"The teaching personnel can invite the parents."
Translation:Le personnel enseignant peut inviter les parents.
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I'm curious to know why "le personnel d'enseignant" is not accepted. What's the difference between this noun and one like "le couteau de cuisine"?
I'm also confused by this. I thought that where English uses two nouns together French requires "de" between them. I notice that Larousse offers "personnel de maison" for "servants, (domestic) staff". Perhaps "personnel enseignant" is a special case...
In English I would expect 'the teaching personnel' to be plural* but 'les enseignants' wasn't accepted.
*The dictionary definition of 'personnel' is "people employed in an organization or engaged in an organized undertaking"
I would agree - in English "the teaching personnel" is plural. No one would use it as singular. Singular would be " the teacher" or "the professor" etc
"The teaching personnel" is actually a singular noun referring to a group of people. Similar to the word "everybody," it takes third person singular verbs.
I don't know if this is a difference between US and UK usage but I have never heard 'personnel' used as a singular noun in this context (UK here)
Hmmm...you're right. It seems the plural use, while objected by some, "is well established and standard in all varieties of speech and writing" (dictionary.com). I'm not sure what I was thinking. I guess, to me, it seems similar to group nouns like "everybody" and "staff."
Oddly enough, British and American usages differ on this point, whether a collective noun takes a singular or plural verb. In Eng, the crowd are on their feet. Are there other non-B, non-Am usages elsewhere? Or is it just choose verb number, sing or plur?
It's similar to how something like 'the crowd' would be singular. Talking about multiple people, but it's singular
As an American english speaker, I would simply say 'The teachers', but 'Les enseignants pouvons inviter les parents.' was not accepted.
I agree with you. Are we supposed to be translating literally word for word, or are we supposed to be translating meaning?
I think (and this may only be UK usage here) that 'teaching personnel' is intended to include more than just teachers - classroom assistants and similar - which is why 'teachers'/'enseignants' alone is not accepted.
These are the "incorrect" answers in the multiple choice exercise I was offered:
- Le personnel enseignant peut inviter les petits-fils. = The teaching personnel can invite the grandsons.
- Le personnel enseignant faut convier les parents. = The teaching personnel must invite the parents.
And if the teaching personnel are plural? My intuition as a native english speaker is that this refers to the mass of them, not each or every one of them = "All teaching personel can invite...."