Re: French and German (jara: An introduction)

Hi!

John Cowan <cowan@...> writes:
> Christian Thalmann scripsit:
>
> > Also, "some" doesn't feel like a good translation of "manch".
> > I'd render "manch ein schneller Hund" as "many a quick dog".
> > (That works in English, doesn't it?)
>
> It's poetic/archaic, so yes, it is a good translation from your
> viewpoint.  If other people use the form actively, then a
> translation along the lines of "many quick dogs" would be more
> suitably prosaic.
But as I said, it is not 'many' of them, just 'some'.  Or, well, a
subset of no given quantity.  That's why I stumbled when I read
'many'.  'There are dogs that ...' is what it expressed by 'manch ein
Hund'.

Or is that what 'many a dog' expressed, too?  (I did not know that
construction in English, so I'm helpless here.)

**Henrik

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