# faire le point



## Streatveur

What is, please, the English for the French "Faire le point"?

 Thank you in advance

 Streatveur

Moderator's note: several threads have been merged to create this one.


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## Login

Hello Streatveur,

It can mean to summarize, to analyse a situation and report progress, to round-up, to take a fix,...
What's the context here ?


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## Streatveur

Thank you for your answer.
 In a business situation for instance, two or three people working on the same project but separately, they meet, say, once a week to "faire le point", that is to see how far each of them has gone and to let everybody else know their findings, progress...
 I can't find any English word or expression to express this.
 thanks in advance

 Streatveur


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## Login

Then I would say 'to report progress'.
You're welcome !


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## Homer

Hi

I think you may have answered your own question... Would it be something along the lines of "to report on the progress of xxx..."?

It's often simply used as "a progress report".

H.


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## David

Il y en a beaucoup!

Meet...

For an update...
To compare notes...
To bring each other up to date...
To check in...
To chart progress...
For a status report...


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## stevenality

I like David's suggestions. I imagine something like this:

The three members of the project team meet weekly to update one another on their progress.

 or

The three members of the project team meet weekly to compare notes.


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## Mycall

"to make an assessment"


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

the Wordreference dictionary (above) translates "faire le point" into "evaluate the situation". Personally, I would have used "assess the situation". Another dictionary of mine gives "take stock of the situation".


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## victoria1

"faire le point" c'est aussi "to brief"


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## pepskrik

hello , i would like to say in English "faire le point", the context is: i give tennis lessons to a student and we have decided to "faire le point" " with his mum in one month time.
thank's for your suggestions


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## Areyou Crazy

' to assess his progress '


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## casaban

Hi firends
I want to know the meaning of the following phrase. 
"faire un point de la situation." "Faire un point" seems similar to "Faire le point",
but I can't be convinced. Please help me.


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## FAC13

I suggest "to take stock of the situation".


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## pepskrik

hi everyone ! 
I always have a hard time to convey the idea of "faire le point " in English. 
 the context is : someone is giving lessons to a child and every month , the tutor would like to see the mother and talk about the improvement of the student , the things that work well and the others that don't , so as we say in French "faire le point"
thank for your inputs...


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## SteveD

To add to the previous thread mentioned above, you could also say, colloquially, "...to see where we are with..."


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## wordappeal

To "touch base on something" is also a nice alternative business expression you should know


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## LibbyRose

Hi everyone,

I've translated "faire le point" in various contexts however my current translation project has me tearing my hair out literally. I have considered various options including: identify, review, assess but they all seem so awkard in this sentence. The context is professional coaching and personal development. The sentence is: 
*
"F*aites le point et cherchez vos réponses concernant une problématique personnelle ou en lien avec votre travail : confiance en soi, stress, prise de décision, conflits, angoisse."

Thanks in advance


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## emily54321

casaban said:


> Hi firends
> I want to know the meaning of the following phrase.
> "faire un point de la situation." "Faire un point" seems similar to "Faire le point",
> but I can't be convinced. Please help me.


Yes, can someone confirm whether there is a difference between "faire un point" and "faire le point"?


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## DEHER

*faire le point sur [qch]* _loc v_(analyser les dernières évolutions)review⇒ _vtr_take stock of [sth] _v expr_Le général fait le point sur la dernière offensive avec son état-major. 
J'aimerais que nous nous voyions en fin de semaine pour faire le point sur le projet XXX.The general reviewed the most recent offensive with his general staff.I'd like to meet with you at the end of the week to take stock of project XXX.



faire le point sur - traduction - Dictionnaire Français-Anglais WordReference.com


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## Topsie

Seems to be six of one and half a dozen of the other! 
Perhaps _faire *un *point_ is more cursory / less official than _faire *le *point_ 

Faire un point : signification et origine de lexpression.

Faire le point : Définition simple et facile du dictionnaire


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## Laurent2018

Topsie said:


> Perhaps _faire *un *point_ is more cursory / less official than _faire *le *point_


Peut-être aussi "faire un point (intermédiaire)"...alors que "faire *le* point" suggère qu'il n'y en aura qu'un ?


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## Louis XI

Laurent2018 said:


> Peut-être aussi "faire un point (intermédiaire)"...alors que "faire *le* point" suggère qu'il n'y en aura qu'un ?


P. ex. dans une réunion, on dira indifféremment :

. On va faire _le_ point _sur/de _la situation
. On va faire _un _point _sur/de _la situation

Dans le deuxième cas, on veut peut-être être plus précis (?).


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## schulady

pepskrik said:


> hello , i would like to say in English "faire le point", the context is: i give tennis lessons to a student and we have decided to "faire le point" " with his mum in one month time.
> thank's for your suggestions


I might say, "I'll give you an update on his progress in a month" or "I'll give you an update on where he is at in a month."


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## Nicklondon

to/let's recap - ...


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## silwilhith

Hello,
Reopening this thread that seems to cover colloquial usages of « faire le point » but not the original maritime meaning.
Initially, with a sextant and a clock, you computed the longitude and latitude of your ship, and report it on a map with a dot (point). _Faire le point_ was also called _pointage_.
The 1769's Falconer's dictionary gives the term _pricking upon the map_.
But I am unsure if modern English readers would understand when I say that my papers help the reader to evaluate their position and *prick their navigation*?
This navigation being here metaphoric and referring to the course of their life.
The papers help to answer the question "where am I?"

More pragmatically, the French sentence is


> et qui nous amène à produire des articles (de réflexion of course) où les lecteurs peuvent se positionner, donc se repérer, et donc *faire un point* de leur “navigation” à l’instar d’un navire en haute mer, obtenir des clés pour agir.


which may give


> and which leads us to produce articles (of reflection of course) where readers can position, therefore locate themselves, and therefore *prick* their “navigation” like a ship on the high seas, obtain keys to act.



Thanks in advance,

PS : to be more exact, the French sailors surrounded these dots with a triangle, square, or circle, depending if the position was computed from coastal bearings (triangle), sun vision (circle), or evaluation of the distance sailed (square).


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## Laurent2018

"Prick" because they used a pair of dividers ?

I think you are right regarding the origin of the expression.
However to me, our modern "faire le point" is probably meant to rise discussions, controversy or questions, which couldn't be the case in navigation !


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## Keith Bradford

Laurent2018 said:


> "Prick" because they used a pair of dividers ?...


Not necessarily.  It's used three times in _Julius Caesar_ act 4 acene 1, as: "These many, then, shall die; their names are prick'd."  I've always supposed that a small hole was made against the victims' names with a dry quill, a stylus or a dagger.  But it might be a period term for making any kind of mark, and that's OK since the French word _point_ also means a _dot_.

Only _prick _isn't used in that way in modern English, so it's a dead end.


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## silwilhith

I could argue that _faire le point_ was rarely exact and probably raised discussions between officers, but yes, I agree, the modern understanding is different and I am afraid my French readers wouldn't understand what I mean...

So how would you say when looking at the map on your car GPS to know where you are on your road?
Because, by the way, this GPS _fait le point_ constantly, but we don't call that this way.
(and I have no idea how people call it)


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## Laurent2018

The GPS helps you keep your bearings, whatever you do, even if you don't respect the instructions of "the voice".
It's possible, since the appliance _updates_ the coordinates of your position, it means "recalculate" them.
When you consult the screen, you figure out the route, nothing more.

But I come to think that "determine the course" could perhaps be translated by "faire le point" (= où en sommes-nous et vers quoi nous dirigeons-nous?).


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