"We would have stopped the two of us."
Translation:Nous nous serions toutes les deux arrêtées.
9 Comments
I had this for multiple choice, and missed
Nous nous serions arrêtés toutes les deux.
The "nous" is being used reflexively, and "toutes" is in reference to "nous" which would make "nous" fem. plural. Here the participle also needs to agree in gender / number of "nous" so isn't this answer incorrect because it needs to be: arrêtées
OR, is it possible that "nous" in the first part could be talking about 3 people that would be stopping 2 members?
"the two of us" really means that "nous" is two persons.
If you are given the French first, indeed, "toutes" is the guide to agree "arrêtées" in fem. plural.
So I was given the English sentence for a multiple choice check boxes. I only selected: "Nous nous serions arrêtés tous les deux." because I thought there was a gender disagreement in "Nous nous serions arrêtés toutes les deux."
After I hit Check it said the latter was an acceptable translation. I'm just wondering if that is indeed an OK sentence, or if this is an error in gender agreement.
My confusion is about using a plural pronoun reflexively, and if both "nous" must refer to the exact same group, or if there could be some involved scenario... Something like 2 girls and 1 guy, are going to stop just the 2 girls from doing something. In that scenario, the action is being performed by mixed company, but the recipient is all feminine - but is that still even reflexive because the groups are changing?
"nous nous..." are the same people, i.e. yourself + 1 or more people. "nous nous... tous les deux" = yourself + 1 person.
- all men or a mix of men and women: nous nous serions arrêtés
- all women: nous nous serions arrêtées
In your scenario, if 1 guy stops 2 girls, who is speaking and to whom? If the guy speaks to the girls, he says "je vous aurais arrêtées" If the girls speak to the guy, they say "vous nous auriez arrêtées" (polite) or "tu nous aurais arrêtées" (casual).
12
I'm sure the French sentence is correct, but the english one is not. One could say He/you/they would have stopped the two of us, but not WE. A comma after stopped would make sense.
- 127
I looked up "the two of us", and the solution on a different site was "nous deux". NOT accepted here.
