Re: savoir-connaître (was: Re: can-may)

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 01:54:52 -0500, Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 28, 2004 at 01:02:14AM -0500, # 1 wrote:
> Let me try my hand at translating your sentences into French.  Most of
> the variants have little or nothing to do with the future tense; the
> time marker word takes care of saying when the action takes place, and
> the rest is the same as if it were "today" instead of "tomorrow".
>
> > Tomorrow I go to work
>
> Most languages allow this very construction, do they not?  Can one not
> say in French, "Demain je vais au bureau"?
I learned that this is not the case -- that, contrary to English
usage, a future occurrence must have a future verb. "I'm leaving for
London tomorrow" would have to be "Je partirai pour(?) Londres
demain".

> > Tomorrow I must go to work
> > Tomorrow I should go to work
> > Tomorrow I have to go to work
>
> I'd translate all of these into French as "Demain je dois aller au
> bureau." The difference is only one of degree; "must" implies a stronger
> obligation than "should", while "have to" is less specific and could
> cover either of the other degrees depending on context.
I'd probably translate the "should" sentence with "je devrais".

> > Tomorrow I can go to work
> > Tomorrow I may go to work
>
> As earlier messages on this topic showed, these are the same in French,
> as well: Demain je peux aller au bureau.
I'd understand the "may" sentence as indicating likelihood rather than
capability, and would translate this with a different structure --
probably "Peut-être que j'irai au bureau demain". Can "peux" be used
to indicate likelihood as well?

> > Tomorrow I get to go to work
>
> Demain on me permet d'aller au bureau
Though English "get to do sth." is more flexible :) It need not have
an implied agent giving permission -- for example, it can also
indicate opportunity, which is slightly different.

(As an example, "Yesterday, I got to use my French skills when a
tourist asked me for directions" -- there's nobody who needed to give
permission there.)

So the sentence might also be "Demain j'aurai l'occasion d'aller au bureau"?

Cheers,
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>
Watch the Reply-To!