Nov 8, 2007 09:54
16 yrs ago
French term
il la secoue
Non-PRO
French to English
Tech/Engineering
Business/Commerce (general)
From a potential purchaser of a tractor, who has researched the particular model on the internet, discussed it with the salesman, etc.
En définitive, il s’est avéré que sur de nombreuses choses, c’était quand même vrai. Ce ne sont pas que des arguments de vente. Il y a franchement des choses véridiques, ne serait-ce que le confort.
Au niveau de la cabine, sur Internet, ****il la secoue***dans tous les sens. J’ai fait 40 ou 50 hectares de canadien en travers, c’était comme si j’étais dans le sens de marche.
I'm struggling with the structure of the sentence and what it means. 'la' must refer to cabine, and il the internet. So how does secoue fit in/make sense?
TIA.
En définitive, il s’est avéré que sur de nombreuses choses, c’était quand même vrai. Ce ne sont pas que des arguments de vente. Il y a franchement des choses véridiques, ne serait-ce que le confort.
Au niveau de la cabine, sur Internet, ****il la secoue***dans tous les sens. J’ai fait 40 ou 50 hectares de canadien en travers, c’était comme si j’étais dans le sens de marche.
I'm struggling with the structure of the sentence and what it means. 'la' must refer to cabine, and il the internet. So how does secoue fit in/make sense?
TIA.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 2 | it is buffeted (in every direction) |
David Goward
|
| 4 | it gets jolted about |
ormiston
|
| 4 | he shakes it |
L.J.Wessel van Leeuwen
|
| 3 | they shake it up |
siragui
|
Proposed translations
12 mins
Selected
it is buffeted (in every direction)
I think, actually, that "il" should be "ils" (or "on"), i.e. an undefined "they".
This can be avoided by making the cab the subject.
This can be avoided by making the cab the subject.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
ormiston
: like your approach but buffeted sounds like (only) wind and when I read the quote I imagined the cab being jostled (thrown around) by the terrain
15 mins
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks very much to all who helped out with this one - I liked ormiston's suggestion of jolting; David and siragui helped out with the structure (impersonal 'ils'),which was where I was struggling most of all and which is why I have awarded David the points."
3 hrs
it gets jolted about
I'm starting to get the picture !
2 hrs
they shake it up
Groping in the dark here, but I have the same impression as David. "Il" for "Ils" (same difference, for the type of French speaker this seems to be).
If the advertising turns out to be correct, and "confort" is assured, presumably in real life the cabin should not be shaken around during use. So maybe what this means is that on the internet site for the product, there's a simulation showing how well the tractor holds up on uneven terrain.
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Note added at 5 hrs (2007-11-08 15:01:32 GMT)
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For what it's worth, there seems to be an implicit "mais" between this sentence and the next, where the speaker explains that in his experience the cabin remains stable despite the "canadien en travers". In this context, "en travers" looks like "along a slope" and "dans le sens de marche" (oddly) like "upright", "remaining level".
If the advertising turns out to be correct, and "confort" is assured, presumably in real life the cabin should not be shaken around during use. So maybe what this means is that on the internet site for the product, there's a simulation showing how well the tractor holds up on uneven terrain.
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Note added at 5 hrs (2007-11-08 15:01:32 GMT)
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For what it's worth, there seems to be an implicit "mais" between this sentence and the next, where the speaker explains that in his experience the cabin remains stable despite the "canadien en travers". In this context, "en travers" looks like "along a slope" and "dans le sens de marche" (oddly) like "upright", "remaining level".
21 hrs
L.J.Wessel van Leeuwen
South Africa
South Africa
Native in English
Specializes in field
South Africa
Willing & Ready to be of service to YOU!
Native in: English 
, Dutch
Works in: Dutch to English, Afrikaans to English, French to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
14
he shakes it
The tractor is obviously being driven around by a driver who demonstrates all the adevrtised qualities of the tractor, including that one is confortable in the cabin. He roughs it up to make the point. So "il" refers to the driver and what he does. He shakes the cabin in all direction to demonstrate that the cabin remains stable.
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Note added at 1 day3 hrs (2007-11-09 13:42:58 GMT)
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Hence, "il" is he and "la" is the cabin.
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Note added at 1 day3 hrs (2007-11-09 13:42:58 GMT)
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Hence, "il" is he and "la" is the cabin.
Discussion