# French translation
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 3, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602 "2001-03-03T04:53:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/1 "2001-03-03T04:53:14Z")
Could someone please help me with a French to English translation?
The passage is a note in the score of the ballet _Daphnis et Chloe_ which describes the scene. I have highlighted words I have questions about.
> [@](#):
>
> Une prairie à la lisière d’un bois sacré. Au **fond** , les collines. A droite, une grotte, à l’entrée de laquelle, taillées à même le **rec** , sont figurèes trois Nymphes, d’une sculpture-archaïque. Un peu vers le fond, à gauche, un grand rocher affecte vaguement la forme du dieu Pân. Au second **plan** , des brebis paissent. Une après-midi claire de printemps. Au lever du rideau, la scène est vide.
Now here’s how AltaVista translated it:
> [@](#):
>
> a meadow with the edge of a sacred wood. At the bottom, hills. On right-hand side, a cave, with the input of which, cut with same the rec, are figurèes three Nymphs, of sculpture-antiquated. A little towards the bottom, on the left, a large rock affects the shape of the Pân god vaguely. In the second plan, ewes feed. One afternoon clear of spring. With the rising of the curtain, the scene is empty.
Not much of a translation, but it’s free and I get the gist of it, which is all I need.
But I still don’t understand a few of the words.
**fond** : can this be better translated as “background”?
**rec** and **plan** : AltaVista doesn’t translate these words, and I can’t come up with a guess that makes sense. What do these words mean in this context?
Thanks in advance for your help.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/2 "2001-03-03T05:28:03Z")
IANAF (I am not a francophone), but I’ve looked in Larousse and Cassells.
“Fond” usually means “bottom” “ground” or similar things; metaphorically, the basic point “au fond, I believe that…” So I would think AltaVista translated it reasonably well, especially since “plan” can be translated as a “plane,” in the geometric sense. Taken together, you have hills at the bottom, with a level surface higher up, where ewes feed.
“Rec” I can’t help you with - it’s not in either of my dictionaries. Perhaps it’s a regional dialect term?
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### Author:  [@ookpik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ookpik)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/3 "2001-03-03T05:33:07Z")
You’re correct on “fond” it would translate as the background, or possibly the horizon. Basically the furthest object in a drawing.
Rec however is a tough one. I have no idea, and I’m French.
Plan would be translated as plane. On the secondary plane.
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### Author:  [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/4 "2001-03-03T08:57:43Z")
I agree with what people said so far. I would translate “au found” by “in the distance”. “Au second plan” sounds like “in the foreground” to me. I think “rec” is a typo for “roc” (rock) - as in, the three nymphs are carved right into the roc itself.
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### Author:  [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/5 "2001-03-03T14:46:36Z")
Just to corroborate what’s been said:
1. **Au fond** means ‘in the background’
2. **A droite, une grotte, à l’entrée de laquelle, taillées à même le rec, sont figurèes trois Nymphes** means ‘On the right side, a cave at the entrance of which three nymphs are sculpted in rock’
3. **d’une sculpture archaique** _could_ simply mean ‘sculpted a long time ago’
4. **Un peu vers le fond, à gauche, un grand rocher affecte vaguement la forme du dieu Pân. Au second plan, des brebis paissent.** : Methinks we’re having some kind of spatial problem here – ‘un peu vers le fond’ would seem, to me at least, to be further in distance than ‘Au second plan’ which means ‘in the middle distance’, whereas ‘un peu vers le fond’ would be closer to the actual background (not sure I’m explaining this properly)
And yes, French _IS_ a difficult language!
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/6 "2001-03-03T16:30:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Une prairie à la lisière d’un bois sacré. Au **fond** , les collines. A droite, une grotte, à l’entrée de laquelle, taillées à même le **rec** , sont figurèes trois Nymphes, d’une sculpture-archaïque. Un peu vers le fond, à gauche, un grand rocher affecte vaguement la forme du dieu Pân. Au second **plan** , des brebis paissent. Une après-midi claire de printemps. Au lever du rideau, la scène est vide.
Translation:
A meadow at the edge of a sacred wood. At the farther end, the hills. To the right, a cave, at the entrance of which, carved in the rock itself (as other posters have said, that should be “roc”, not “rec”), are depicted three nymphes, sculpted in an archaic style. A little towards the back, to the left, a large rock assumes vaguely the shape of the god Pan. In the background, some ewes graze. A clear spring afternoon. (that should be “Un après-midi clair”, not “une après-midi claire”). At the opening of the curtain, the stage is empty.
And yes, what people have said is correct.
“Au fond” would be the very back of the stage. “Au second plan” would be in the background but closer to the audience.
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### Author:  [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/7 "2001-03-03T17:57:48Z")
Regarding “apres-midi” - it’s one of those strange words in French that can assume either gender, so “une apres-midi” is fine. It’s like “un jour” vs “une journee” - if you’re thinking of the expanse of time of one afternoon, then the feminine version is used. If you’re just using it in the weak sense, then it’s “un apres-midi”. Definitely a nuance 😉
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/8 "2001-03-03T18:04:32Z")
DarrenS, I was about to say “you’re full of it”, but luckily for me I went to check my dictionary and it said “après-midi, n.m. ou f.”. But in all my years of reading/writing french, I have **never** seen it used in the feminine (or I should say I don’t remember ever seeing it used in the feminine.) And that’s the kind of thing you would notice! Seeing a masculine word all of sudden used as a feminine would be like seeing your father in drag. You wouldn’t forget it. The feminine version must be obsolete.
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### Author:  [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2001, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/9 "2001-03-03T22:11:07Z")
The masculine form is indeed much more prevalent. Not sure the distinction noted by DS is followed in common usage.
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### Author:  [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2001, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/10 "2001-03-04T05:16:06Z")
I remember learning this at school (another of those obscure French grammar things, like the Imperfect Subjunctive that makes you sound like Moliere if you use it in France, to the amusement of the locals) - and even heard it a couple of times during my 4 years living in France.
A search on Google turns up 4,280 hits on “une après-midi” vs 9,420 hits for “un après-midi” - it’s not that uncommon. (A few of the "une"s are undoubtedly typos)
Now…if only I could remember when it’s “une manche” vs “un manche”…
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### Author:  [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/11 "2001-03-04T05:21:04Z")
I just remembered one occasion where I heard this in France!
One of my French colleagues was bemoaning having spent the whole afternoon the day before on some bureaucratic task (at the Mairie probably, or La Prefecture):
(sarcastically) “J’ai passe une belle apres-midi a attendre ces \”
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/12 "2001-03-04T05:46:47Z")
When AltaVista didn’t translate “rec”, I figured it was my typo and re-checked it. The original definitely had “rec”. “Roc” makes a lot more sense.
Merci beaucoup, mes amis!
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### Author:  [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/13 "2001-03-04T14:21:30Z")
De nada!
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2001, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation/56602/14 "2001-03-04T16:24:19Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by DarrenS \*
> A search on Google turns up 4,280 hits on “une après-midi” vs 9,420 hits for “un après-midi” - it’s not that uncommon. (A few of the "une"s are undoubtedly typos)
>
> Now…if only I could remember when it’s “une manche” vs “un manche”…
Well DarrenS you’ve definitely given me food for thought vis-à-vis après-midi (f.)
As far as manche vs. manche (for those less expert in the french language than DarrenS)
une manche = sleeve (shirt sleeve), or channel (as in the channel between England and France, «La Manche»), or game (as a portion of a larger contest - «J’ai gagné la première manche» = “I’ve won the first game (of the set)”).
un manche = handle (e.g. of tools or broom) «le manche à balai» = “the broomstick”