# to go on an errand



## aliceww

Hello! I am trying to translate the following sentence:
"His mother asked him to take Ben to go on an errand to the grocer's shop"

(Ben is a dog). I have translated it as

   "Sa mère lui a demandé qu’il prend Willie aller faire une commission à l’épicerie." 
  Can anyone tell me if this makes sense??
Thankyou!


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## edwingill

You can use"aller faire une commission" for "to go on an errand"


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## SwissPete

"Sa mère lui a demandé *de prendre* *Ben pour *aller faire une commission à l’épicerie."


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## aliceww

Thankyou very much that's brilliant!


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## Micia93

SwissPete said:


> "Sa mère lui a demandé *de prendre* *Ben pour *aller faire une commission à l’épicerie."


 
je dirais plus "aller faire *des* commission*s*"
"faire _une_ commission" a un autre sens !


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## hahanihao

Micia93 said:


> je dirais plus "aller faire *des* commission*s*"
> "faire _une_ commission" a un autre sens !


 

 "faire _une_ commission" a un autre sens??
Quelle sorte de sens?


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## Micia93

hahanihao said:


> "faire _une_ commission" a un autre sens??
> Quelle sorte de sens?


 
well, it means "to defecate" 
to be honest, it's more "faire _la grosse _commission, but we are far away from the thread here ...


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## hahanihao

Micia93 said:


> well, it means "to defecate"
> to be honest, it's more "faire _la grosse _commission, but we are far away from the thread here ...


 thank you,


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## jme1323

I would say "aller faire des courses" for "to go on an errand"; it's more current.


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## Meille

jme1323 said:


> I would say "aller faire des courses" for "to go on an errand"; it's more current.


 
Maybe it's regional, because "faire des commissions" is current here.
(Actually, so is "faire des courses").


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## jme1323

Interesting--my fiancé is from Savoie in France and says "faire des commissions" is outdated all along the eastern border. Sounds like either expression works depending on which regional translation you're going for, aliceww. Thanks for the info, meille!


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## Meille

Now that I think of it, it's much more common in English to say "*run* an errand" than "go on an errand".


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## Ostaire

Il y a certainement des variations régionales, et peut-être une opposition Est-Ouest.

Dans l'Ouest, "faire des commissions" est courant mais tend à être moins employé (c'est typiquement ménagère de plus de 40 ans)

Ma femme, qui est de Lorraine, ne dit que "aller en courses".

Voir à ce propos :
http://www.achyra.org/francais/viewtopic.php?t=1623


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## jme1323

meille said:


> Now that I think of it, it's much more common in English to say "*run* an errand" than "go on an errand".



Very true... I thought the same thing when I first read it.


When I lived in Strasbourg, I heard "aller en courses" once or twice from friends who grew up nearby, but never "faire des commissions."

I'm not sure how an appropriate English-French translation is ever decided upon with so many regional variations throughout France!


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## Cath.S.

It seems to me that _faire des courses _is more widely used and current in France. I would imagine very elderly and old-fashioned people using _commissions_ more readily.


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## hahanihao

Ostaire said:


> Il y a certainement des variations régionales, et peut-être une opposition Est-Ouest.
> 
> Dans l'Ouest, "faire des commissions" est courant mais tend à être moins employé (c'est typiquement ménagère de plus de 40 ans)
> 
> Ma femme, qui est de Lorraine, ne dit que "aller en courses".
> 
> Voir à ce propos :
> http://www.achyra.org/francais/viewtopic.php?t=1623


 
J'ai cru que "aller en courses" signifiait "go shopping"..


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## Fredddd

Heard my grand-mother say "commissions" but now I hear and say "aller faire des/les courses". As for "aller en courses" ? I'd rather relate that to an "errand boy" (logical ;-)or a"dispatch rider" not with shopping (and, even then, I'd suppress the final "s" "aller en course" and I'm not sure you can say that except maybe the errand boy himself ?)


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## hahanihao

Fredddd said:


> Heard my grand-mother say "commissions" but now I hear and say "aller faire des/les courses". As for "aller en courses" ? I'd rather relate that to an "errand boy" (logical ;-)or a"dispatch rider" not with shopping (and, even then, I'd suppress the final "s" "aller en course" and I'm not sure you can say that except maybe the errand boy himself ?)


 
Oh, so "aller faire des/les courses" signifie "go shopping" and "aller en courses"=run a errand?


