rickmav

I'm wondering the proper way to say 'I honor her' in French. It's something from a poem my mother loves (written in English) that I want to have inscribed on a watch. Can anyone help?

icithecat

A simple 'Je T'adore' may suffice.
'I love you'

rickmav

Thanks icithecat but the point of the poem is that honor is more/different than the love the daughter feels for the mother. I'd really like it be the same sentiment in French, if that's possible.

icithecat

Oops I said 'I adore you' not Je T'aime 'I Love you. Sorry

Denise47

I sent this on to my mother who is French (but lives in the US for the past 50years). I don't know if she will reply because she is not very computer savy but give her a few days and maybe she will?

hanl

The literal translation is "Je l'honore" (I honour him/her). "Je t'honore" is I honour you.

Florence

Bonjour Rick,

As Hanl said, the litteral translation is "je l'honore". Can you give a little more of the poem so that I can make sure it fits the context ?

Joelle

Be careful with this translation...
Double meaning in French!

rickmav

Thanks for your help. Florence, this is the last part of the poem:

it's hard to describe
my feelings for her
i don't know if she knows
the way i know
perhaps
in the hospital
she began to see
began to understand
how much i honoured her
more than respect
bigger than love
nothing like duty
it is honour

i honour her

Florence

Bonjour Joelle,

Je sais et c'est pour cela que j'ai demandé le reste du poème

Rick,

As Joelle has pointed out, "honorer" in French can mean to honour someone, or having sex with a woman. It won't be misunderstood in the right context, but one is never too prudent. This is one of the reasons why I asked for the rest of the poem (not that I suspected you of any bad intent). If you're certain your mother will only wear her watch in a company unaware of the double meaning, or who knows about the reference to the poem, then go ahead with "je l'honore".

If in doubt, stick with the English version.

hanl

Gosh, i've been living in France for 5 years, working as a translator, and I was not aware of the 2nd meaning of honorer! Well, you learn something every day

Incidentally, I agree that you might be safer sticking with the English... or finding a quote from an original French poem instead.

Joelle

Ouf!!! Diplomatic incident avoided!!!
Central computer back to sleep....

mitchdesj

Je lui rend hommage.... I honor her........

would be the way I would translate this, in this context....
I honor her, I hold her in high esteem, I celebrate her very being,

This translation intrigues me; also the fact that some posters say it means: having sex with a woman; I'm not saying it's not true but have not heard this in my 51 years of french speaking life; I have just spent 15 minutes looking in different dictionaries; cannot see anything about sex and honor; may be a regional expression (which region ) in France. Although it's not to say that sex cannot be honorable, LOL......

Christina

I've never heard that meaning of honorer in French, either, but I wouldn't as much as hanl et al. (I do know some French argot for such situations and that isn't one of the phrases). Mitchdesj' phrase sounds good to me, as that is the meaning, I guess - or else je l'estime.

<<Quand on veut honorer les gens, il faut que ce soit à leur manière, et non pas à la nôtre.>>... Celine

so, does she want a favorite English poem translated into French?

I also would advise that an English poem not be translated into French, especially one with such phrases which are not that common even in English. Poetry is partly for the sound of the language, and I just don't care for translated poetry that well when I know the original version (in French or English). Honor has several meanings in both languages that make that sort of difficult IMO

rickmav

Thank you all for your assistance. Seeing that there are different interpretations and opinions, I better play it safe and stick with the English. My mother's grandmother was from France and the poem was in her things when she died. We don't know if it was translated into English from the French, or it was a poem my great-grandmother found and loved in English. It was written in her hand so obviously she'd seen it somewhere and copied it down. There's no author nor even an intact title, the piece of paper is in fairly bad condition - we've always thought it was because she'd handled it so often. My great grandmother, Alphonsine Lalliot, had to leave her own mother in France behind when she emigrated and never saw her again.

I thought it would be something special for my mother on her 65th birthday to have the engraving on the watch my family is giving her as a gift.

Denise, it will be interesting to hear what your mother has to say.

Thanks again, everyone.

Joelle

"Je lui rends hommage", or in a more direct way, "je te rends hommage", sounds pretty good to me!

mitchdesj

Joelle, shame on me for forgetting the "s"
on rends....... first person singular.....

Joelle

Don't worry! French grammar always is complicated!!!

Florence

Bonjour Rick,

Two good alternatives from Mitch and Joelle:

Je lui rends honneur

Je lui rends hommage

I think the second is better since "hommage" implies respect, admiration, and gratefulness, thus conveying the meaning of the poem.


Hanl and Christina,

Vous n'êtes pas au bout de vos surprises avec les possibilités de la langue française ;-)

PS: I've checked in the "Petit Robert" about the possible meanings of "honorer" ...

BTilke

There was a headline in yesterday's Le Soir (a French-language Belgian newspaper): Le Petit Sablon honore les heros. (referring to two 16th century Belgian nobles who resisted Philippe II and were beheaded). I don't think the editors meant anything other than the straightforward meaning--to honor someone--and they seemed pretty confident their French speaking readers would interpret the headline the same way.