12:51 Jan 27 

@Yves
Il est vrai que si, comme le suggère Tony, il y a un brin d'ironie dans le discours de ces 2 hommes, tout ce que j'ai écrit concernant "encore" ne tient plus.

12:45 Jan 27 

Oui Odile, votre traduction est certainement une des meilleures; je pense que les traductions qui utilisent "à ma connaissance" ne sont pas correctes; mais je ne vois pas une grande différence de sens entre la forme négative et l'usage de "encore" bien que je dois reconnaitre que la forme négative est sans doute plus claire!

12:20 Jan 27 

@Tony
Ooops, that's right, sorry about this!

12:16 Jan 27 

It does seem to be one guy talking about another, which I think puts a slightly different complexion on it from the 'her' you seem to be assuming?

12:00 Jan 27 

@Tony
I totally agree with this: the speaker is expressing the idea that finding another cop who is still on his first marriage is pure wishful thinking, that' s why, in my opinion, she would not use "encore" but a negative form.

11:49 Jan 27 

Yes, I quite agree with the idea you express (though not qualified to comment on the FR idiom) — to me that is exactly it: the speaker is expressing a degree of surprise (whether in admiration or not, we can't tell) that this cop is still only on his first marriage. The implication is that it is rare amongst cops.

11:41 Jan 27 

@Yves
Non, pour moi, "en être encore à quelque chose" veut dire qu'on traîne : "Vous en êtes encore là?". Et ici, on veut précisément exprimer le contraire.

11:34 Jan 27 

Agree Tony! So "encore à son premier mariage.." is the best translation in my opinion; the word "encore" in this context means there will be other marriages and it's just a matter of time;

11:11 Jan 27 

It's important to capture the nuance of humour in the source text: the expression "still on his first [...]" is more commonly used, for example for something like a beer or a cigarette, and conveys the definite expectation that there is going to be a second, and a third, and...

So for that reason, I think it's important to maintain the sense of the incoming event, i.e. marriage; being on your third divorce might be considered by some to be an achievement, a cause for celebration even. But still being on your first marraige is almost a reason for ridicule. These are not my own views, I'm just trying to convey something of the jocular feel of the s/t expression.

11:02 Jan 27 

oui mais si l'on a jamais divorcé, par définition c'est qu'on est toujours marié avec sa première femme, non ?

10:52 Jan 27 

Il ne faudrait pas utiliser divorcé non plus (car on peut divorcer plusieurs fois) alors que là c'est son premier mariage et sa première femme. Par élimination, n'importe quele autre traduction est bonne.

10:49 Jan 27 

est-il un élément dont tenir compte ?

10:35 Jan 27 

Oui, je suis aussi d'accord avec Yves, "à ma connaissance" traduirait l'anglais "as far as I know, he is the only cop ...."

10:31 Jan 27 

Entièrement d'accord avec yves la -'...le seul flic que je connais'..

18:27 Jan 26 

Je ne pense pas qu'il faille utiliser "à ma connaissance" mais plutôt "le flic que je connais"; le sens est complètement différen!

17:55 Jan 26 

Thank you for raising this question, Tony, I was wondering about it as well. Thanks also to Françoise for the link!

16:08 Jan 26 

Thank you so much, that's very helpful!

15:47 Jan 26 

15:40 Jan 26 

I note with interest that almost everyone here has suggested the use of the subjunctive, yet I was always taught that this is not used where the object is definite and not in question; the example I was given was somebody enquiring of a resident in a particular street:
« Je cherche une maison qui a une porte bleue » — meaning I know there is one, but I can't find it, cf.
« Je cherche une maison qui ait une porte bleue » — I'm trying to find out if there's a house in this street with a blue door.

Surely here the speaker does indeed know this policeman, so the indicative mood would be called for?

Please advise, purely for the sake of my own personal growth and development! (and maybe off this forum...)