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- "In the next minute."
"In the next minute."
Translation:Dans la minute qui suit.
62 Comments
Can we not use 'prochain' here instead? As in 'dans la minute prochain'?
2307
There are a number of tricky French adjectives that have slightly different meanings when placed before or after the noun. Generally speaking, adjectives placed before the noun have a figurative or subjective meaning; adjectives placed after the noun have a more literal or objective meaning. The expression here is not to be taken literally, as "in the next 60 seconds". It is subjective, like saying "in a minute". So if you choose to use prochaine, it would go before the noun to show that it is figurative/subjective and not literal. http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/adjectives_fickle_2.htm
shouldn't "dans la minute prochaine" be accepted, as in launching a missile in the next minute?
"The expression here is not to be taken literally" How do we know that? "In the next minute" means, in the next 60 seconds, as far as I'm concerned...
- 2307
The exercise is a well-intended effort to use "qui suit" in a sentence. Yes, quite literally, "une minute" means 60 seconds. But if someone says, "just a second", or "in a minute", we don't process this as "one second" or "sixty seconds". If a cashier at a store tells you, "I'll be with you in just a minute", do you start counting down from 60? We understand that people may take some of these expressions quite literally, but more often than not, it is an effort to make light of it, to play with the literal shade of meaning, but not to take it seriously.
But the exercise doesn't say "in a minute" or "in just a minute", it says "in the next minute" which to me as a British English speaker is a slightly unnatural turn of phrase which would not be used unless specifically indicating the next 60 seconds.
- 1515
I am still puzzled. It is "la semaine prochaine" & not "la prochaine semaine." And it is "dans la minute suivante" & not " la suivante minute."
Figurative meaning (5-10 days) versus literal meaning (7 days, exact), respectively.
What if i want to really mean by "next minute" the next 60 seconds, objectively !! So i think that "la minute prochaine" should be included in the correct possible translations for "the next minute"
Why not "dans la minute suivante", is it an appropriate form in this context?
- 1497
Dans la prochaine minute was accepted (17.07.2014) - maybe it's the word order vs minute prochaine?
I also used "Dans la prochaine minute" and it was marked correct, so reversing the last two words must have been the issue.
I thought "prochain/e" was acceptable after a noun too? I've often heard "la semaine prochaine"
- 2307
"Qui" is used as a subject pronoun and "que" is used to replace a direct object. http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/relativepronouns_2.htm
Man, I really need to take some basic grammar. It would help me so so much with my language lessons.
- 1820
You may want to get the book "English Grammar for French Students" by Jacqueline Morton. It explains the various components of English grammar and then how that grammar works in French. I have found it very useful.
- 2307
It is so true, Rosie. A great many (young) users show tremendous courage in attempting the French language and do not know what it means to conjugate a verb. I think that's one reason so many drop out. Fortunately, there are many great resources available for those who are willing to learn. Good luck to you!
Three years in a row, I asked a group of French one students to tell me the subject of the sentence, "The hungry dog chased the rabbit through the wood," and they said, without hesitation: "a hungry dog hunting rabbit." I DIDN'T ASK WHAT THE TOPIC OF THE SENTENCE WAS!! Sigh. All strategies must be renewed!
- 1497
With expressions of time 'dans' refers to the future, while 'en' means how long something takes. Cf. http://french.about.com/library/prepositions/bl_prep_en_vs_dans.htm
What is the preferred answer in real life use? "Dans la prochaine minute" "dans la minute suivante" "dans la minute qui suit" or some other answer?
- 515
Are there clear rules about when the adjective goes before vs after the noun? (I also got dinged for entering 'la minute prochaine'. So, for example, why is it la prochaine minute but la robe rouge?
- 2307
In general, adjectives follow the noun. Except for those which follow the BANGS rule (adjectives of Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, and Size go before the noun. There are a few French adjectives that are quite tricky, changing meanings depending on whether they are placed before or after the noun. When they are placed before the noun, they have a figurative or subjective meaning. When they are placed after the noun, they have a literal or objective meaning. So the idea is not that "in the next minute" means "in the next 60 seconds" (literal), but rather the more subjective "in a minute" (subjective). Check out the two pages associated with this link: http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/adjectives_fickle.htm
Thanks for sharing the link.
