"Il s'est fait mal à l'épaule en tombant à moto."
Translation:He hurt his shoulder from falling off his motorcycle.
12 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
This translation from French to English sounds off. Most motorcycle falls don't involve actually falling off the motorcycle, and there's no indication in the French that the motorcycle is his. He could just as well have been involved in a motorcycle fall while riding somebody else's motorcycle.
2607
I agree. I came here to say the same thing: Why is it "his" motorcycle in English, when it's just a motorcycle in the original sentence? As you say, he could have been riding someone else's motorcycle, or even riding behind someone else on a motorcycle (and that person who was driving suddenly accelerated or turned a corner and he fell off, hurting his shoulder).
I'd go for the simple: "He hurt his shoulder falling off a motorcycle."
- 1453
It is conventional to use the possessive pronoun to indicate that "he" is the rider of the motorbike, not that he is the literal owner.
In addition, the use of "from" is totally incorrect. If you must have a word to translate "en" then "while" or perhaps "by" should be used.
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Recv'd notification 28/07/2020 - “He hurt his shoulder falling off his motorcycle ” is now accepted
- 1965
1) Is it correct to say "il s'est fait mal à l'épaule en tombant d'une moto"? Or is "il s'est fait mal à l'épaule quand il est tombé d'une moto" correct? 2) Is "en tombant à..." a common usage? Please comment.
Even if it were rented or borrowed, it was in his possession at the time of the accident. It's commonly said that way in English.
shouldn't this be accepted. "Il s'est fait mal à l'épaule en tombant de sa moto." ?
No one seems to object to the word "from." I would not add the word from, but say he hurt his shoulder falling off his motorcycle.
- 1453
In fact "from" is totally incorrect in this usage (although "falling from" is fine), as I stated in these comments 8 months ago