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Guidelines for Translation from French into English

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Robin Lambert

Part 4 Common Problems with Verbs

Verbs used with direct and indirect speech (les verbes déclaratifs)

Texte intégral

1) To say

In written English, the convention is to put the verb in the past tense after direct speech. The same is true in American English. The most common verb used in English after direct speech is ‘to say’. This is a convention; it has nothing to do with poverty of the language. Do not be afraid to use it several times in the same text. When you read English-language newspapers, notice how often you see ‘said’.

« Le problème est de faire arriver l’information dans les camps de la guérilla », pointe William Duarte, du ministère de la défense.
Le Monde, 15 juillet 2008

“The problem is to get information into the guerilla camps,” said William Duarte from the ministry of defence.

En huit ans, l’administration Bush « n’est pas parvenue à réduire d’une seule once les émissions de suie, de mercure ou de gaz à effet de serre des centrales électriques », s’est exclamé le juriste John Walke.
Le Monde, 15 juillet 2008

In eight years, the Bush administration “has not managed to reduce soot, mercury or greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by a single ounce,” said the lawyer, John Walke.

Le répétiteur Bouzid Aït-Atmane cale un morceau de Brahms sur son ordinateur. « Il s’agit du quintette pour clarinette et cordes que j’adore, précise la jeune breakeuse et chorégraphe Anne Nguyen.
  Le Monde, 7 mars 2014

… ‘It’s a quintet for clarinet and strings that I love, ’ said the young breakdancer and choreographer, Anne Nguyen.

Note: in English, ‘to precise’ does NOT exist. Do not use it.

2) To tell

The verb ‘to tell’ has many different uses in English. It is actually quite rare to be able to translate it by dire.

‘To tell’ has three main uses in English:

To tell a story (raconter) - He told me all about his mother.

To give information (renseigner) - He told me how to get to the station.

To give orders (commander) - He told me to go away.

How to use ‘to tell’

Do not use the verb ‘to tell’ after direct speech in inverted commas.

“You will make me late,” he told. - THIS IS WRONG

Do not use ‘to tell’ before indirect speech.

He told that he would be late. - THIS IS WRONG

You can say ‘he told X that… ’ if there is a person-complement after ‘tell’.

He told his mother that he had been out with his friends. (NOT he told to his mother…)

He told me that the train would be late. (NOT he told to me…)

« La visite a été annulée en réaction aux commentaires faits par le Premier ministre contre le Pakistan », a déclaré au Times un porte-parole de l’ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), les services de renseignements pakistanais. « De telles déclarations irresponsables pourraient affecter notre coopération avec la Grande-Bretagne », a-t-il ajouté.

A spokesperson for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) told The Times that “the visit has been cancelled because of comments made by the prime minister against Pakistan. These irresponsible statements could affect our co-operation with Great Britain.”

Other uses of ‘to tell’

To tell a lie about something/someone - mentir

To tell a joke - plaisanter

To tell the difference between two things - distinguer

To tell how old someone is - savoir

To tell your fortune/tell the future - diseur de bonne aventure

You can ask a small child: “Can you tell the time yet?”

How can I tell what he’ll do? - Comment puis-je savoir ce qu’il va faire?

Je ne pourrais pas dire comment ça a été fait - I couldn’t tell how it was made

On voit bien qu’il plaisante - you can tell he’s joking

distinguer le bien du mal - to tell right from wrong

3) To Ask

‘To ask’ can be used to translate demander, interroger, questionner or poser des questions à quelqu’un. The structure is important: to ask somebody to do something, NOT to ask to somebody. But you ask somebody for something.

You cannot say: These questions are only asked to women.

You can change the structure of the sentence by using a passive verb: Only women are asked these questions. It is often a useful strategy to try using the passive to solve a problem with a difficult translation.

For example:

Aujourd’hui, on s’interroge sur l’avenir de l’Afrique du Sud, et sur la pérennité de l’héritage démocratique que Mandela a laissé.
Le Monde, 5 décembre 2014

Today questions are being asked about the future of South Africa and the durability of the democratic heritage left by Mandela.

Interrogé sur le sujet, vendredi, François Hollande a répondu…

When he was asked about this on Friday, François Hollande said…

1Tous, opposants comme partisans, demandent la suspension des travaux

All the opponents and supporters are asking for work to be stopped

Le juge a questionné Mme Thibout sur l’aspect le plus sensible de ses révélations, à savoir ces 150 000 euros que M. de Maistre lui aurait demandé de retirer, début 2007, afin de les remettre à Eric Woerth…
Le Monde, 6 décembre 2014

The judge questioned Mrs Thibout on the most sensitive part of her revelations, namely the 150,000 euros that Mr de Maistre allegedly asked her to withdraw at the beginning of 2007, and to transfer to Eric Woerth…

4) Other verbs used after direct speech

There are alternatives to ‘say’: declare, announce, report, continue, state, add, ask or answer etc.

affirmer - to maintain, to assert, to claim

soutenir que - to affirm (very rare, better translated as ‘say’)

constater - to note (better translated as ‘say’; be very careful about using ‘to notice’, which is more like remarquer)

s’interroger - to wonder (very rarely used after direct speech in English, better translated as ‘say’)

préciser - to specify, to clarify, to make something clear, to point out (NEVER ‘to precise’, often ‘to say’ is adequate)

Some other verbs take a person-complement, for example:

To remind someone to do something/of something

To congratulate someone on something

To accuse someone of something

To criticise someone for doing something

To denounce someone for something

These verbs cannot be followed by ‘that’. You cannot say ‘he congratulated that… ’

5) Verbs of speaking with emotion

In French, one single verb can express the act of speaking and the emotion of the speaker at the same time. For example: s’alarmer, se réjouir, etc. This is not easy to translate. You may have to add an adverb, or just use ‘say’ if this does not affect the meaning of the sentence.

« Notre capacité à défricher de nouveaux marchés hors de l’Union européenne est déclinante », s’alarme M. Scherrer.
Le Monde, 25 mai 2004

“Our ability to break into new markets outside the European Union is declining,” said Mr Scherrer.

La grosse crainte est de voir le désert commercial rural s’intensifier. « Ici, c’est le ravitaillement par les corbeaux », ironise-t-on volontiers en Creuse.
Le Monde, 5 juin 2008

In Creuse, people often say ironically “Here…

« Bientôt les Irakiens pourront goûter au Pepsi-Cola produit localement », s’est réjoui le groupe.
Adapté de Le Monde, 24 janvier 2004

The group was pleased to announce that “the Iraqis will soon be able to drink locally-produced Pepsi-Cola.”

« On ne la fermera pas, cette centrale, il n’en est pas question! », a martelé, le 9 février, Nicolas Sarkozy devant les salariés du site nucléaire de Fessenheim.
Le Monde, 18 février 2012

“There is no question of closing down this power plant, absolutely not,” insisted Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking to a group of employees in the nuclear power station at Fessenheim on 9th February.

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