"Flotte ou nage mais surtout ne coule pas !"

Translation: Float or swim, but above all, don't sink!

[Mhmd30]

I am not a native but as far as I know "to sink" is for inanimate things while "to drown" is for animate, right?

[blueskies-4]

"Sink" can be for animate or inanimate things--it just means to fall deeper into the water. "Drown" means to die under water.

[b_adger]

More specifically, drown means to die from inhaling water/liquid into the lungs and being unable to breathe. You don't even have to be under/in water.

[--Roody--]

How do you say drown in French? Is it also couler?

[lulularosa]

https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/noyer/54777

noyer - transitive - to drown something someone

se noyer - either in the reflexive sense or the pronominal intransitive.

[--Roody--]

Merci, lulu!

[relox84]

Fluctuat nec mergitur !

[lulularosa]

Speaking of which, how is the rebuilding of Notre Dame proceeding?

[effyleven]

Note: Because sinking takes place in a downward direction, it is physically impossible to sink "above all."

I dunno... Surely I am not the only one to notice things like that?

[lulularosa]

You are being humorous, right?

[--Roody--]

We can only hope.

[jchildress14]

I guess coule means both flow and sink? Interesting. Those seem a bit contrary.

[MARTILANNE]

why not "especially don't sink" especially is a hover hint