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But inhabited by who? By whom?

French translation: ---

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12:46 Aug 10, 2009

English to French translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics

English term or phrase: But inhabited by who? By whom?

When I read a book in my foreign languages, I frequently ask myself how I would translate such and such things. This time, I am at a loss since I do not have a single clue.
The book I am reading is "First Light" by Peter Ackroyd.

"It [The landscape] looks as if it's been inhabited for thousands and thousands of years. But inhabited by who? By whom [whom in italics]?"

Any idea as to how to render this?
Many thanks in advance.

Agnès

Agnesf KudoZ activity Questions: 496 (none open) (4 without valid answers) (6 closed without grading) Answers: 763 France
Local time: 14:30

French translation:---

Explanation:
Je crois que c'est une correction grammaticale qui permet d'éviter une répétition trop banale. En traduisant ainsi : "Par qui ? Par qui donc ? ", je pense que ça pourrait faire l'affaire.

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Note added at 11 minutes (2009-08-10 12:58:11 GMT)
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Si vous connaissez des langues à déclinaison, on dit aussi que whom est une marque de l'accusatif ce qui rejoint les propos des collègues vu que l'accusatif indique la fonction COD. Le "donc" de ma trad n'a rien de grammatical car comme l'a dit jmleger impossible de rendre cette particularité en français. Ca permettra au moins de conserver le rythme...

Selected response from:

Kévin Bacquet
France
Local time: 14:30

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +3

---

Kévin Bacquet

qui vs. par qui

André Vanasse

qui

jmleger

par qui donc ? par quel peuple ?

cchat

Discussion entries: 6

Answers

5 mins confidence:

who vs. whom qui

Explanation:
Il gaut trancher le noeud gordien. Il n'y a pas d'équivalent français du pronom personnel sujet vs complément. Pas la peine de se prendre le chignon à mon avis. A moinsse que vous souhaitiez reproduire artificiellement les angoisses grammaticales de l'auteur. Dans ce cas, bonne chance.

jmleger
Local time: 07:30
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 4

7 mins confidence:

who vs. whom qui vs. par qui

Explanation:
Who est un sujet alors que whom est un complément.

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Note added at 9 mins (2009-08-10 12:55:50 GMT)
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Habité par qui? Qui les a envoyés?

André Vanasse
South Korea
Local time: 21:30
Native speaker of:

French,

English

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

who vs. whom

---

Kévin Bacquet
France
Local time: 14:30
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

26 mins confidence:

but inhabited by who? by whom? par qui donc ? par quel peuple ?

Explanation:
"par qui donc" to convey the informal aspect of by who
"par quel peuple" to try to convey a more formal phrasing of the question.
But the broader context might suggest other options.

cchat
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 25

Voters for reclassification
as
PRO / non-PRO

Non-PRO (1): GILLES MEUNIER

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Changes made by editors

Aug 10, 2009 - Changes made by Emanuela Galdelli:
Term asked	who vs. whom => But inhabited by who? By whom?

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But inhabited by who? By whom?

French translation: ---

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But inhabited by who? By whom?

French translation: ---

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KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.