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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2013 September 20

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September 20

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pronominal verbs french list website

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Is there a website that shows the list of pronominal verbs in French and their conjugations? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.92.149.20 (talk) 00:38, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The Wiktionary category wikt:Category:French reflexive verbs contains 14 verbs.
Wavelength (talk) 00:52, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
A longer list can be found here. It doesn't have conjugations, but most of them are regular, and you can conjugate verbs here. --Bowlhover (talk) 03:30, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Big list here and to conjugate (including compound tenses) hereAldoSyrt (talk) 06:49, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]


There are several sites that speak of pronominal verbs in French, but unfortunately not many mention a full list of them, only a few examples. An excellent site that explains les verbes pronominaux in full detail can be found at the following: [1]. According to this source, there are 3 different types of pronominal verbs in french: reflexive, reciprocal, and idiomatic verbs.
Another reputable site can be found [2] and includes sounds clips as well as a nice little practice quiz at the end. However, my personal favorite website for these sorts of things would have to be this. Merely type in the word you wish to conjugate, then when it appears in the drop down below, click the "conj" link to the side of it and it will pull up an entire chart for you. If you cannot find the information you seek there, it can usually be found in their forums. SarahMarise (talk) 00:26, 21 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"All best"

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I new to the corporate world, and I am still working on honing my business writing skills. Lately, I have noted that some of my American colleagues sign off their emails:

All best,
<Name>

Google search tells me it is a truncated form of "All the best". Is this a common practice? Also, is it appropriate in a formal context? Thank you! — Such a gentleman 08:37, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It's kind of slangy. I would go with "Best regards". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots09:10, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Here in the UK, a colleague signs "Bests" and I sign "ATB", although for the first email I ever send you, it will be "Kind Regards". I've been doing this for years in several companies and there has never been a complaint. --TrogWoolley (talk) 14:25, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
That's fine, although you shouldn't capitalize "regards". --Viennese Waltz 14:27, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I think just "Best" would do fine as well for informal occasions. For formal emails I prefer ending off with "Utmost best regards and may you be tremendously blessed for eternity," Yep, helps boost the word count to make it look more substantive. ☯ Bonkers The Clown \(^_^)/ Nonsensical Babble14:46, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I am not quite sure what to make of that... Such a gentleman 17:56, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I once worked in a job where my duties included drafting replies from Mick Young to letters from his constituents. In almost all cases they were strangers to him, but he insisted on the valediction "Warmest personal regards". Cute. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 21:12, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The last part's just nonsensical babble, or how a clown addresses the Pope. Clarityfiend (talk) 03:26, 21 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, yes Anti-Catholic bigotry. The greatest contribution of Englishmen to world culture, ever; Shakespeare, Newton, Darwin, and parliamentarianism be fooked. μηδείς (talk) 02:18, 22 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, I get it now! Anyway, I would like to thank all of you for pitching in with your valuable inputs. I really appreciate it. Such a gentleman 18:48, 21 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Are there any English-English dictionaries available in DAISY audio book format?

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Print disabled people need dictionaries too!
DAISY Digital Talking Book is the audiobook format specifically designed for use by people with "print disabilities", including blindness, impaired vision, and dyslexia.
But are there any English-English dictionaries available in DAISY format?
--Seren-dipper (talk) 11:04, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I could google this, you may write to them directly and ask for details. At archive.org many books can be loaded in daisy format, but I don't know how this works and whether works at all. I've personally encountered some problems: I installed one of daisy readers but none of books from archive.org works.--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 22:11, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you! :-)
--Seren-dipper (talk) 11:08, 24 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Exact translation in English

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I enjoy very much Celine Dion's Sans Attendre, I am trying to find the exact translation in English for this song: Celle qui m'a tout appris. Can anyone help me? Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 14:41, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I assume you mean for the whole of "The One Who Taught Me Everything". I can find translations on line, but you can't access them, and to copy them here would bring up a copyright problem. (Even linking is likely a copyright problem, but at least you would see the whole context along with the name of the translator.) Likely someone will pass by who has the time to do the whole translation for you. Bielle (talk) 17:40, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I really meant, I wanted to know the translation for the title. Thank you so much :) After listening to it, I guess it is about her father, am I right? Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 17:42, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
If you mean sans attendre, that's "without waiting" or sin esperar. See attendre. μηδείς (talk) 17:47, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The translation for the title of the song... I know the meaning of Sans Attendre Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 18:02, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
It's "She/He who taught me everything" - I don't think a gender is implied, but my French is mostly (though not completely) due to Google Translate. You may have missed that Bielle already included a (essentially the same) translation of the title above. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 18:14, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Definitely celle qui=she who. It's about her mother.--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 18:34, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
celle is feminine. The masculine equivalent is celui. --Bowlhover (talk) 22:31, 21 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
(ec) Well, I am totally confused. What is the title of the song? (If it is the phrase above, the offered translations are correct). μηδείς (talk) 18:17, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The title of the song is Celle qui m'a tout appris Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 18:56, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Some feedback, Miss Bono: If Sans Attendre has nothing to do with this question (as I'm finally getting the picture), it was confusing to mention it at all, but particularly misleading to place it at the start of the question. First impressions count, far more than most people realise. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 21:03, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Have you tried googling (the first result)?--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 18:27, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I just assumed 'Sans attendre' was the album title and the question was about the title of a specific song. Sussexonian (talk) 21:39, 20 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, Itit is about the song I pointed out, sorry, I thought that giving the name of the albums it appears in, will help in case I didn't spell the title of the song correctly. Miss Bono [hello, hello!] 12:34, 23 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]