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## jme1323

I'm not sure about "aller en courses," but "faire des/les courses" means "to run errands" (generally) or "to go to the supermarket." 

"Faire une course" means "to run _an_ errand" and is less frequently used. 

For shopping I've always used "faire du shopping." If anyone knows of a Frenchier way to say "to go shopping," suggestions are welcome. I've never found another direct translation apart from "faire du shopping."


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## Micia93

jme1323 said:


> I've never found another direct translation apart from "faire du shopping."


 
me neither !
we have definitely adopted the english word !


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## Fredddd

Hello again ! 
I use "faire du shopping"  
only for clothes and fashion in general (accessories) 
and "faire les/des courses" :-( 
for everything else (boring things in general versus "shopping" which, for me, has a leasure/pleasure connotation) and particularly when I go to the supermarket.


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## Cath.S.

I agree with Fredddd, _faire du shopping_ doesn't involve shopping for groceries.


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## Fredddd

Histoire d'enfoncer le clou, but it can help 
If I say "J'ai passé mon samedi après-midi à faire du shopping", you will understand I had a pleasant afternoon (if you love shopping, which I don't, but everybody has his hobby)
If I say "J'ai passé mon samedi après-midi à faire les courses", you will understand I had a terrible afternoon, the supermarket was crowded, I was stuck in the queue, then in a traffic jam and couldn't get out of it.


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## hahanihao

merci beaucoup~~


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## Fredddd

"faire les magasins" = "faire du shopping", I think. But it is a bit dated, isn't it ?


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## Micia93

Yes, a bit
most people say "faire du shopping" nowadays


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## Meninaa

"(aller) faire les magasins/boutiques" selon moi est plus courant que "faire du shopping"


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## Ostaire

_"If anyone knows of a Frenchier way to say "to go shopping," suggestions are welcome. I've never found another direct translation apart from "faire du shopping."_

– _"Magasiner", "aller magasiner"_ et _"faire du magasinage"_ are of common use in Quebec but sound definitely exotic on this side of the Atlantic.


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## Ellea1

Hi, 

"faire les magasins, faire les boutiques".


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## Ostaire

_"faire les boutiques" _: mais oui !
C'est ce que disent toutes les moins de 35 ans aujourd'hui.
Merci Ellea1 de nous le rappeler.

_"Shopping_" est promis au même cycle de vie que la plupart des anglicismes à la mode — populaires durant une génération, ringardisés ensuite.


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## Micia93

Ostaire said:


> _"Shopping_" est promis au même cycle de vie que la plupart des anglicismes à la mode — populaires durant une génération, ringardisés ensuite.


 
"faire du shopping" n'est pas du tout ringard, ou alors, c'est moi qui le suis !


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## Cath.S.

Ostaire said:


> _"faire les boutiques" _: mais oui !
> C'est ce que disent toutes les moins de 35 ans aujourd'hui.
> Merci Ellea1 de nous le rappeler.
> 
> _"Shopping_" est promis au même cycle de vie que la plupart des anglicismes à la mode — populaires durant une génération, ringardisés ensuite.



_Faire les boutiques_ est au moins aussi vieux que mon compagnon, qui va sur ses soixante ans, et j'ai commencé à entendre_ faire du shopping_ dans mon enfance ; je date moi-même de 1960.


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## Pure_Yvesil

I agree,

I used to be inclined to say:

"Bon je dois vite aller faire une course/commission, je reviens tout de suite !"

But after having spent some time in France I noticed people just say: "bon je file (_vais_) vite au magasin, je reviens tout de suite"

Nevertheless, I don't think "aller faire une commission/course" is wrong, just not something you'd spontaneously hear on the streets.

Any other opinions on this?


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## franc 91

Sa mère lui a demandé de prendre Ben avec lui quand/lorsqu'il partait faire les courses à l'épicerie - suggestion (it depends where you are in France, but now we usually use the name of the local supermarché)


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## Pure_Yvesil

I think the problem is that the translation of "*AN *errand" does not correspond with "*des *courses", which to me, implies that you'd buy more than one thing.

If you need one thing, and one thing only, I guess "aller faire une course/commission" would do, but like I said, I would just use the "aller au magasin" structure instead.


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## franc 91

chercher quelque chose - might work in that case


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## Pure_Yvesil

I like that as well...CNRTL only gives the plural forms of "commissions/courses" in the sense of "errands"....


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