"Ma femme, je l'adore."
Translation:My wife, I adore her.
106 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
376
IDK, I often call my husband "husband". Me on the couch "Huussbaand" him in the kitchen "what wife" me "get me a drink"
Although you are correct I never call him "my husband" when talking to him.
364
I dont think he is talking to her in this case, just about her. He follows with "I love her". Not you.
2058
The takeaway is that whenever you hear ma femme you should understand it to mean my wife. It's true that if you hear my woman in English you should not assume it means my wife.
799
Well "my woman" in English can mean either "my wife/ girlfriend/ friend/ woman" (the third one in the same context as "my man/ guy/ boy/ lad" etc. meaning "my friend").
1188
I put somewhere before: mon mari (not mon homme) as translation to "my man" which was considered wrong, so now, to be sure, I put My woman as a translation to ma femme, wrong again.. grrrrr
2058
In English you could say to your wife, my wife, come here. You just wouldn't like the reaction you get when you do.
799
It's not possessive at all. This is a very common (and fustrating!!!) mistake, and a sign of the bias in people who wish to find offence where they is none.
Take for example the sentence, speaking to a female
"My hero, come here"
surely you won't argue that sounds possessive/ insulting etc.
"My brother" does not belong to me, but the relationship, in the intengible sense, does, or rather, it belongs to both of us, since we are each others brothers.
There is nothing at all possessive/ insulting about the phrase "my wife", rather, we have all simply been told that there is and never truly thought about it.
2058
I adore her = subject I, verb adore, direct object pronoun her.
La is the direct object form of the pronoun her. Direct object pronouns are placed in front of verb.
Je la adore = subject Je, direct object pronoun la, verb adore.
Se is the reflexive form which is not appropriate in this example.
There is a relatively clear line between inanimate objects and people, when it comes to use verb "aimer":
- I like your house = j'aime (bien) ta maison (mild)
-
I love your house = j'aime beaucoup ta maison (warmer) - j'adore ta maison (enthusiastic)
-
I like the guy = j'aime bien ce type (sympathy)
- I like him a lot = je l'aime beaucoup (friendship / no sex involved)
- I love brunettes = j'aime les brunes (aesthetical or sexual attraction)
- I love my children = j'adore mes enfants, ma famille, mon frère, mes amis... (family love + friendship)
- I love him/her = je l'aime (sexual love)
When you pluck petals from a daisy (to know whether he/she loves you), you say: "il/elle m'aime un peu, beaucoup, passionnément, à la folie, pas du tout !"
2058
JayChew1
l'adore = la adore = verb + direct object form (which is placed in front of the verb)
third person singular direct object form = la = her (in this example)
je l'adore = I love her = correct
s'adore = se adore = verb + reflexive form (which is placed in front of the verb)
third person singular reflexive form = se = herself. (in this example)
je s'adore = I love herself = incorrect
Elle s'adore = she loves herself = correct (if that is what you want to say)
That would be the equivalent of 'I adore/love herself'. La is the pronoun being used in this case, and can mean more than than just 'the'. Think of it like 'il' and 'elle' meaning both he and she, whilst also acting as gendered 'it' for a noun (object) within certain contexts. E.g. 'Il est gros.' Could mean 'He is big.'... or it could mean that the masculine noun object is big - 'it is big'. Il could be referring to a hat for example - chapeau being a masculine noun.
(To explain pronouns further, look at the tables here. Hope this helped!)
855
Where does it say that you must adhere to the word order of the original sentence. There are no guidelines on Duolingo stating that a translation must respect the sentences construction. Many times it is not even possible to respect the sentences construction due to grammar differences between the original and the target languages.
To say, "my wife, come here" in English is just awkward, possessive or boastful, especially if you have audience. If there is no audience, then it's just plain possessive and anticipates subservience. Perhaps, you may successfully use it this way, "my wife, here I am." or "Here it is, my wife" this example calls for exaggerated manners and finesse.
Because the verb "adorer" doesn't require "à"/indirect objects to fulfill its meaning. "Adorer" always takes the direct object pronouns. If you ever doubt if there should be a direct or indirect object, simply extend the the indirect object pronoun into "à + <disjunctive pronoun>" and see if it makes sense. For example: Je lui adore = J'adore à elle (adorer à doesn't make sense so it's wrong).
"s'" in "s'adore" is a reflexive pronoun. Reflexive pronouns denote what's happening to the subject of the sentence. They go like this:
- Je - me (elides into m'). Example: Je m'adore (I love myself)
- Tu - te (elides into t'). Example: Tu t'adores (You love yourself)
- Il/Elle/On - se (elides into s'). Example: Elle s'adore (She loves herself)
- Vous - vous. Example: Vous vous adorez (You love yourself/yourselves)
- Nous - nous. Example: Nous nous adorons (We love ourselves)
- Ils/Elles - se (elides into s'). Example: Ils s'adorent (They love themselves)
So, "je s'adore" does NOT translate to "I love her"! It doesn't make any grammatical sense either! "Je m'adore" = "I love myself", "Je l'adore" = "I love him/her/it". The "l'" in "l'adore" is a direct object pronoun. Which is different from reflexive pronouns. Direct object pronouns are pronouns to which the action happens, i.e. the object. They go like this:
- Je - me (elides into m'). Example: Tu m'adores (You love me)
- Tu - te (elides into t'). Example Je t'adore (I love you)
- Il - le (elides into l'). Example: Je l'adore (I love him/it)
- Elle - la (elides into l'). Example: Tu l'adores (I love her/it)
- Vous - vous. Example: Je vous adore (I love you)
- Nous - nous. Example: Ils nous adorent (They love us)
- Ils/Elles - les. Example: Je les adore (I love them)
As you can see, "l'" is the pronoun for both "Il" and "Elle", so it's gender invariable and mostly depends on context. So, "Je l'adore"="I love her" (In the sentence "Ma femme, je l'adore").