French Proverbs
I’ll start with a few French proverbs. There is a nice collection of proverbs at the site below, along with translations and suggestions as to their meaning. Many are almost identical to their corresponding English versions, but some are inescapably French (un jour sans vin est comme un jour sans soleil!)
You might like to have a go at translating the six proverbs below and then look closely at the French constructions to see what can be learned from them. At the end of the post I’ll try to provide translations and also some observations that Sheila, Ken and I shared after reading them.
1. Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps.
2. À cheval donné on ne regarde pas les dents.
3. C'est l'exception qui confirme la règle.
4. À l'œuvre, on connaît l'artisan.
5. Il faut laver son linge sale en famille.
6. Ce n'est pas aux vieux singes qu'on apprend à faire des grimaces.
A final quote
Now, before handing over to Ken and Sheila, here is a final quotation for you to translate. The clue is that it was uttered in English by a Frenchman in 1995 (translation at the end of this post).
‘Quand les mouettes suivent le chalutier, c’est qu’elles pensent qu’on va leur jeter des sardines.’
Ken’s Gems
|
"Put it into practice – Practise!
Now that I know some of the theory, I think it might be a good time to think about beginning to use what I have learned so far.
When going through Alan's tables, I feel it's important to actually speak them out loud while trying to learn them. Also, in applying the theory to learning new verbs, rather than just conjugating them, I try to think about a (short) conversation I've had during the course of my day and then try to translate it into French. I'll try to translate what I can, guess at what I can't and look up what I don't know. As with learning anything new, it's important to do this regularly and by doing so we can slowly build up our vocabulary as well as cementing new conjugations.”
Ken
|
Sheila’s Wrinkles
|
||||
"Learning through Eating
Having done some reading recently, I have discovered some interesting facts about the food that I always eat when we go to France. We have all seen the famous tarte Tatin in the patisserie, but did you know it was named after the 19th century Tatin sisters who accidentally burnt their new tart creation just as customers were arriving at their restaurant in Lamotte-Beuvron. But instead of throwing it out, they kept the slightly burned apples, called them caramelised and made a new pastry case. Voila – they had a success!
Chouquettes: Alan, Ken and I always buy these small, light, sugar-sprinkled cakes when we visit St. Pierre market. You get a bag of 20 or so for about €4. The word chouquettes means little cabbages and that's exactly what they look like, except they're not green. The French use the expression 'mon petit chou' (my little cabbage) as a term of endearment, especially to a child.”
Sheila
|
Translations and comments
1. Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps.
Une hirondelle
|
ne fait pas
|
le printemps.
|
A swallow
|
doesn’t make
|
the spring.
|
English version: Two swallows don’t make a summer.
Comments:
* In French it’s just one swallow and the season seems to have shifted somewhat.
2. À cheval donné on ne regarde pas les dents.
À
|
cheval donné
|
on ne regarde pas
|
les dents.
|
To
|
horse given
|
one doesn’t look at
|
the teeth.
|
English version: Don't look a gifthorse in the mouth.
Comments:
* The word ‘donné’ is formed as the past participle of the verb ‘donner’ to give (i.e. given) but it is used here as an adjective to describe the horse. The meaning can be confusing because we are unused to the French habit of putting adjectives after the noun. So if you are seeing donné here as a verb, it will look as if the horse has done the giving rather than being the gift!
3. C'est l'exception qui confirme la règle.
C'est
|
l'exception
|
qui
|
confirme
|
la règle.
|
It is
|
the exception
|
which
|
confirms
|
the rule.
|
English version: It's the exception that proves the rule.
4. À l'œuvre, on connaît l'artisan.
À
|
l'œuvre
|
on connaît
|
l'artisan
|
By
|
the work
|
one knows
|
the craftsman.
|
English version: The craftsman is known by his work.
(Original source, The Bible, Matthew 7:16 By their works ye shall know them.)
Comments:
* The word ‘l'œuvre’ is used here to mean ‘body of work’ as in the ‘œuvre’ of a painter or novelist.
* Note the ‘œ’ construction in l'œuvre where the ‘o’ and the ‘e’ are squashed together. It’s called a digraph and the French often refer to it as ‘e dans l’o’ (e in the o). It helped me with the pronounciation of ‘œuvre’ to think of ‘un œff’ (an egg).
5. Il faut laver son linge sale en famille.
Il faut
|
laver
|
son linge
|
sale
|
en famille.
|
It is necessary
|
to wash
|
one’s laundry
|
dirty
|
in the family.
|
English version: Don't wash your dirty linen in public.
Comments:
* The French use this adage in a positive form (i.e. ‘do wash your dirty linen in private’, rather than don’t wash it in public).
* ‘Il faut’ is literally translated as ‘it is necessary’ but it is more used as ‘you should’ or ‘one should’.
6.Ce n'est pas aux vieux singes qu'on apprend à faire des grimaces.
Ce n’est pas
|
aux
|
vieux singes
|
qu'
|
on apprend à faire
|
des grimaces.
|
It isn’t
|
for
|
old monkeys
|
whom
|
one teaches to make
|
faces
|
English version: You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
* in the French version, dog has become monkeys and tricks are faces.
* The word ‘aux’ is hard to translate in this sentence – it often means ‘to the’ (plural).
That final quote
`When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much'. Eric Cantona (Manchester United footballer) during a press conference, March 31, 1995.
Having uttered these words, Cantona got up from his seat and walked out of the press conference, leaving the sports hacks (unused to philosophical utterances from footballers) scratching their heads.
I’ve put up on YouTube another short video – this one explores some French sayings:
