"Les yeux sont des fenêtres pour les émotions."
Translation:The eyes are windows for feelings.
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I really hate that these things pop up and you never know whether to use the idiom or a horribly awkward literal translation.
"The eyes are the windows into the soul" is how this would be translated by any half decent translator. /frustration
"The equivalent idiom in UK English would be "The eyes are the windows of the soul" One of DL's answers, "The eyes are some windows for the emotions" is not a well formed sentence in English
I would say 'windows to the soul'. Maybe it's been cleansed of any religious overtones.
1173
According to William Shakespeare the best version is "The eyes are the window to the soul.".
- 441
I agree, this idiom is not, or at least does not, allow you to translate it to the proper English equivalent. Which means it's not a proper translation and rather just a word for word association.
Maybe it is a deliberate echo of a cliche to highlight the difference in the modern world we have emotions but no soul?
This is what I thought, too. Except I consider souls to have always been non-existent.
The eyes are the windows for the emotions is just as correct as the Translation: The eyes are windows for feelings and should be accepted..
It accepts my "the eyes are windows for emotions" (Jan 13, 2014) so maybe yours was rejected solely because of the 2nd and 3rd 'the'.
They don't seem consistent in how they translate 'les' and 'des' etc. -- sometimes as no article, sometimes as 'some', sometimes as 'the'.
- 1436
While Duolingo accepts "The eyes are windows of the emotions," and (presumably) the first of your translations, it does not accept "The eyes are windows for the emotions."
As this thread demonstrates, the whole question needs reworking to be closer to the English idiom, so we are not left trying to figure out some awkward English translation.
- 971
Unfortunately, it only resembles an idiom in French, as in English. The actual French idiom is very like the English one, as Sitesurf has informed us, i.e., "les yeux sont les fenêtres de l'âme", or, quite literally, "the eyes are the windows of the soul".
Apparently, since this isn't the actual French idiom, we are not meant to translate it into the English one, but just translate the actual words. Sneaky, I call that.
It is better. .....windows for feelings is so wrong on so many levels in terms of language that I am speechless.
I understand that it's supposed to be plural by the way it was spelled in the sentence, but as an English translation we would call them the window of the emotions, not the windows. So awkward -- another heart casualty.
I wonder sometimes how many times I repeat my lessons over simply because of these small errors..
- 971
I would say "windows", I don't have a problem with that, but "emotions/feelings" sounds wrong. It's particularly annoying because, as Sitesurf informs us, the French expression is also properly "...les fenêtres de l'âme" not "...des fenêtres pour les émotions"
So, although the sentence strongly resembles an adage in French and in English, it actually isn't that adage and we must translate directly instead. Pfft.
You'd say plural 'eyes' are a singular 'window'? Well, I suppose it is figurative.
- 456
In think in English it is said, "the eyes are the windows of the soul" Either into or of I guess is expressive.
If you want to impress a woman in Paris, it seems to be the right sentence to say :)
- 1170
Agree that if DL wants us to use idiomatic translations in one place, it should be consistent. This translation is nonsense in English - the eyes are windows to the soul is the correct translation. I have reported it.
"Émotions" translated as "feelings", isn't an emotion an expression of our feelings?
"Les émotions" are physiological reactions to outside stimuli: fear, joy, anger, sadness, disgust, surprise. They don't last.
"Les sentiments" are complex and long-lasting states: love, hate, hope, jealousy, guilt.
as an English speaker one wouldn't say "the eyes are windows for feelings"--it sounds all wrong. The original Shakespeare saying as has been pointed out in the discussion already is "the eyes are the windows to the soul ----it is an idiomatic phrase and can't be translated literally really but the nearest translation of the phrase would be "the eyes are the windows to the feelings". It's just what sounds right to the ear and think should use the same definite articles with "the window" and "the feelings" as in the originalrather than "window" and "feeling" on their own.
yeux and heureur sound just alike to me.... I could not tell the difference.
- 971
I'm guessing you meant "heureux"? Anyhow, don't worry, just keep listening and you will begin to pick up these new sounds.
I am trying to figure out why "émotions" is being translated as "feelings" but not "emotions". They are related but not interchangable.
Once again sloppy English translation. I need fact too many questions in this group are very poor English translations and would never be said by English speaking people.
