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a signé avec Nous

English translation: has signed, with me

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:a signé avec Nous
English translation:has signed, with me
Entered by: AllegroTrans

15:11 Sep 28, 2011
French to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Certificates, Diplomas, Licenses, CVs / French birth certificate
French term or phrase: a signé avec Nous
I'm getting a little grammatically thrown by this very long and complex bureaucratic sentence with a lot of commas - here's the context...from a French birth certificate:

"Dressé le 30 mars 19XX à 1430, sur la declaration de Pierre X, quarante-trois ans, employé, rue de X 4, ayant assisté à l'accouchement, qui lecture faite et invité a lire l'acte, a signé avec Nous Frederic FROST, fonctionnaire de la Mairie du XX arrondissement, déléguée par le Maire dans les fonctions d'officier d'état-civil, pour la signature des actes d'état-civil de l'espece.
L'Adjoint au Maire
Officier de l'état-civil
NB Three signatures follow!

While I've got most of the legal phrases worked out, I'm confused about who is talking/being referred to here, particularly given the capital 'N' in 'Nous'. I should emphasize that there is no comma between 'Nous' and 'Frederic FROST'. Can't work out if the 'avec' in 'signé avec nous refers to Frederic FROST or Pierre X - which one is already part of the 'Nous' and which one is signing 'avec Nous'? Which one was invited to read the certificate and sign 'avec Nous'? Much hinges on the 'qui' - I'm not sure if it belongs to 'Frederic FROST' or Pierre X'. Furthermore would have thought 'Nous' refers to the people who later sign the letter - but there are three signatures yet only two job titles signed at the bottom. To complicate things further I am not quite sure if 'Officier de l'état-civil' is a sub-title for 'L'adjoint au Maire' or a separate individual. If, as stated in the text, Frederic FROST has got 'Officier de l'état civil' status, then I would assume he would be the 'Officier de l'état civil' who signs off the text. Or could there be more than one 'Officier de l'état civil' in this whole business?

Big points if someone can help me unpack this one!
Richard Asher
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:59
has signed, with me
Explanation:
Many public officials use the "royal we". The "nous" here is one individual. I have seen this countless times on BMD certificates.
Selected response from:

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:59
Grading comment
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1has signed with Us, (usually an name a title comes after)
jmleger
5has signed, with me
AllegroTrans
Summary of reference entries provided
Discussed earlier
pooja_chic

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
"...a signe avec Nous..."
has signed with Us, (usually an name a title comes after)


Explanation:
It's in every birth cerificate in France and in some other countries.

jmleger
Local time: 11:59
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 1

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Clear-cut, i'd have said; and as you say, very standard, has even come up here before. Note that the sense is "having had it read out to him and been invited to read it for himself", another standard expression...
7 mins
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
has signed, with me


Explanation:
Many public officials use the "royal we". The "nous" here is one individual. I have seen this countless times on BMD certificates.

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:59
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 89
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Reference comments


3 hrs
Reference: Discussed earlier

Reference information:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/law_general/7620...

pooja_chic
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thanks for the reference - useful

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