# FR: I have been having problems with my computer lately



## javo144

I'm wondering how to say:
I have been having problems with my computer (lately, or recently).

Here's my attempt:
J'ai des problèmes avec mon ordinateur.

To me, that translates to:
_I have some problems with my computer_

and it doesn't really seem to say the same thing as
_I have been having problems_ with my computer

Is there a way to say this in French that is closer to how we'd say it in English, or am I just searching for too literal of a translation???


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## b1947420

Best from a francophone but I would say "J'ai eu des problèms avec mon ordinateur"


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## LV4-26

I'm wondering.
Would the phrase...
_I've been having some problems......_
...be totally unambiguous to all native English speakers?

My doubt concerns the use of the present perfect continuous (as opposed to the simple past). Does it suggest that I'm still experiencing the same problems now? Or rather that the computer may be working fine at the moment but, since I haven't found or fixed the ultimate cause yet, the problems are most likely to occur again? In other words, I'm basically opposing continuity to repetition as I think the present perfect continuous can convey both aspects.
Moreover, I suspect we can't even exclude one last possibility: the problems have indeed been fixed, only very recently.

Based on that (and provided my doubt is legitimate)
_J'ai eu des problèmes avec mon ordinateur (ces dernierts temps)_
tends to suggest the problems have been solved.

_J'ai des problèmes avec mon ordinateur (depuis quelque temps)_
tends to suggest I'm still experiencing them, though not necessarily on a permanent basis.


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## arundhati

Continuous tenses can't be translated litterally in french, you always have to convey the meaning with "additionnal words".
I would go for :
"J'ai des problèmes avec mon ordinateur en ce moment".


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## javo144

Thank you! That is all very helpful information. Since the problems with the computer reoccur continuously, I would have to add the words: _depuis quelque temps_ or _en ce moment._


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## geostan

Yes, and one way of expressing recently or lately using the present tense would be:

_J'ai des problèmes avec mon ordinateur depuis peu._


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## Elle Paris

J'ai des ennuies avec mon ordinateur depuis un bon moment.


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## geostan

Elle Paris said:


> J'ai des ennuies avec mon ordinateur depuis un bon moment.



But _depuis un bon moment_ would not translate _recently_ or _lately_.


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## Lacuzon

Hi,

_Depuis peu, en ce moment_ and _ces derniers temps_ seem accurate to me.


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## Elle Paris

OK, J'ai des ennuis avec mon ordinateur dernièrement.
lately- dernièrement
problems/issues- ennuis


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## LV4-26

Elle Paris said:


> OK, J'ai des ennuis avec mon ordinateur dernièrement.
> lately- dernièrement
> problems/issues- ennuis


I tend (but that may be only me) to use _dernièrement_ with the _passé composé_ rather than the _présent_.

As for the word _problème_ we've long adopted this anglicism (?) for pretty much anything and everything.
_Ennuis_ would work but _problèmes_ is the most common, all-purpose term we use.


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## brumeux

LV4-26 said:


> Would the phrase...
> _I've been having some problems......_
> ...be totally unambiguous to all native English speakers?
> 
> My doubt concerns the use of the present perfect continuous (as opposed to the simple past). Does it suggest that I'm still experiencing the same problems now?


 
I think that "I've been having some problems with my computer lately" without any additional context suggests the problems are ongoing. Along these lines, if I said:

_Ces jours-ci j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_

would this be similar in meaning to "I have been having some problems ... lately"? Would it suggest the problems are ongoing?

I see "_ces jours-ci_" plus _passé imparfait_ now and then, and I've never been able to figure out the exact sense of time being expressed, since it is action in the past but brought up to the present by "_ces jours-ci_."

Merci d'avance


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## LV4-26

_Ces jours-ci, j'ai des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_
would mean that they're indeed ongoing.

_Ces jours-ci, j'ai eu des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_
means your computer is now working fine. To me, and without any additional context, it tends to suggest the problems haven't been corrected for good and that they may occur again.

_Ces jours-ci, j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_
implies the problems have been solved. However, it still requires a follow-up clause to confirm it. Something like
_mais maintenant tout va bien_
or _mais je les ai résolus. _

But, brumeux, that's only _my_ take on it. Other natives may disagree on some particular details.


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## brumeux

LV4-26 said:


> _Ces jours-ci, j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_
> implies the problems have been solved. However, it still requires a follow-up clause to confirm it. Something like
> _mais maintenant tout va bien_
> or _mais je les ai résolus. _


 
Thanks, LV4-26. That's actually the reverse of what I was expecting. I had translated this as: _These days I've been having some computer problems_ which to me implies the problems are ongoing. So to compare: 

_Ces jours-là, j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur _(happened in the past, problems solved for sure)
_Ces jours-ci, j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_ (was happening recently, problems likely solved, but ambiguous without confirming language)
_En ce moment, j'ai des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_ (in the present, problems ongoing. I'm assuming that _passé imparfait_ along with _en ce moment_ would not sound right)

Thanks for the help with this; I've been puzzling over this construction for awhile.

Hoping not to get too far off the original question but here is another example from my French course:

[...]


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## b1947420

_



Ces jours-là, j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur (happened in the past, problems solved for sure)
		
Click to expand...

_I don't understand how you can say "_problems solved for sure"_ using this construction.
If the the action is completed "*happened* in the past" then to my mind we need to say "Ces jours-là J'ai eu des problèmes etc." The action having been completed in the past.


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## brumeux

Maybe I have just figured out the answer to my own question: Can I translate 

_Ces jours-ci, j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_ 

as "Just the other day I was having problems with my computer." This conveys past action, but recent past action, sounds like problems are not ongoing, but they could be. 

[...]

Maybe I was being too literal with my translation of _ces jours-ci_, thinking it had to include the present as in "right now."



b1947420 said:


> I don't understand how you can say "_problems solved for sure"_ using this construction.
> If the the action is completed "*happened* in the past" then to my mind we need to say "Ces jours-là J'ai eu des problèmes etc." The action having been completed in the past.


 
Sorry, I admit I was winging it with that one, but I was curious. I was translating _-ci_ and _-là _as these days / those days, and thinking that "(Back in) those days I was having problems with my computer" sounded like "problems resolved." I should have left that version out of my question  or started another thread for it.


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## LV4-26

_Ces jours-ci, j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur_
The _ces jours-ci_ suggests it's very recent but it isn't contradictory with the idea that the problems have been solved. ==>

_Ces jours-ci, j'avais des problèmes avec mon ordinateur mais ce matin, j'ai enfin trouvé la solution._

_Ces jours-ci_ may refer to, say, the last three of four days.

_Ces jours-là_ doesn't work. At least in everyday contemporary French.
_Ce jour-là_ does, however. But of course, its meaning is different.

If I wanted to go further in the past, I would say
L'autre jour, j'avais/j'ai eu...
Le mois dernier, j'avais/j'ai eu...
A cette époque, j'avais/j'ai eu...

To me, because it's less recent, all 6 (3 x 2) suggest everything is going fine now.
The _imparfait_ and the_ passé composé_ are pretty much interchangeable in these sentences.
Only, the _imparfai_t emphasizes the continuous aspect while the _passé composé_ is more neutral in this respect.

I assume it's more or less the same difference as in English between
_I had problems (j"ai eu)
I was having problems (j'avais)._


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## brumeux

Thanks, LV4-26, you have been extremely helpful!  I'm still unclear on a couple of nuances, but I will ask them by starting another thread.


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