English term
Be it ever
| 4 +6 | Aussi [modeste] soit-il |
Gauthier Casimiro
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| 4 +2 | Tout .... qu'il soit |
katsy
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| 5 +1 | si modeste fût-il |
Antoine Guillemain
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| 4 | même s'il est très modeste |
FX Fraipont (X)
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| listen in: |
writeaway
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May 19, 2014 17:53: writeaway changed "Field (write-in)" from "Proverb" to "old song"
May 19, 2014 18:56: Francis Marche changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): GILLES MEUNIER, Rob Grayson, Francis Marche
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Proposed translations
France
Professional translator and IT lover
Native in: French (Variant: Standard-France)
Works in: English to French, Swedish to French
Aussi [modeste] soit-il
| agree |
GILLES MEUNIER
0 min
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B D Finch
1 min
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| agree |
Tony M
3 mins
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| agree |
writeaway
: mais oui
50 mins
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| agree |
Daryo
12 hrs
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| agree |
schevallier
15 hrs
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même s'il est très modeste
be it ever so humble
Tout .... qu'il soit
Le proverbe peut être traduit pas "Tout humble/modeste qu'il soit, rien ne vaut le foyer/son chez soi".
"Be it" est une forme subjonctive - - qu'il soit, et le "ever", en fait va avec "so" (ever so = beaucoup, 'ever' est un intensifieur)
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Barbara2014
: Cette traduction est plus poétique, plus intense.
27 mins
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Merci Barbara :-)
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| agree |
Katia CULOT
14 hrs
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Merci KatLOT :-)
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United Kingdom
Quality, Creativity, Meticulousness
Native in: French (Variant: Standard-France)
Works in: English to French, French to English
si modeste fût-il
(J'ai utilisé "il" en partant de l'idée que vous avez traduit "home" par "foyer" ou "chez-soi".)
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Note added at 1 hr (2014-05-19 18:44:10 GMT)
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"fût-il" is not past tense but imperfect subjunctive, and it does not denote past time here but hypothesis. See the following from http://www.langue-fr.net/spip.php?article119
Complément
Grevisse et Goosse, le Bon Usage, 14e édition (2007) indiquent :
L’imparfait du subjonctif peut, dans une sous-phrase ayant la valeur d’une proposition commençant par même si, équivaloir à un conditionnel présent. Ce tour appartient à la langue littéraire, sauf avec fût-ce, plus répandu. (§ 895)
L’imparfait ou le plus-que-parfait quand le fait exprimé est hypothétique ; ces subjonctifs (parfois appelés éventuels) correspondent à un conditionnel présent ou passé qu’on aurait si l’on transformait la proposition en phrase (§ 899)
On peut avoir les équivalences suivantes :
Fût-il encensé par tous les critiques, je n’irai pas voir ce film dont je déteste l’acteur principal.
Serait-il encensé par tous les critiques, je n’irai pas voir ce film dont je déteste l’acteur principal.
Même si tous les critiques l’encensent, je n’irai pas voir ce film dont je déteste l’acteur principal.
Quand bien même tous les critiques l’encensent, je n’irai pas voir ce film dont je déteste l’acteur principal.
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Note added at 3 hrs (2014-05-19 20:56:29 GMT)
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shouldn't have said "denotes hypothesis" but "denotes some form of concession"
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writeaway
: English isn't in past tense. /there is no suggestion of "if" in the English and no hint of any conditional. it's a wonderful use of the English subjunctive and ignoring it ruins the entire text.
15 mins
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I haven't ignored it, on the contrary. You have subjunctive in both French and English here. I read the sentence as "Home may be a humble place, it is always the best place". I think "fût-il" conveys just that here. (Denotes "concession", not "condition")
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| agree |
FX Fraipont (X)
: There is no past tense whatsoever in "si modeste fût-il"...
41 mins
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| agree |
Simon Mac
15 hrs
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Reference comments
listen in:
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Note added at 34 mins (2014-05-19 17:47:11 GMT)
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Lyrics to Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home
chorus:
Home! Home!
Sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home
There's no place like home
verses:
'Mid pleasures and palaces
Though I may roam
Be it ever so humble
There's no place like home
A charm from the sky
Seems to hallow us there
Which seek thro' the world
Is ne'er met with elsewhere
(chorus)
To thee, I'll return
O verburdened with care
The heart's dearest solace
W ill smile on me there
No more from that cottage
A gain I will roam
Be it ever so humble
There's no place like home
Discussion
Be it ever so haunted, there's no place like the Bloody Tower.
Be it ever so boring to see the changing of the guard every b****y day from one's bedroom window, there's no place like one's home.
"Be it ever humble" = may it remain humble.
"Be it ever so humble" = however humble it may be.