Est-ce que ta copine sait monter à cheval?

English translation: Does your (girl)friend know how to ride?

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Est-ce que ta copine sait monter à cheval?
English translation:Does your (girl)friend know how to ride?
Entered by: Tony M

16:50 Mar 17, 2018
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / child's homework
French term or phrase: Est-ce que ta copine sait monter à cheval?
https://translate.google.fr/?hl=fr#fr/en/Est-ce que ta copin...
Fabrice59
France
Local time: 01:02
Does your friend know how to ride?
Explanation:
In EN, if we use 'ride' without some other qualifier (bicycle, waves, etc.), then it will always be taken as referring to horse-riding — we have 'riding schools' and 'riding hats' and 'riding boots', none of which needs 'horse-' with it.

Obviously 'monter à cheval' is an expression not meaning 'get on a horse' (without going anywhere?), but simply 'ride'

I think 'know' is appropiate in this instance, since it is clearly a specific skill that needs to be learned.

In the language of kids of an age to whom this sort of homework would be addressed, 'copine' very often specifically implies 'girlfriend', as distinct from simple 'a friend who is a girl' (e.g. typically 'une pote'!) This is current modern FR as it is spoken over here in France by kids of this age-group, and I think it would be entirely justifiable here to use 'girlfriend' — especially in the context of a school exercise, and to fully render the presumably deliberate use of 'copine' rather than just 'ami'.

Of course, if this were someone asking another girl about her friend (who is not necessarily her 'significant other'!), then the situation would be different.

If people ask you "Est-ce que vous avez une copine ?", they don't mean 'do you have any female friends?' — they very clearly and pointedly mean 'do you have a (specific) girlfriend?'

It is just unfortunate that in EN, 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' have this often unwelcome connotation; we need another word for 'girl/boy-friend', but sadly, we don't have a good substitute.

In the specific context here, I'd judge that the writer specifically used 'copine' as they wanted it to mean 'girlfriend' in the romantically-attached sense (IF they imagined a scenario talking to a boy) — otherwise, had they wished to be gender-neutral, they could have said just 'ami'.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 01:02
Grading comment
Merci
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5Does your friend know how to ride?
Tony M
5 +1to know HOW to + INF
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
4Does your friend know how to ride horses?
Barbara Cochran, MFA


Discussion entries: 13





  

Answers


18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Does your friend know how to ride horses?


Explanation:
Take it from someone (me) who rode all kinds of horses for years!

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 20:02
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: 'friend' is arguably under-translation here for 'copine'; and adding 'horses' like this seems to presuppose some alternative: "... but not donkeys" that is not implied in the FR text. / Larousse is hardly an authority on current vernacular usage :)
1 hr
  -> "Copine" translated into AMERICAN English, and merci a Dieu, I AM American, would not be "girlfriend" but "friend", per my source, Larousse.
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
Does your friend know how to ride?


Explanation:
In EN, if we use 'ride' without some other qualifier (bicycle, waves, etc.), then it will always be taken as referring to horse-riding — we have 'riding schools' and 'riding hats' and 'riding boots', none of which needs 'horse-' with it.

Obviously 'monter à cheval' is an expression not meaning 'get on a horse' (without going anywhere?), but simply 'ride'

I think 'know' is appropiate in this instance, since it is clearly a specific skill that needs to be learned.

In the language of kids of an age to whom this sort of homework would be addressed, 'copine' very often specifically implies 'girlfriend', as distinct from simple 'a friend who is a girl' (e.g. typically 'une pote'!) This is current modern FR as it is spoken over here in France by kids of this age-group, and I think it would be entirely justifiable here to use 'girlfriend' — especially in the context of a school exercise, and to fully render the presumably deliberate use of 'copine' rather than just 'ami'.

Of course, if this were someone asking another girl about her friend (who is not necessarily her 'significant other'!), then the situation would be different.

If people ask you "Est-ce que vous avez une copine ?", they don't mean 'do you have any female friends?' — they very clearly and pointedly mean 'do you have a (specific) girlfriend?'

It is just unfortunate that in EN, 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' have this often unwelcome connotation; we need another word for 'girl/boy-friend', but sadly, we don't have a good substitute.

In the specific context here, I'd judge that the writer specifically used 'copine' as they wanted it to mean 'girlfriend' in the romantically-attached sense (IF they imagined a scenario talking to a boy) — otherwise, had they wished to be gender-neutral, they could have said just 'ami'.

Tony M
France
Local time: 01:02
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 348
Grading comment
Merci

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jennifer White: agreed with this before.Where did it go??/ Oh, well in my book "girlfriend" is fine and not an "outdated, sexist term". Whatever next!!
6 mins
  -> Thanks, a lot, Jennifer! I deleted my previous answer in order to be able to modify it, as above!

agree  Beatriz Ramírez de Haro: Same here.
37 mins
  -> Thanks, Beatriz, I appreciate your support!

agree  Jennifer Levey: I certainly agree that explicit reference to horses is superfluous here. But in my native English (Essex, UK), I'd simply say "Does she ride?" - and I wouldn't give a proverbial d**n about sexism since we don't even know if the ST is post Weinstein.
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Robin! I agree, though there could be a nuance of meaning "Does she know how to ride, if i can find a horse for her?" — as distinct from "does she go riding?" (maybe she's not able to right now).

agree  Josephine Cassar: with above + your contribution in Discussion box
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, Josephine!

agree  AllegroTrans: The boyfriens/girlfriend debate is redundant if this is referring to the friends of children; see my DBox comment
1 day 1 hr
  -> Thanks, C!
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1 day 1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
savoir + INF
to know HOW to + INF


Explanation:
.

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 01:02
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 119

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
7 mins
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