Aptitudes

English translation: abilities

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Aptitudes
English translation:abilities
Entered by: Wyley Powell

03:57 Dec 15, 2019
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Bus/Financial - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Job ads
French term or phrase: Aptitudes
I'm translating several job ads for a kitchen design company. Each ad lists a number of required "compétences" and several "aptitudes."

Both terms can be translated as "skills" - so, I'm not sure how to differentiate between them.

Thanks.
Wyley Powell
Canada
Local time: 16:35
abilities
Explanation:
Reference: Larousse Advanced French/English Dictionary

"skills and abilities"
Selected response from:

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 16:35
Grading comment
Thanks very much.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5aptitude
SafeTex
4 +1abilities
Barbara Cochran, MFA


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
abilities


Explanation:
Reference: Larousse Advanced French/English Dictionary

"skills and abilities"

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 16:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thanks very much.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  John ANTHONY
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, John.

agree  Chakib Roula
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Chakib.

neutral  philgoddard: Ability is a synonym of skill in my opinion.
12 hrs
  -> It can be, but the expression "skills and abilities" is quite ubiquitous in this kind of context.

agree  Verginia Ophof
14 hrs
  -> Thanks, Verginia.

disagree  B D Finch: If someone has an aptitude for something, that means they have the capacity to acquire the skills in that field, not that the skills are already acquired. "Ability" is too vague.//We must agree to differ.
1 day 7 hrs
  -> Disagree w/your disagree, because something as informal as this job ad sounds would not use "aptitudes", certainly not in the US.

disagree  Daryo: too vague - loses the difference between "what you already know" and "your capacity to learn something new" - and it's NOT "splitting hairs" - in some cases the practical consequences of the difference between the two can be HUGE if you get it wrong!
1 day 20 hrs
  -> And your point of view is "too specific", since the text seems to be nothing more than a "job ads", and not part of a formal company document./Educated, highly experienced translators know that CONTEXT IS KEY.
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
aptitude


Explanation:
Hello
I pretty much agree with Phil on this (see discussion) and guess that we all feel sometimes that if we use the exact same word, we are not "earning our money". Yet, "aptitude" does exist in both languages and with the exact same meaning as far as I know so why reject it outright?

SafeTex
France
Local time: 21:35
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 19

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard
2 hrs
  -> Thanks but you were the one to suggest it first

agree  erwan-l
12 hrs
  -> Thanks Erwan

agree  B D Finch: If someone has an aptitude for something, that means they have the capacity to acquire the skills in that field, not that the skills are already acquired.
16 hrs
  -> Thanks and I agree comptelely that it's kind of an innate ability like someone has an apptitude for figures.

neutral  Barbara Cochran, MFA: Something as informal as this job ad sounds would not use "aptitudes", certainly not in the US. Besides, you haven't offered any reference./Why not use one if you have one (looks like I have two-see above)!!!
17 hrs
  -> Hello Barbara: Do you really need references for "aptitude"???

agree  AllegroTrans
1 day 1 hr
  -> Thanks AllegroTrans

agree  Daryo: exactly that! False friends do exist, but it's not an excuse to be obsessed / paranoid / blindfolded .. about literal translations being a priori wrong / of lesser quality & similar.
1 day 4 hrs
  -> Thanks Daryo. Imagine translating a language pair where no shared words exist. That must be much harder.
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