French forms of address

Feb 07, 2012 14:53

I've got 3 variants for "please wait" in French: "merci de bien vouloir patienter", "veuillez patienter, svp" and "patientez, svp ( Read more... )

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cyad February 7 2012, 11:47:28 UTC
French native speaker here.

Honestly, I wouldn't use the third form you have... unless I wanna sound abrupt. What I mean is that, I've rarely heard it unless from security gards who practically order it to you.

The most common used form is your first proposition: "merci de bien vouloir patienter". It's also the most polite. Second one also works.

But, I guess translation depends on the context. For example, if we were to retranslate: "merci de bien vouloir patienter" beck into english, "patiently" or "patience" would have to be inserted somewhere, since that's what the verb "patienter" induces... like: "thank you for your patience", "thanks for patiently waiting".

Not sure I'm really of help here, but I hope it answers your question. Or at least, some of it.

And, since "wait" can be translated by "attendre", "veuillez attendre" or "merci de bien vouloir attendre" is closer to meaning.

"Veuillez patienter, svp" also works. ;)

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PS cyad February 7 2012, 11:53:29 UTC
"veuillez patienter" is the message you usually get when a software or net connection is taking too long. So, i'll stick with your first proposition if it's standard french conversation we're talking about.

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tisoi February 7 2012, 17:00:29 UTC
That was the first thing I thought of when I saw "veuillez patienter" - the message I used to get when ever I telnetted into a Quebec BBS lol

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cyad February 8 2012, 10:27:36 UTC
true! I almost forgot about those. :)

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