:nous devrons peut-être nous contenter de
Explanation:
'to do' here has the sense of 'to suffice'.

"Hydrogen fusion would be a wonderful solution, but we may have to be content with..."

Many ways you might express it, but I hope this gives you an idea.

'to have to' here = future tense of 'must' = future of 'devoir'.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 heures (2016-05-25 20:07:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

nous devrons peut-être nous contenter de ...
... wind, solar, biomass, etc., all piled on top of each other
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 20:51
Grading comment
Merci !
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
2 +6nous devrons peut-être nous contenter de
Tony M
4 +2doivent peut-être suffire/remplir nos besoins
Francois Boye


  

Answers


35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
doivent peut-être suffire/remplir nos besoins


Explanation:
my take

Francois Boye
United States
Local time: 14:51
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 84

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Germaine: avec suffire, mais pas "remplir nos besoins" : Nous pourrions découvrir que... ont empiété l'un sur l'autre, pourraient devoir suffire...
4 hrs
agree  Yoann Peyron: doivent peut-être suffire +1
10 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +6
nous devrons peut-être nous contenter de


Explanation:
'to do' here has the sense of 'to suffice'.

"Hydrogen fusion would be a wonderful solution, but we may have to be content with..."

Many ways you might express it, but I hope this gives you an idea.

'to have to' here = future tense of 'must' = future of 'devoir'.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 heures (2016-05-25 20:07:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

nous devrons peut-être nous contenter de ...
... wind, solar, biomass, etc., all piled on top of each other

Tony M
France
Local time: 20:51
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 288
Grading comment
Merci !

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  FX Fraipont (X): I was about to post exactly that
1 min
  -> Merci, F-X !
agree  Jocelyne Cuenin
8 mins
  -> Merci, Petitavoine !
neutral  Francois Boye: contenter de QUOI?
23 mins
  -> Just as in the source text... the list of energy sources that precedes this remark. I think it works better inventing a subject (nous, on) for the active verb, instead of keeping the inverted construction as in EN.
agree  Philippe Barré
1 hr
  -> Merci, phi2barre !
agree  Anne Gaujard-Scott
1 hr
  -> Merci, Anne !
agree  Karine Derancy (X)
23 hrs
  -> Merci, Karine !
agree  Alain Marsol
1 day 14 hrs
  -> Merci, Alain !
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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