French to English: recover the timeline and the people
Do not translate every French present as an English present
A French present with depuis often reaches back into the past while remaining true now. English normally marks that continuing connection explicitly. “Elle travaille ici depuis lundi” becomes “She has been working here since Monday.” “She works here since Monday” carries French structure into an English sentence. For a period rather than a starting point, English uses for: the difference is between how long something has lasted and when it began.
A negative French sentence deserves its own timeline check. Not having performed an action during a period is different from performing an action continuously. Determine whether the message describes an ongoing absence, a completed event, or a current state. This is especially useful in overdue-delivery messages and descriptions of symptoms, where a small tense change can alter the reported sequence.
The passé composé does not prescribe have
The French compound past can report an event at a finished time. “J’ai envoyé le dossier hier” is naturally “I sent the file yesterday,” not “I have sent the file yesterday.” English normally uses the simple past with a completed time expression such as yesterday. Without that expression, a present-perfect version may be appropriate when the present result is the point.
Conversely, the imparfait can describe background, a repeated past habit, or an activity in progress. These meanings do not all require was doing. In an account of an old routine, used to or a simple past verb may read more naturally. Keep the contrast between the background and the event that interrupted it rather than assigning one English tense to each French ending.
Identify what on and vous refer to
On may stand for the speaker’s group, people generally, or an unspecified actor. In an invitation, “On se retrouve à midi ?” can be “Shall we meet at noon?” Translating on as one would give this everyday suggestion an unexpectedly detached voice. In a notice about general practice, people or an English passive may instead be the useful choice.
English you does not preserve the tu/vous distinction in its pronoun. Respect can still be conveyed through a considerate request, an appropriate greeting, and a suitable closing. Do not compensate for every vous by adding sir or madam. Where several recipients must be distinguished from one, name the group or use an unambiguous plural phrase.
Remove French-shaped questions
French can signal an informal question through intonation or punctuation alone. Standard English questions with ordinary present-tense verbs usually need do or does. Translate the question’s purpose rather than retaining a declarative word order. Also keep indirect questions in statement order: a request to explain where something is should not contain the inversion of a direct question. Read the final question as an English request someone would actually send, while preserving any deadline or condition in the French original.
Language references
French distinguishes familiar tu from formal or plural vous. Verify that the chosen form matches your audience. Check gender agreement in adjectives, especially when the text gives little context.
English words such as “bank” and “right” have several meanings. Add a full sentence to help resolve them. English “you” does not distinguish formal address or singular from plural; specify the audience when reviewing the result.