Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/06/17

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Subject: Re: Help with French translation
From: Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 15:52:30 -0700

At 05:56 AM 6/18/97 +0800, you wrote:
>Hi
>
>Thanks for the various inputs from LUG members concerning the German
>translation. Now I really require the French translation for this sentence,
>preferably in its most elegant style of usage.
>
>           "These photos are taken by my father."
>
>
>I can assure all our French speaking LUG members that many of the pictures
>concerned were indeed made with a leica.  TIA.
>
>Dan Khong
>

I've been following this translation thread. What bothers me is that I
believe the ENGLISH is wrong. How can you translate incorrect English into
another language and do it correctly? You said it in your last sentence, "I
can assure all our French speaking LUG members that many of the pictures
concerned WERE indeed made with a leica." You are asking to translate
"these photographs" which obviously WERE taken earlier than the present
moment, but you say ARE taken by my father. ARE is the present moment. I am
not an English intellect but I have spoken English all of my life and this
just does not compute. It should be "These photos WERE (implying a past
action) taken by my father." Am I wrong??? Webster says:

Are (#). See Am and Is, and cf. Be.] The PRESENT indicative plural of the
substantive verb to be; but etymologically a different word from be, or
was. Am, art, are, and is, all come from the root as.

Jim