"Il s'est cassé l'épaule en tombant à vélo."
Translation:He broke his shoulder from falling off his bike.
32 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Why is falling off a bike described as a velo. I thought that a was used to indicate motion towards something, not away from it. I would have expected something like en tombant DE son velo.
1047
The original French sentence essentially means "he broke his shoulder becase he fell down while riding his bike"
The phrase "à velo" is not directly connected to the fact that the fell down (fell off the bike) but just describes the means he was using when he fell down (he was riding a bike).
It's the same phrase used e.g. Il va au travail à vélo = he goes to work by bike.
Well, no, surely it was in the action of falling that he apparently broke his shoulder.
Actually, it is more likely that the landing caused the broken shoulder. The falling caused the landing.
The question is a really good one, but no one is actually answering it. Why is it "a velo" but "de l'echelle"? In both cases, the preposition is absolutely connected to the fall. Someone is falling FROM something.
- 1440
"à vélo" means "cycling" or "using a bicycle". So there is nothing about falling FROM a particular bike.
Wouldn't the correct translation be: "...from falling off a bike", since the French sentence doesn't say 'son velo'? It is merely implied.
- 1440
No, "from" is totally incorrect to use here.
You are correct that it could be "a bike", but the possessive is often used in English for a bike being ridden by a person, even if that person is not the actual owner of the bike. So "his bike" is not incorrect.
- 1114
Please explain the use of the word "from" in the English. I don't recall using "from" when someone falls.
Personally it's not how I would say it. You might get sick from eating bad seafood but you hurt yourself falling off a bike or by falling off a bike.
You can use "fall from" something, such as: "The child fell from the tree."; "He fell from the roof."; "I fell from the ladder." But, "fell off/fell off of" is also used. "He fell off the roof"; "I fell off the ladder"; or "I fell off of the ladder."; "My daughter fell off her bike."
That's right, but I think that Anne was asking about "from falling", not about "falling from". In DL's translation, the preposition "from" connects "he broke his shoulder" with "falling off his bike". However, "from" is the wrong preposition! "By" and "while" work much better, or you can just say "He broke his shoulder falling off his bike". "From" works in some cause-and-effect situations where the cause led indirectly to the effect (as in eating bad seafood, as MertMort noted), but it doesn't work when the effect is immediate.
Oui. Je comprends. As in, "He died from Covid-19." Although, it is not uncommon to hear: "How did he break his shoulder?" and the answer: "...from falling off a ladder."
- 780
Although this Brit would normally say fall "off" a bike I would not regard fall "from" as incorrect. However, I would definitely expect to use "from" if the vehicle was a car or a train.
- 2164
A question about the meaning of the original French sentence :
One does not actually have to fall off a bike to get hurt, one call fall while riding a bike and get hurt. In the latter case, in English, we might say "He hurt his shoulder when he fell cycling".
My question: Does the expression en tombant à vélo insist on the "falling off the bike", or can it mean something like "He fell while cycling and hurt his shoulder" (note, I am not offering this as a translation. I simply want to understand the meaning of the original phrase ).
- 1440
You are right, "à vélo" means "cycling" or "using a bicycle".
So the most accurate translation is something like "He broke his shoulder by falling while cycling". Your version is good although "est cassé" specifically means to break rather than just hurt.
All the discussion about whether he fell "off" or "from" "a bike" or "his bike" is a bit misleading.
A point not mentioned is the use of the present participle -ing. It animates the telling, more than : He fell off his bike and broke his shoulder. Or, he broke his shoulder when he fell off his bike. Both actions in the past tense here.
It’s not a present participle. It’s a gerund, a verb used as a noun, in this case the object of the preposition “en.” As a noun, it has no tense.
Where is HIS in the French phrase? Wouldn't the matching French be .... Il s'est cassé l'épaule en tombant à son vélo
It’s natural English. We say he fell off his bike even if it was a rental bike. Nothing wrong with he fell off a bike though, just less likely to be said. But in French you don’t say either. It’s à vélo or de vélo.
It's amateur hour around here with all the acceptable translations that get rejected. I was rejected for "He broke his shoulder by falling off of his bicycle".
He broke his shoulder while falling when he was riding a bike. Why is this wrong?
Except in freak accidents, you don't break your shoulder while falling. You break it when you hit the ground as a result of falling. So it should either be from falling, or by falling, or just falling with no preposition. Meanwhile, the fall happened while riding a bike.
As for those freak accidents, I once dislocated my shoulder while inline skating without actually falling. I waved my arms so hard to keep my balance that my shoulder popped out. It was not fun.
As far as I'm concerned the word "from" doesn't need to be there. 99.999% of English speaking people wouldn't use it in this context.
Not "from." "by falling from his bike," is OK, but he didn't break it "from falling" but by falling from (the bike.) Duo is constantly using "from" when it is not the right word.
