Language Learning Base

Hi Gérard, everyone !
Is it true that it is better to keep the verb "to propose" for the expression "To propose marriage to someone" and not translate "Proposer" by "to propose"
proposer"would be "to suggest". I am not sure.

MurielB a écrit:Hi Gérard, everyone !
Is it true that it is better to keep the verb "to propose" for the expression "To propose marriage to someone" and not translate "Proposer" by "to propose"
proposer"would be "to suggest". I am not sure.

"Proposer" can be translated into: to suggest, to offer,to put forward, to propose, to set, to present, to intend to, etc according to the context.

> Is it true that it is better to keep the verb "to propose" for the expression "To propose marriage to someone"
No I don't agree with you.
One of my teachers also told me to use "proposal" for marriage only!! It's a mistake!! It's silly!!
It's true that to propose to so (intransitive verb) means "proposer en mariage" (nothing behind except the person)
It's true that one of the meanings of "proposal" (without anything behind) can mean "demande en mariage"
but...
"Proposal form" can also mean "proposition d'assurance".
"Proposal" can have several other meanings, for example "the proposal that everybody should get a pay rise" means  "la proposition selon laquelle tout le monde devrait recevoir une augmentation" (we're far from marriage).
The word "proposition" also exists in English.
Similarly "to propose" has several different meanings, far from marriage:

vtr
1 (suggest) proposer [change, course of action, rule, solution]; présenter [motion]; proposer [toast] (to en l'honneur de); to propose doing proposer de faire; to propose that proposer que (+ subj);
2 (intend) to propose doing ou to do proposer de faire;
3 to propose marriage to sb demander qn en mariage;
4 (nominate) proposer [person] (as comme; for pour).

(my dictionary)

Thanks for that explanations. I must keep it on mind and not Forget.

You're welcome Muriel.

Like for you, a teacher of mine told me to restrict "proposal" to marriage.

This guy was named Patrick, his grandmother was Irish, he was spending his vacations in Ireland, he worked several years as a waiter in England, he was teaching in a famous school, etc.
so I trusted him.
I then realized he made mistakes as, for example 2001 which -so he said- was going to be named twenty-O-One... my Am friend told me NO WAY: two-thousand-and-One.
However, he was good at grammar and improved my English with his "drills" (intensive exercises at high speed on one subject) and the subtle meanings of modals.

Gérard, Nobody's perfect ! We have to be careful and never trust anyone beyond doubt !

That the reason why I like linguee
for instance "je regarde translated into English"
http://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/traduction/je+regarde.html

Je regarde autour de moi car  [...] les hommes auraient pu nous offrir un soutien dans ce combat. europarl.europa.eu europarl.europa.eu	Looking back, I would say  [...] that the men could have given us solid support in this fight. europarl.europa.eu europarl.europa.eu
Lorsque je regarde vers l'avenir, je pense que ce  [...] type de méga-sommets ne fonctionne plus. europarl.europa.eu europarl.europa.eu	I do not think that mega-summits of this kind will  [...] work any more in future. europarl.europa.eu europarl.europa.eu
Je regarde la vie et l'avenir  [...] du Groupe avec sérénité. limagrain.com limagrain.com	I look on the life and future  [...] of the Group serenely. limagrain.com

with this video it's a lot easier to remember the sounds the animals make ! My grand children ( the younger ones ) love it !

Did you ever hear the sound of a grasshopper?

No idea !

Lovely. I will try it with my grand-children. Thanks !