Can you Dopers help me out with something. I need a translation for the following text:
Madame, Monsieur,
A ma connaissance, vous etes proprietaire (ou gestionnaire) de locaux aux adresses ci-dessous. Afin de me permette d’etabli correctement l’imposition de ces locaux, je vous serais tres oblige de bien vouloir me confimer ou actualiser, des que possible, la situation au 1er janvier de cette annee de chaque local ci-apres. Avec mes remerciements, je vous d-agreer, Madame, Monsieur, l’expression de mes sentiments les meilleurs.
My, those French are wordy. ookpik2 provided a terse translation compared to the effusive style of the writer, although I cannot take issue with its accuracy.
One important point is that the writer wants the status of the units on January 1 of this year.
To my knowledge, you are the owner (or manager) of the places located at the addresses listed below. In order for me to correctly assess these locations (not quite the right word, more like branch of a store) I would appreciate if you would confirm or let me know, as soon as possible, the situation of each of these places from the 1st of January. With my thanks, I woul dlike you to accept my best wishes. (that last line is a stock phrase to sign off business letters)
You know, this is something I find very amusing. Babelfish is supposedly the result of years of research into machine translation. When it came out it was praised as a remarkable achievement. Yet whenever it’s used for a serious piece of text it almost always produces crap, like in this case. With luck it’s barely understandable.
To my knowledge, you’re the owner (or manager) of the buildings/businesses listed below. In order to determine the taxation for these buildings, please let me know, as soon as possible, the status of each of them on january 1st of the current year. [then some polite and formal end sentence]
(I assume what they want to know is if you were actually the owner or manager of these buildings/businesses at this date. Taxes are always paid by the person owning/renting a building on january 1st, in France. Even when you move on january 2nd, you’ve to pay for the whole year. Also, taxes won’t be the same if you actually own the building/shop/whatever or only rent the place, so make sure to state exactly what the situation was on january 1st. )
I added this translation because the other posters seems to have mistranslated “imposition”, which actually means “taxation”, (not “rental” or “location”). I hope my english is easier to understand than the original french (which is written in typical “administrative french”)
clairobscur Thanks for your more expanded definition, which truly only confuses me more. I’m buying a property that I eventually plan to renovate (it’s currently unliveable) into a nice home with maybe a couple of rental units for summer tourist. I usually get the tax bill in June, so I guess this notice is telling me it re-assessment time? Or do they want to be sure I still own it?
Ahhh! I have had one of these letters! Six months after I left France, a letter arrived, stating that I owned them taxes for the year after I had left… (I left in December, so I was in the clear, but it took a while to clear out…)
The translations above are not bad, especially clairobscurs.
Let me guess that it is from the local authorities (municipalite?).
There is a silly French tax called “Taxe d’habitation” that needs to be paid yearly for every house/appartment/whatever. It is to be paid by the person living there in January, wether owner or renter.
Looking more carefully throuh clairobscurs post I relise that he has already mentioned this…
Anyway, good luck! You’d better get used to that kind of flowery French, or get a lawyer. All French business letters follow the same style, and normally they manage to hide the important part inside sesquipedalian phrases.
I’m buying a property that I eventually plan to renovate (it’s currently unliveable) into a nice home with maybe a couple of rental units for summer tourist. I usually get the tax bill in June, so I guess this notice is telling me it re-assessment time? Or do they want to be sure I still own it?