"Nous donnions à différentes associations."
Translation:We used to donate to various charities.
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567
Good question. In French class, we learned that only certain adjectives precede the noun, and different is not one of them, therefore it should follow the noun.
1891
I heard the man's voice of "donnions a" as "don-ni-yon-WA". I thought it should be "do-ni-yon-Za" or "don-ni-yon- A".
The female voice reads "do-ni-ion-A", same I thought.
Question on how to pronounce the "ions" with following "a". Any help please?
Before the noun, "différentes" means "several", "multiple" or "various". After the noun, it means specifically "different" as in "not the same".
So, "Nous donnions à différentes associations." would mean "we give to several charities."
And "Nous donnions aux associations différentes." Would be used in a case like: "My husband and I are both philanthropists, but we give to different charities."
Although, as with any language, there are exceptions and people don't always use the word placement this way. It all depends on context.
1419
Association has several meanings, depending on the context. Here the context is that donations are received, so "charities" is a good bet. Do you agree?
"Charities" usually are "des associations" but not all "les associations" are charities. Think of the NRA in the US or "l'Association des Amateurs de l'Authentique Andouille Auvergnate" in France, which is a club of lovers of the authentic "andouille" (small sausage made of chitterlings) from Auvergne.
1438
But you could also donate to those associations/organizations without them being charities. So shouldn't they also be acceptable translations?
1857
Boy does this "correct" English transliteration seem awkward to me. Is "Associations" always translated as "Charities"?
1125
Semantically speaking, charities is equivalent to associations/organisations caritatives. Please adjust the original sentence to avoid ambiguity.
"We donated" could translate to "Nous donnions" depending on context.
The imparfait tense is used to describe ongoing activities and states in the past. So, for example:
"When I was young, we donated a lot of money to help the poor"
would translate with the imparfait because the action of giving was ongoing:
-->"Quand j'etais jeune, nous donnions beaucoup d'argent aux pauvres."
But, if the act of giving was a single time action, it would be Passé Composé:
"I gave you 5 euros last week!"--> "Je vous ai donné 5 euros la semaine derniere!"
Although, "faire donner" or "faire un don" is a closer translation of "to donate". "Donner" by itself can safely be translated to "to give" in most situations. It's just like in English: "We donate our time" and "We give our time" are synonymous.