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French to English translations [PRO] Bus/Financial - Business/Commerce (general)
French term or phrase:appel matière
This is from a flyer/direct mail letter sent to potential exhibitors at a trade fair.
Exhibitors are invited to sent the 'matières' in question to a given address by a given date.
The only time it features is in the following sentence:
"Appel matière: à renvoyer avant le ....."
Can anyone tell me if there is a specific English translation? This gets no ghits at all in French.
Many thanks to all who contributed, but I needed a noun in this case, and this is what I was already thinking of using, as in 'call for tenders', etc. 2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
peut-être en gardant tout simplement le terme "sample" que vous avez utilisé ? Il a plutôt un sens général et le flyer doit être transmis à un auditoire bien ciblé, sans doute ?
They are being asked to send samples of their products, as it states further down that they are welcome to send large ranges of colours, styles etc. and it also states a minimum sample size and that there is a limit of 10 per company. Does this help?
Explanation: I would phrase it along the lines of:
Submission material: to be received no later than...
You mentioned that the potential exhibitors are being asked for samples, but are you sure it's product samples and nothing else? It seems odd to me that they would be asked for samples, esp given that it's a furniture/furnishings exhibition. I have been through this process myself and the one thing the organisers did NOT want was product samples! However, what they did want was product catalogues, brochures, press material, product photos, customer list, photos of previous exhib booths, etc. I can understand them asking for samples of fabric, and often these are part of a product info binder, but I've never heard of requests for actual products (especially furniture!). Therefore, I would be very wary of translating "matière" as "samples" and to me it's more a request for a package of submission material that, depending on the product, may or may not include fabric samples/wood finishes/spec sheets, etc.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 18 hrs (2008-05-12 14:14:13 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Yes, I understand this, but what is peculiar to me is that fabric samples are the only thing potential exhibitors are required to submit. In my experience, most exhibitions have a jury that decides whether potential exhibitors meet their standards, and it struck me as odd that this decision would be based on fabric swatches alone. But you have the rest of the text and if that's all they want, then it's a new one on me, so yes, go for samples!
Sarah Llewellyn Local time: 22:48 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hi Sarah, as I said in my notes, above, it actually states that SAMPLES (échantillons) should be at least 40cmx40cm. I think they probably are referring to fabrics, soft furnishings rather than furniture.
Please send samples/have (fabric) samples sent by xxx
Explanation: or "Do not forget to send (material/fabric) samples by...", "We invite you to send your samples by xxx"
This is the meaning, and the expression is not grammatically correct in french (neither "elegant" marketing language)!
Litterally, "call (for) samples" (same structure as "appel d'offres" for instance, call for tenders) = "appel pour l'envoi de "matière"", "demande d'envoi de "matière""
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2008-05-11 20:54:01 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
or maybe, to be closer to the french tone, "Don't miss the date, send your samples by xxx" ?
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2008-05-11 21:39:49 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Thanks Victoria, actually I was proposing to turn the whole sentence in a different manner, that's why I had to include "send (...) by xxx" in my suggestions.
If "call for samples" works in English, yes it is certainly the best translation. As mentioned above, "Appel matière" doesn't sound proper in Fr. neither, imo, sounds like an abbreviation used within a company but that would not be used in company's communication documents.
Hi Vicky,
I believe that the only way to reverse this is to send a support ticket to the ProZ team ('About' tab above). If it doesn't work I offer these points to Andy with pleasure, as a welcome gift, since he wrote earlier somethere that he was very new at ProZ :)
Aude Sylvain France Local time: 07:48 Specializes in field Native speaker of: French PRO pts in category: 64
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Aude. It's actually just the 'appel matière' I needed to translate. I was thinking about 'call for samples' actually, but it didn't sound like a proper term to me. As you say, though, there may well not be one. I think 'call for samples' may be best. Thanks!
Asker: Hi Aude, I only just noticed that you suggested Andy's 'call for samples' further down in your notes, but I've already awarded the points to him. Do you know if I can reverse this? Many thanks, and I'm sorry about that.
2 days5 hrs confidence:
call for submissions
Explanation: have i done tons of this
xxxSpeakering Works in field Native speaker of: Macedonian, Serbo-Croat PRO pts in category: 4
The translation workplace 
