DerekJ Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I thought I understood the general meaning of "L'affaire" ..... Case or business... that general kind of meaning.However I've just seen these two examples where I'm guessing it is being used in some sort of affirmatory way?Any chair will doN'importe quelle chaise fera l'affaireAny (one) will doN'importe laquelle fera l'affaireI can't work out why "l'affaire is needed in these examples? Any thoughts please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Will do the "job" ? Will be suitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 cela fera bien l'affaire - that'll do nicely or that'll come in handyJ'ai ton affaire - I've got exactly what you wantc'est une autre affaire - that's a different kettle of fishen voilà une affaire - what a complicated business!It is indeed without a good dictionary - my recommendation is the big ("Senior") Robert & Collins (I have the electronic version on my main PC and two copies of the book - one upstairs, one downstairs ... well, it's heavy!):http://www.lerobert.com/dictionnaires-bilingues/anglais/le-robert-collins-2.htmlNB the option to "feuilleter" some of the pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekJ Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 Thanks to both of you for your replies... helps make sense of it. I could understand the basic sentences with no problem but it was the additional "l'affaire" that threw me and I wondered why it was necessary.I'll follow up on the dictionary... I'm currently using the Collins Robert Concise.I had a "feuilleter" [:D]... I'll have a closer look later.Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 c'est une autre affaire = c'est une autre paire de manches. I like that one.J'aime bien les feuilletes (savoury puff pastry)- ou les mille-feuilles. Mais j'aime bien feuilleter les dictionaires aussi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 will suffice/will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekJ Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 Odile, Norman.... thanks.But could I just say...Any chair will doN'importe quelle chaise fera Any (one) will doN'importe laquelle fera Leaving the "l'affaire" off or would that be incorrect, not understood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weegie Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 It then leaves the question "Will do what?". Unlike in English "Will do" won't stand on its own it has to be qualified (completed) in French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 No. It's an 'expression' .You need to use the whole thing.Looking back over the thread I like ChristineAnimals 'will do the job' best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 weird and fascinating things, languages! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 remember it is a faux ami - on fait des affaires avec quelqu'un (business) mais on n'a pas une affaire avec quelqu'un (une liaison!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote user="DerekJ"]Odile, Norman.... thanks.But could I just say...Any chair will doN'importe quelle chaise fera Any (one) will doN'importe laquelle fera Leaving the "l'affaire" off or would that be incorrect, not understood?[/quote]In that case you would use "ira" instead of "fera"N'importe quelle chaise ira (or irait) Any chair will go (instead of do).Got me? [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 remember La Marseillaise 'ah ca ira, ca ira, ca ira' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote user="odile"]remember La Marseillaise 'ah ca ira, ca ira, ca ira'[/quote]It must be a different Marseillaise from the one I know... [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 allons enfants de la Courille le jour de boire est arrivé..Décoiffons chacun sept bouteilles et ne laissons rien sur les platsA table Citoyensvidons tous les flacons..buvez !mangez! Qu'un vin bien pur humecte vos poumons.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekJ Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote user="Christine Animal"]In that case you would use "ira" instead of "fera"N'importe quelle chaise ira (or irait) Any chair will go (instead of do).Got me? [:D] [/quote]Got you [:D] Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote]remember it is a faux ami - on fait des affaires avec quelqu'un(business) mais on n'a pas une affaire avec quelqu'un (une liaison!)[/quote]La liaison. Does that mean that les homards have less "fun" than les hommes ... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote]allons enfants de la Courille le jour de boire est arrivé..[/quote]Great stuff - I'd never come across that before. My research shows that it's la "Courtille" rather than "Courille" and, quite clearly, one would likely have made a liaison there ...La CourtilleLa Marseillaise de la CourtilleAutres couplets de la Marseillaise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 sorry Claire - as you know I am not French! So which song is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 It's one of the "Chants de la révolution" of undetermined origins: http://cm1cm2.ceyreste.free.fr/chants.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 thanks, sorry again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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