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Which is more correct in French-'On sera bientot arrive' or 'On est bientot

English translation: Regarding "ni sur le fond ni sur la forme":

18:58 Aug 29, 2000
French to English translations [PRO]
French term or phrase: Which is more correct in French-'On sera bientot arrive' or 'On est bientot
arrive?' Also, there is the article that discusses the two sides of the "Euro debate". In the article, there is sentence that I am not sure if I have translated it correctly. The sentence is: L'Angleterre n'est d'accord ni sur le fond ni sur la forme. This is in reference to the single monetary currency "the Euro." They are not for the Euro. I translated the sentence as "England does not agree on principle nor process or(perhaps 'implementation')" In other words, they don't agree on the fundamental idea of the Euro nor on the way to go about it or like I said how it should be implemented. This is a little complicated to explain. I may have to get back to you on this later to better explain the context. Thanks for your suggestions for the time being.
Steve
English translation:Regarding "ni sur le fond ni sur la forme":
Explanation:
You're very close to the English phrase I'd use, i.e., "neither in principle nor in practice." (As for England's opposition to the euro, few words could be too strong. I recall one of Mrs. Thatcher's less gallant observations on the subject, uttered in Parliament: "I don't care what the effing Frogs want to do; English will not!" -- Except that the adjective she used wasn't euphemistic, not at all...)

On the question of "On sera bientôt arrivé" vs. "On est bientôt arrivé," on pure grammatical terms both are correct (the verb "arriver" is always conjugated with the auxiliary verb "être"), provided that the accents appear over the proper letters. In the larger sense, the context would determine which phrase is better -- for instance, is the thing being arrived at a physical location, or a logical conclusion? Either way, however, I suspect that a simple "On arrive bientôt..." might be best. -- Perhaps Dauphine, Gendebien, or Nikscot can offer more clarification.

Selected response from:

Heathcliff
United States
Local time: 01:14
Grading comment
Thanks so much for your input. You're thinking on the same lines as me. Hope to you run into you later for more input.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
naRegarding "ni sur le fond ni sur la forme":
Heathcliff
na*sera*; England does not agree with either content or form
Yolanda Broad
naSee below
Louis RIOUAL


  

Answers


42 mins
Regarding "ni sur le fond ni sur la forme":


Explanation:
You're very close to the English phrase I'd use, i.e., "neither in principle nor in practice." (As for England's opposition to the euro, few words could be too strong. I recall one of Mrs. Thatcher's less gallant observations on the subject, uttered in Parliament: "I don't care what the effing Frogs want to do; English will not!" -- Except that the adjective she used wasn't euphemistic, not at all...)

On the question of "On sera bientôt arrivé" vs. "On est bientôt arrivé," on pure grammatical terms both are correct (the verb "arriver" is always conjugated with the auxiliary verb "être"), provided that the accents appear over the proper letters. In the larger sense, the context would determine which phrase is better -- for instance, is the thing being arrived at a physical location, or a logical conclusion? Either way, however, I suspect that a simple "On arrive bientôt..." might be best. -- Perhaps Dauphine, Gendebien, or Nikscot can offer more clarification.



Heathcliff
United States
Local time: 01:14
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 953
Grading comment
Thanks so much for your input. You're thinking on the same lines as me. Hope to you run into you later for more input.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

44 mins
*sera*; England does not agree with either content or form


Explanation:
'On sera bientot arrive' or 'On est bientot arrivé'

I assume that you mean for the preceding to express a future event/action, rather than a general description of an action. If so, *sera* would be the correct written form, *est* belonging to informal speech. Another, less formal, but still correct in written language, way to express this future would be: "on va bientôt/ nous allons bientôt arriver".

*fond ou forme* (and *fond et forme*) is a "phrase faite"--a set expression. It is translated in English by another set expression: form orr content/ form and content.

Before you turn in your translation, make sure you sleep on it for a night, then go back over it and read it out loud to yourself, and LISTEN to how it sounds, in terms of English. You don't want to leave off while it is still in "interlanguage"--translaterese.

Yolanda Broad
United States
Local time: 04:14
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 1551
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6 hrs
See below


Explanation:
Neither is correct French.
"Nous serons bientôt arrivés" would be correct.

Louis RIOUAL
Local time: 10:14
PRO pts in pair: 238
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