C'est moi encore une fois

[Pads]

on dit aussi que, malgré les coups, cela ne passera jamais 

One also says dispite all the knocks that I never give up ?

I know passera means to pass (future) but could it also mean to give up?  

or do you have any other Ideas ?

 

 

Many thanks

[Chancer]

To me it means "they/we/I also say that despite the knocks (or could possibly be attempts), that will never happen"

I am fairly confident of the last bit.

Edit, No i am not, it would need to be se passera! [:)]

[Pads]

Maybe it could be despite all the knocks I never stop.....

Its knocks Im sure ...because the next bit is she thinks he is getting hit (misunderstanding) 

before hand ....he says that he has faults ...I sulk, everyone one says that is my biggest fault , one also says

Malgré les coups, cela ne passera jamais .

[Pads]

I never let go ....possibly ? 

[5-element]

"cela ne passera jamais" = "it will never stop".

[Pads]

Many thanks...... ;)

 

I give up with this play it makes no sence at all ...or the 2 characters are just talking a load of rubbish !!! ( stamp stamp....huff puff )

Oh well time to give up for to night and drown my sorrows in a bucket of wine .....

[idun]

Don't give up Pads, you are working so hard. And things are sometimes 'fluid' in their interpretation. Ofcourse you will get some of it wrong, but isn't that what the teacher is there for, to help and explain why it is one thing and not another?

[Patf]

Meanings for "passer" come to nearly 4 columns in our dictionary!

In the sense of your example I would have thought it means "happen" eg it will never come to pass/ happen.

[allanb]

[quote user="Pads"]...malgré les coups, cela ne passera jamais... [/quote]Difficult to answer without the context.  For instance, if you were trying to knock a peg through a hole that wasn't quite big enough, it could mean "It doesn't matter how often you hit it, it's not going to go through!"

[Chancer]

I do agree, in general Pads you pose your questions without enough other information regarding the context, this time you did d so but it was not enough, its hard to know in advance, in any case I am sure that all of the people on here trying to help you would be able to come up with the correct translation if they had read a few sentences preceding and after the one in question, as has been pointed out the correct translation may not be a translation at all of the words in question but that of the meaning conveyed by the words. 

Now that I spend more time reading in French than English my brain has adapted to do this automatically, in fact I am not reading as intently as you are, its the same in conversation, I bet you dont stop the speaker while you consult your dictionary every time you hear a phrase like the above.

[cooperlola]

I'd go for 5-E's version as she's the closest to bi-lingual as any who've responded (would you know she's not English if you read her posts because I wouldn't?)

 

I'm with the others though, in that I believe we do need rather more context than you give us - especially since the humour in the play (from what I gather from what you have told us) is about misunderstanding between the two protagonists.  I suspect that part of the problem, therefore, is that the humour is lost precisely because words like "passer" and "coup" have several contradictory or semi-contradictory meanings in French and it's well-nigh impossible to convey this in English.  But I'm extrapolating a bit simply because we can't see the rest of the exchange from what you've posted, Pads. 

Don't despair.  My father always said that he bitterly regretted having taken his degrees in English and not Maths because he felt that the endless studying and disecting of the works of literature which he had had to do, had taken the pleasure out of them completely and he never really enjoyed them afterwards for what they were.  That is the nature of study, I'm afraid. 

Don't take it too literally, Pads, and try to get the sense, not the literal translation  of every single word.  If your teacher wants you to translate the thing to death so that the original sense is completely lost, then change your teacher.  But perhaps she has chosen an ambiguous text for precisely this reason - to demonstrate that word-for-word literal translation is pointless. To make your point and convey meaning is the true purpose of language, after all.

[Chancer]

It also highlights just how far out an on-line translation from google or bablefish could be, why dont you try a few of these passages that way Pads, I would love to see the result.

So English is not 5 elements motehr tongue, I am flabbergasted mind you my ex-French teachers spoken and written English is better than mine although the combination of too perfect and just a little mechanical speech combined with her accent betrays her origin.

[idun]

Not just 5E, there is Clair, Frenchie and Eric too who are all french and write brilliant english.

 

 

[cooperlola]

[quote user="idun"]

Not just 5E, there is Clair, Frenchie and Eric too who are all french and write brilliant english.

 

 

[/quote]I repeat : "the closest to bi-lingual as any who've responded "

My point being that I'd rather trust her version than any of the Brits on this thread.  Of course I'm aware that she is not alone.  I certainly cannot write French as well as any of them writes English.  I've been mistaken for French face to face (and even then, not for long), but never in writing![:-))]

[idun]

Ah yes, you are right there.

I have been mistaken for being french, once in Paris, when a lady asked if I was from Provence, at which point a couple of blokes in our group could not stop laughing. And in Canada, 'nough said about that.

[allanb]

Going back to the OP, it might be useful to know three related French verbs that can cause confusion (but they are all useful):

passer = to pass, in many senses.

se passer = to happen.

- qu'est-ce qui se passe?  = what's happening?  what's going on?

(famous mistranslation: "what is it that passes itself?")

dépasser = to pass [something], meaning to go past it.

- je voulais dépasser le camion = I wanted to overtake the lorry

[andrew44]

'Cela ne passera jamais'

Could be said by optimists contesting Guéant's speed trap ideas - 'That will never be accepted' - 'They'll never get away with that' - as in that idea/proposal/motion will never pass/be passed/ will never get a majority vote.

Could you please tell us what this text is that you're translating. As others have stated, 'Context is All'. Odd extracts are untranslatable.

Good luck,

Andrew 44

[ericd]

[quote user="andrew44"]'Cela ne passera jamais' [/quote]

 

Could also be said of a tractor trying to pass between two houses in a gap far to narrow for the width of its wheels.....

[cooperlola]

[quote user="ericd"]

[quote user="andrew44"]'Cela ne passera jamais' [/quote]

 

Could also be said of a tractor trying to pass between two houses in a gap far to narrow for the width of its wheels.....

[/quote]Whatever his satnav says.