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Joakim R.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Translation
I'm reading "seul sur Mars" (originally in English). The protagonist is testing that his equipment can clean air properly: "D’accord, ce n’est pas un vrai test, car je ne suis pas à l’intérieur à consommer de l’oxygène et produire du CO2". If understand this lesson properly, a better translation would be "ce n'est pas un test vrai" ?
This question relates to:French lesson "Vrai = real/true (French Adjectives that change meaning according to position)"
Asked 8 years ago
Bonjour Joakim !
First of all, well done! That's quite a challenge!
As for "vrai", the nuance of position is more complicated than this.
As I told you before, generally speaking, a lot of adjectives can be used either before or after the noun. Used "after", adjectives' meaning is more literal, objective or based on neutral observation (thus "vrai" meaning "true/real" in an objective manner there), whereas used "before", adjectives take on more of a subjective, figurative or based on opinion meaning ("vrai" expressing more of an opinion of something = "a real man").
So while "un test vrai" would sound very neutral, using "un vrai test" here is also perfectly acceptable, and brings a extra "value" layer to the expression: "a test worthy of that name".
First of all, well done! That's quite a challenge!
As for "vrai", the nuance of position is more complicated than this.
As I told you before, generally speaking, a lot of adjectives can be used either before or after the noun. Used "after", adjectives' meaning is more literal, objective or based on neutral observation (thus "vrai" meaning "true/real" in an objective manner there), whereas used "before", adjectives take on more of a subjective, figurative or based on opinion meaning ("vrai" expressing more of an opinion of something = "a real man").
So while "un test vrai" would sound very neutral, using "un vrai test" here is also perfectly acceptable, and brings a extra "value" layer to the expression: "a test worthy of that name".
Joakim R. asked:
Translation
I'm reading "seul sur Mars" (originally in English). The protagonist is testing that his equipment can clean air properly: "D’accord, ce n’est pas un vrai test, car je ne suis pas à l’intérieur à consommer de l’oxygène et produire du CO2". If understand this lesson properly, a better translation would be "ce n'est pas un test vrai" ?
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