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- "Ils s'habillent."
22 Comments
2278
I have added it to the list of homophones for the audio exercise (only). It may take a while for staff to act on it.
2278
The idea of "dress up" is applicable in the sense of "s'habiller en qqch", i.e, to dress up as (something). E.g., Pour le fĂȘte, il s'habille en cow-boy = For the party, he is dressing up as a cowboy. Otherwise, "s'habiller" is just "to dress" or "to get dressed".
2278
No, the use of the pronominal verb in French is not applicable to the English translation which does not make reference to "self". I.e., "Ils s'habillent" = they are getting dressed (or) they get dressed. Please visit the link in my post above for more details.
Yes, "get dressed" and "are getting dressed" are specifically used about oneselves, but "dress" and "are dressing" are not limited to oneself, so I believe that "They dress themselves." could be a better alternative than "They dress." although it is a bit emphatic. Still, "They get dressed" or "They are getting dressed" are still the best ways to say it in English.
2278
Not really. In English, reflexive pronouns are only used for emphasis, i.e., there are no common references to "oneself" in most such sentences. Especially, references to self are never made when the action is one that occurs without assistance from another person. For clarity, the British Council says:
We do not use a reflexive pronoun after verbs which describe things people usually do for themselves, such as wash, shave, dress:
- He washed [himself] in cold water.
- He always shaved [himself] before going out in the evening.
- Michael dressed [himself] and got ready for the party.
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/reflexive-pronouns