My French sucks

[rgraham666]

Which is sad for a Canadian, but there it is.

Anyway, I need some help with a phrase.

I want to use the words, "My love, I'm so sorry."

I know 'mon amour' is correct for 'my love'. But, if it's possible, is there a more intimate version of these words?

And the only apology I know in French is 'Pardonez mois'. Which is not what I want. This is an everyday apology and not nearly strong enough to be used in this case.

Thanks in advance.

 

[English Lady]

from my GCSE French days I do believe "I am sorry"

is

Je Suis Desole (with one of those lines over the last e that I can't do)


But I'm not 100 % I have the spelling right

 

[oggbashan]

French Literotica

Put your question in the French Lit forum - you will have to scroll down to see that forum.

The answer may take a few days to come, but will be from a genuine Francophone.

I could answer, but my French is generations or centuries out of date.

Og

 

[dysphemist]

You could go with "Chéri(e), je suis si désolé(e)" which is "Darling, I am so sorry".

The (e)'s are dependent on if you are addressing a female or are a female, respectively.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Just a vote from me for "Cheri(e)"

or mon/ma cher(e)

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Ask Vana, she's in France right now.

and you know what my french is like....lol.

 

[Straight-8]

You could go with "Chéri(e), je suis si désolé(e)" which is "Darling, I am so sorry".

The (e)'s are dependent on if you are addressing a female or are a female, respectively.

I'm somewhat out of touch with the idiom but I think dy is about right, one slight tweak: "Mon cher amour, je suis si desole"

 

[FallingToFly]

Je regrette, mon amour, "I'm sorry, my love"
Je regrette, mon ame "I'm sorry, my soul"

At least, that's the way I would write it.

I know lots of pretty little phrases in French from long ago lessons and living with two men who spoke French in bed more often than English, but...

"Je suis desole" is a more formal term, I think.. I think it literally translates into "I am desolate" whereas Je regrette literally translates into "I regret."

 

[Guest]

Ask Vana, she's in France right now.

and you know what my french is like....lol.

It's pretty good, actually.

 

[LadyCibelle]

Which is sad for a Canadian, but there it is.

Anyway, I need some help with a phrase.

I want to use the words, "My love, I'm so sorry."

I know 'mon amour' is correct for 'my love'. But, if it's possible, is there a more intimate version of these words?

And the only apology I know in French is 'Pardonez mois'. Which is not what I want. This is an everyday apology and not nearly strong enough to be used in this case.

Thanks in advance.

You could use: "Mon amour, je suis tellement désolé" or
"Ma chéri/mon chéri, je suis tellement désolée"


If you want to go into more actual speaking it could be as simple as " Chéri/amour/bébé, je m'en veux tellement"

It all depends on the context of your story Rob.

 

[Nirvanadragones]

It depends what the context is, but I would go for:

Mon Amour, je suis si désolé - My Love, I am so sorry

or


Je suis si désolé, mon Amour - I am so sorry, My Love

or

S'il vous plaît me pardonner, mon Amour - Please forgive me, My love

Also remember that the sentence might change depending on whether you are addressing a female or a male. Pm me if you need help, RG

 

[3113]

Which is sad for a Canadian.

Shame, shame, shame! No going to Quebec for you!

 

[LadyCibelle]

It depends what the context is, but I would go for:

Mon Amour, je suis si désolé - My Love, I am so sorry

or


Je suis si désolé, mon Amour - I am so sorry, My Love

or

S'il vous plaît me pardonner, mon Amour - Please forgive me, My love

Also remember that the sentence might change depending on whether you are addressing a female or a male. Pm me if you need help, RG

I'm sorry to say but it's not "natural" French speaking. The correct translation for Please forgive me, my love is "S'il te plaît, pardonnes-moi mon amour" or if it's really formal it would be "S'il vous plaît, pardonnez-moi mon amour"

 

[rgraham666]

Oop. Context!

The dialogue will be internal. The character thinking is my vampire, born Alsace in the 18th Century. Also, he was minor nobility when he was alive. He's getting the first look at the woman he loves after he left her three years before.

Yeah, I'm getting Georges and Diane back together. She's not been doing well since they parted. So his first sight is a bit of a shock. I'm such a romantic.

So maybe Ogg's centuries out of date French might be more appropriate.

And sarahh. Are you commenting on my spoken skill, or my oral skill.

 

[Guest]

Oop. Context!

The dialogue will be internal. The character thinking is my vampire, born in the 18th Century. He's getting the first look at the woman he loves after he left her three years before.

Yeah, I'm getting Georges and Diane back together. She's not been doing well since they parted. So his first sight is a bit of a shock. I'm such a romantic.

So maybe Ogg's centuries out of date French might be more appropriate.

And sarahh. Are you commenting on my spoken skill, or my oral skill.

I knew you would understand what I meant, Rob.

Oral. All the way.

 

[rgraham666]

I knew you would understand what I meant, Rob.

Oral. All the way.

That should keep me smiling for a day or two.

 

[Guest]

That should keep me smiling for a day or two.

 

[CharleyH]

Which is sad for a Canadian, but there it is.

Anyway, I need some help with a phrase.

I want to use the words, "My love, I'm so sorry."

