"Elle est grande, alors que je suis petit."
Translation:She is tall, whereas I am short.
31 Comments
Question: the voice is a female one, so shouldn't it be petite (f) and not petit (m)?
she is neither man nor woman....human nor beast....living nor dead....
She is quoting the sentences which are proposed in the lessons, she is not speaking for herself. So, she can say "je suis un homme" and you will translate "I am a man" eventhough the two of you are women.
On principle, no, since "petite" is not pronounced as "petit" : petiT vs peti
when there is an "e" at the end of word you stress the pronunciation of the letter before "e" without sounding the "e"..... just try grand and grande or petit and petite in google translator.. you should find it easy to tell the difference
They accept both when you translate from En to Fr.
But in dictation, the pronunciation of petit and petite is different:
- masculine petit: [pəti]
- feminine petite: [pətit]
Can "alors que" mean both "even though" and "wheras"? In English those are different. "She is tall, wheras I am short" is just contrasting the two facts, but "She is tall, even though I am short" implies that this is somehow surprising - perhaps she is my daughter so that I expect her to share my height. Which of these sentences does "Elle est grand, alors que je suis petit" mean? Both?
To make a long story short, "alors que" can mean one or the other nuances you point out. It will depend on context or on tone of voice if oral.
To get the "even though" nuance, you may use "bien que"
To get the "while/whilst" nuance, you may use "tandis que"
Hi Sitesurf, wonderful French angel come to help us out, can you tell me if alors que also indicates things happening at the same time, instead of only contrast? E.g., "While I was eating, the dog took my shoes." Alors que je mangais, le chien prennait mes chaussures."? Or maybe I would use lors que for this?
Yes, "alors que" can express simultaneity (while) or contrast/contradiction (whereas/even though), according to context.
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while I was eating, the dog took my shoes = alors que (pendant que, tandis que) je déjeunais, le chien mangeait/a mangé mes chaussures (passé composé sounds better).
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I have blue eyes whereas my twin brother has black eyes = j'ai les yeux bleus, alors que (tandis que) mon frère jumeau a les yeux noirs.
According to GT and most of other excellent posts by yourself, here "as, while" would be more like "alors que, pendant que, tandis que", and "alors" on its own maybe more like "then, so" (but not "so" in a sense of a consequence, like "therefore" - that could only be "donc")...
Would that be a correct interpretation?
"alors que" is a conjunctive locution, meaning that it forms a link between the main clause and the subordinate clause.
main clause: elle est grande (she is tall)
conjunction/link: alors que (whereas)
subordinate clause: je suis petit (I am small)
