Re: Oooooo! I hates that varmint! Attn: Dutch speakers
| From: | Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, September 5, 2002, 6:59 |
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--- Christophe wrote:
> But "je vous en prie" in French means primarily "you're welcome", which is as
> far as I know no possible translation of Dutch "alsjeblieft" ("you're
> welcome" in Dutch is commonly "graag gedaan" - a "throat-twister" for most
> foreigners ;))) ). The only other use of "je vous en prie" I can think of
> translates English "go ahead" or "do as you please". In no case I know "je
> vous en prie" can be equivalent of Dutch "alsjeblieft", while "s'il te plaît"
> is the main equivalent.
That's not entirely true. It happens.
After you gave something to somebody, and he says "Dank je!", then you can
utter a belated (or repeated) "Alsjeblieft". Can a Frenchman say "Je vous en
prie" in such cases?
When the "Dank je" was not for giving something, but for doing something, then
you can still say "Alsjeblieft", although "graag gedaan" (I would rather
translated it to English as "My pleasure" would be much better.
Actually "alsjeblieft" in such cases is plain ugly, but it happens ...
Jan
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"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones
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