I know 'mon amour' is correct for 'my love'. But, if it's possible, is there a more intimate version of these words?

And the only apology I know in French is 'Pardonez mois'. Which is not what I want. This is an everyday apology and not nearly strong enough to be used in this case.

Thanks in advance.

Aren't you and I pathetic? LOL - As a fellow Canadian, I know more intimate spanish phrases than french, but c'est la vie. Je suis is I am - I don't not recall "so" and I think sorry is a variation of ... but Og is right. When asking on the French thread, I might also be prone to qualify if it is the Parisian or Quebecois version of the phrase that you want.

 

[rgraham666]

Aren't you and I pathetic? LOL - As a fellow Canadian, I know more intimate spanish phrases than french, but c'est la vie. Je suis is I am - I don't not recall "so" and I think sorry is a variation of ... but Og is right. When asking on the French thread, I might also be prone to qualify if it is the Parisian or Quebecois version of the phrase that you want.

I know more German than French.

Worse, most of my German has to do with things that blow other things up like Panzerkampfwagen and Fliegerabwherkanone.

Can't use those in an intimate situation.

 

[kendo1]

I know more German than French.

Worse, most of my German has to do with things that blow other things up like Panzerkampfwagen and Fliegerabwherkanone.

Can't use those in an intimate situation.

Come up and see my panzerkampfwagen.

It has a certain je ne sais quio...


Ken

 

[Tom Collins]

Come up and see my panzerkampfwagen.

It has a certain je ne sais quio...


Ken

Mmmmmmmmmmm...a Scot speaking French...now that really melts my butter!

 

[oggbashan]

I still think that my suggestion above that you seek help from the French Literotica forum is the way to go, IF you give them the context.

You can post the question in English. Most of them understand English very well and they are few but friendly.

Given the context, I doubt whether he would express himself as intimately as your English version. Minor French nobility of the 18th Century would be unlikely to tutoyer (to use the 'tu' form) even in bed.

Partners and lovers would address each other as Monsieur (or Comte or whatever) and Madame.

"S'il vous plaît, pardonnez-moi ma chere Madame" might be OK - BUT I think that the 'S'il vous plaît' is a modern contraction and the ancient form MIGHT be 'Si vous plairez'.

The difference is better shown in English:

Modern: "My love, I'm so sorry."

Ancient: "Madam, I regret that my news (or action or whatever) has caused you distress. Please accept my humble apologies and my assurance that I am forever at your service to command."

Og

 

[CharleyH]

"S'il vous plaît, pardonnez-moi ma chere Madame" might be OK - BUT I think that the 'S'il vous plaît' is a modern contraction and the ancient form MIGHT be 'Si vous plairez'.
Og

I dunno Og, my French is rusty, but not that rusty as to not get what you just wrote LOL . As I said before - your idea of asking on the French thread is a great one and I really think that one must also ascertain whether they want Parisian or Quebecois - its kind of the same asking a born and raised European Spaniard or Portuguese if they understand Mexican or Brazilian. They are the same language, but not really.

Edit to add: one could also make the argument for English, unfortunately not in the same way.

 

[oggbashan]

Accurate or Understandable?

One of the difficulties about writing Historical Fiction is how far do you go to portray the period accurately?

If you do extensive research, as Georgette Heyer used to do, and document all your research meticulously, as she did, you could write historically accurate conversations - which she DIDN'T because it wouldn't convey her meaning.

If the dialogue is perfect for the 18th Century, a 21st Century reader would not, unless they had done the same research as you had, understand the conversations in the same way as an 18th Century person would. The language and customs have changed significantly. Allusions that were valid then are meaningless today.

Even in the 18th Century there were misunderstandings because language and social customs varied over what we now would think as short distances - because travel was rare, expensive and dangerous. 'Society' in any European country was a comparatively small proportion of the general population and that 'Society' set its own agreed conventions and spoke its own language. Beyond that 'Society' those conventions did not apply.

In London the gulf between 'Society' and 'Trade' was vast. The distance between The City of London and the West End could be walked easily. A City Trader, however rich, could not expect to join 'Society'.

In the mid 19th Century, Henry Mayhew, a sociologist, mapped London showing by colour coding which streets were occupied by what classes of people. The physical distance between 'the upper class', gentlemen who had independent incomes, employed many servants and lived in mansions - and the 'habitually criminal poor devoid of any virtue' could be as little as a hundred metres. The social gap was impossible to bridge. Neither class would be likely to understand the speech of the other without considerable effort.

I think you have to write Historical Fiction only by hinting at the differences between then and now or else you will lose the reader.

In this specific case, a more than usually formal MODERN French expression would convey the atmosphere better than an accurate 18th Century phrase.

Og - pontificating again.

PS: Ask the French!!

 

[rgraham666]

Thanks Ogg, Charley.

My vision of Georges doesn't make him so hoity-toity. He is, for a vampire, rather flexible and willing to adapt to the times. Also he had to flee The Terror. Well, most aristocrats did, or died. But he'd been singled out as he was rather a moderate and wasn't at all happy with the direction the Revolution was taking.

He wasn't a big fan of Louis either though.

Problem with picking the middle of the road is you get hit by traffic going in both directions.

They let you keep tanks over there, kendo? I thought you had gun control in Limey Land.