Most of the examples seem to coincide with the stated rule ( before = figurative/subjective, after = literal/objective ). One that stands out to me is jeune.
jeune Figurative or subjective meaning une jeune femme - a young woman Literal or objective meaning une femme jeune - youthful woman
Are they are referring to "youthful" in terms physical appearance (e.g. smooth skin, no wrinkles) , rather than someone who acts young ( e.g. youthful enthusiasm)? Whereas they consider "young", to mean inexperienced, rather than someone who is in the early stage of life physically (e.g. a child)? Thanks!
- 1820
"Prochain" is not BANGS, but rather one those tricky adjectives that has a different meaning depending on which side of the noun it stands. It is covered in the link @n6zs provides just above.
This adjective seems particularly tricky to me with respect to knowing the correct position, since the two meanings seem only subtly different, whereas most of the others are more obviously different.
Yeah, I was taught "Beauty, Age, Goodness, and Size" or BAGS for a mnemonic, as the ones that go before the noun. But that did me wrong here.
I use "Dans la minute suivante"... DL should use "In the minute that follows" for the English if you ask me.
- 2307
Two reasons: 1) "minute" is feminine so it would require "suivante", 2) if you choose to use "suivante", it goes after the noun. If you use "prochaine", it goes before the noun.
- 328
I have finally found a mnemonic that works for me for those tricky adjective placements before and after the noun, like for "prochaine". If you want the Figurative meaning, it goes First. If you want the Literal meaning, it goes Last.
- 2307
[Already explained above]. The given sentence (dans la minute qui suit), "suit" is the 3rd person singular conjugation of the verb "suivre" (to follow). The translation is literally, "in the minute that follows". I.e., "suit" is not an adjective, but a verb in the subordinate clause (qui suit). That verb needs a subject. "Qui" is the subject of that clause.
Looks like it should be "prochain minute" (via reverso. Indeed, it was the word order, not the word that is the problem.
- 2307
Except that "la minute" is a feminine noun so it would be "la prochaine minute". See my post above about how adjective placement affects the meaning.
Why is "à la minute qui suit" incorrect? It was in the multiple choice section so I chose both "dans la minute qui suit" et "à la minute qui suit" because I thought à could generally translate as "to," "at," or "in"?
À is often just to or at, unless you are talking about countries, where à can mean in, like I live in the United States: je vis aux États Unis. In this phrase, it is dans as time normally takes that specific preposition.
Is there a difference between "La prochaine minute" and "la minute qui suit" the same way that "The next minute" and "The minute that follows" are different in English?
Another tricky one. Correct English usage would have accepted in the next minute or the following minute!
"en le minute prochaine" is what I put, which should be "en la minute prochaine," but it wasn't even accepted as close.
Dans is the preposition that Duo accepts here. According to petic's comment above, dans is used for expressions with the future, while en is used for expressing the length of time.
http://french.about.com/library/prepositions/bl_prep_en_vs_dans.htm
"Qui suit" seems to be "que sigue" (Sp) in this situation and context. But I could be wrong.
I totally agree with Petic but DL didn't accept my use of "en" to indicate how long something will take to be completed versus "dans" to indicate when that something will start.
- 1232
Well, as a French native, I can say that we never say "dans la minute qui suit" or "dans la prochaine minute" (even if I must admit that they are the most literal translations), we will probably saying "dans une minute". I am not sure about the rules or if it is a deformation of the spoken language, so if someone has an idea or an explanation please ? :)
Please see n6zs's comments above. Some adjectives have a different meaning depending on whether they are placed before (figurative, subjective) or after (literal, objective) the noun.
- 1820
Since the English is "In the next minute.", you need the definite article "la". With "une", it would be: "In a next minute.", or sounding better: "In a minute that follows."
