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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

Il me double

English translation: he overtook me

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Il me double
English translation:he overtook me
Entered by: Drmanu49

22:55 Jun 4, 2015
    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2015-06-08 12:54:09 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)


French to English translations [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Quotes in academic paper
French term or phrase: Il me double
This is a quote from an academic paper on how consumers find their identity by purchasing brand names. For example, one line from the introduction reads: "Brands become individual sanctuary for consumers helping them to deal with the threats of everyday life."

There are various quotes from novels, journals, biographies etc. illustrating individual character's/musicians feelings of alienation, loneliness and other aspects of vulnerability we may possess.

This is another one of the quotes, here describing an incident of damage to a Vespa, and the way the owner is affected. The context reads:

"J’étais avec ma femme je m’arrête au feu rouge, il me double comme ça il voit que le feu était rouge et il recule et il m’embouti la Vespa."

Does the verb "se doubler" refer to doubling up in the car lanes or something?
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:00
he overtakes me
Explanation:
imo

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 heures (2015-06-05 12:56:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or he overtook me.
Selected response from:

Drmanu49
France
Local time: 00:00
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +11he overtakes me
Drmanu49
4 +5He passed me
Terry Richards
Summary of reference entries provided
First entry in dictionary for this verb
Nikki Scott-Despaigne

Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
He passed me


Explanation:
Although "overtake" is technically correct, I would use "pass" here because the scooter rider was stationary. I would only use overtake if both vehicles were moving.


Terry Richards
France
Local time: 00:00
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 28

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Good point!
38 mins
agree  Yvonne Gallagher
1 hr
agree  Victoria Britten: Yes, absolutely - and the right tense, too
2 hrs
agree  writeaway: was too tired to read the actual FR phrase carefully last night, but yes. it's passed in this case. And definitely past tense.
2 hrs
agree  kashew
5 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +11
he overtakes me


Explanation:
imo

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 heures (2015-06-05 12:56:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or he overtook me.

Drmanu49
France
Local time: 00:00
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 84
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Verginia Ophof
2 mins
  -> Thank you.
agree  Jennifer Levey
26 mins
  -> Thank you.
agree  Charles Davis: In practice, "he overtook me"; switching in the present for immediacy is idiomatic in French but not in English.
4 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Daryo
5 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Michele Fauble
6 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Tony M
7 hrs
  -> Thank you Tony.
agree  Lori Cirefice
7 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Martha Webber-Desforges: Assuming Lara is translating into UK English- I believe the English say you "overtake" someone on the road, whereas Americans say you "pass" someone.
9 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Carol Gullidge
10 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Susan Monnereau: agree but would go for the past tense
13 hrs
  -> Thank you.
neutral  kashew: He passed or went by is accurate - see TR's explanation.
14 hrs
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: overtook
1 day 13 hrs
  -> Thank you.
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Reference comments


9 hrs peer agreement (net): +2
Reference: First entry in dictionary for this verb

Reference information:
http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/double...

doubler [duble]
verbe transitif conjugaison
[dépasser - coureur, véhicule] conjugaison to overtake (UK), to pass
je me suis fait doubler par un cycliste I was overtaken by a cyclist

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 119

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Tony M: Ben oui !
3 mins
agree  writeaway: maybe post a definition of dictonary?
2 hrs
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