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Prendre au conditionnel

English translation: to be interpreted hypothetically

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19:35 Aug 17, 2011

French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

French term or phrase: Prendre au conditionnel

As in "des paroles à prendre au conditionnel".

nads022 KudoZ activity Questions: 114 (3 open) (3 without valid answers) (5 closed without grading) Answers: 41 Switzerland
Local time: 15:16

English translation:to be interpreted hypothetically

Explanation:
In linguistics, the conditional mood (abbreviated cond) is the inflectional form of the verb used in the independent clause of a conditional sentence to refer to a HYPOTHETICAL STATE OF AFFAIRS, or an uncertain event, that is contingent on another set of circumstances. This mood differs from the subjunctive mood, which occurs in dependent clauses.

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Note added at 15 mins (2011-08-17 19:50:16 GMT)
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Or simply ''taken hypothetically''.

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Note added at 16 mins (2011-08-17 19:51:48 GMT)
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But more context would be helpful!

Selected response from:

clain
Local time: 09:16

Grading comment

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

Summary of answers provided

3 +3

accept conditionally

kashew

4 +1

words not to be taken as fact

MatthewLaSon

2 +3

to be interpreted hypothetically

clain

4 +1

I'll take that as a "Maybe"

xxxBourth

4 +1

cautiously believe

piazza d

words pertaining to the realm of possibility

reorient

3 +1

To take something with a grain of salt

François-Xavier Torrentz

not to take seriously

Marc Nager

Discussion entries: 9

Laurel Clausen

United States

KudoZ context rule

10:35 Aug 18, 2011

In the interest of moving on from the discussion as to whether or not further context is required, I would like to refer to KudoZ rule 2.4 - http://www.proz.com/siterules/kudoz_asking/2.4#2.4 - which states that sufficient context should be provided with each question.

polyglot45

to know how to translate this

06:49 Aug 18, 2011

you also need to understand why the expression is used and its implications. This specific usage explains why it is particularly important in this case to have the exact context, which is not saying that context is not always vital (IT IS).

Marc Nager

Switzerland

The question of CONTEXT. For EVERYBODY

00:10 Aug 18, 2011

(and NOT ONLY THE ASKER) to find out/know what's the most suitable/best answer of SO MANY POSSIBLY RIGHT answers we should indeed have the SAME context as the asker. If we don't, KudoZ gets degraded to a tool for egomaniacs only... Wouldn't that be sad and just confirm the decadence and more and more selfish way our society is taking ???

xxxBourth

@ Straightoff

23:27 Aug 17, 2011

Hear, hear (yet again).

writeaway

More context isn't necessary?

23:25 Aug 17, 2011

Then peer comments are meaningless because we have no idea which answer is best. Kudoz isn't supposed to be a private help service just for askers.

xxxBourth

Isn't Google marvellous!

23:25 Aug 17, 2011

"prendre au conditionnel" gets 402,000 ghits.
"take things hypothetically" - 2
"take hypothetically" - 2,340 (few of which appear to be relevant)
"take that as a maybe" - 183,000
Say no more.

Verginia Ophof

Belize

hypothecially or theorectically

23:21 Aug 17, 2011

as in "what if's" or "suppose-its"

nads022

Switzerland

ASKER

What context?

20:42 Aug 17, 2011

I don't think more context is needed, thank you. "To take things hypothetically" is perfect, I will grade the answer as soon as possible.

philgoddard

Asker

20:30 Aug 17, 2011

Unless you provide proper context as requested when you posted the question, this is impossible to answer.

Answers

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

cautiously believe

Explanation:
not 100% sure!

piazza d
France
Local time: 15:16
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 8

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

to be interpreted hypothetically

clain
Local time: 09:16
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 23

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

46 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

To take something with a grain of salt

Explanation:
Depending on the context, this might work.

From Collins/Reverso:

" with a grain or pinch of salt: without wholly believing: skeptically"

Reference: http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/with%20a%20...

François-Xavier Torrentz
Local time: 09:16
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

French

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

accept conditionally

Explanation:
e.g. Conditionally accepted means accepted but under a certain conditions.
Maybe it's too much of a bon ami?

kashew
France
Local time: 15:16
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

3 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

I'll take that as a "Maybe"

Explanation:
is often how we might express this in English. Up to you to work that into your text, unless you want to give us some real context to sink our teeth into and come up with something idiomatic.

xxxBourth
Local time: 15:16
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 110

4 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

words not to be taken as fact

Explanation:
Hello,

It means "not as fact"

http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/co...

I hope this helps.

MatthewLaSon
Local time: 09:16
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 16

4 hrs confidence:

not to take seriously

Explanation:
"Words, not to be taken (fully) serious(ly)."
To contribute with another POSSIBLY right answer, all depending on the EVER SO IMPORTANT CONTEXT (lesson 1 of the "small guide to translation") ;-)

Marc Nager
Switzerland
Local time: 15:16
Native speaker of:

German

2 days13 hrs confidence:

words pertaining to the realm of possibility

Explanation:
It seems difficult to render the ironical tone of the original. The problem here I think is that English speakers are not really familiar with the conditional mood.
-these words must be understood as pertaining to the realm of possibility- maybe this kind of indirect formulation conveys part of the original irony

reorient
Local time: 16:16
Works in field
Native speaker of:

German

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Prendre au conditionnel

English translation: to be interpreted hypothetically

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Prendre au conditionnel

English translation: to be interpreted hypothetically

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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.