# FR: make one sad



## Kergouet

How can I say "the memory of war makes one sad"

"La mémoire de la guerre se fait triste" or 
"La memoire de la guerre fait qu'on sent de la tristesse"  which feels more clumsy.  I specifically want to use the pronoun "on".

Thanks in advance.


----------



## joelooc

Le souvenir de guerre (vous) attriste/ rend triste.
On se rend/sent triste en se rappelant la guerre. If you insist on using _on_.


----------



## Kergouet

I'm creating a series of sentences to practice the use of personal pronouns used as object.  The target sentence is as above:   "the memory of war makes one sad"  Your phrase works well in normal use but would result in "one feels sad remembering the war" which is not quite what I'm looking for.


----------



## Kergouet

How about ?
La mémoire de la guerre fait en sort qu’on se sent triste.


----------



## joelooc

La mémoire de la guerre fait en sort*e* qu’on se sent triste.
1) mémoire is not used idiomatically here, no native would say je garde une bonne mémoire de votre visite; we use _souvenir_
2)There's no trace of "feel" in "makes one sad" (even though it's implicit). You can't expect someone to come up both with a "correct" and an idiomatic sentence: make someone sad = rendre triste=attrister
3) "la mémoire fait" sounds strange to a native ear.
Hope this helps.


----------



## frenchifried

Is it not simpler to say, la mémoire de la guerre s'attriste (in general terms 'on'), or m'attriste (in personal terms 'moi').


----------



## Chimel

Not _s'attriste, _but _Le souvenir _[not _mémoire_, as Joelooc points out] _de la guerre attriste. _Or: _nous attriste._

But I prefer: _le souvenir de la guerre rend triste_.


----------



## Kergouet

Thank you very much joelooc.


frenchifried said:


> Is it not simpler to say, la mémoire de la guerre s'attriste (in general terms 'on'), or m'attriste (in personal terms 'moi').


Yes it is simpler and has the sense required but it is part of an exercise in using pronouns and the one I'm looking for is "one"so sadly your suggestion doesn't work here.


Chimel said:


> Not _s'attriste, _but _Le souvenir _[not _mémoire_, as Joelooc points out] _de la guerre attriste. _Or: _nous attriste._
> 
> But I prefer: _le souvenir de la guerre rend triste_.


Merci Chimel, mais je crée un exercise en anglais et je veux que l'étudiant utilise "one", c'est a dire la version anglais de "on".


----------



## Kergouet

Thank you everyone. I have chosen a phrase that I think will work.


----------



## Micia93

Something like : "on est triste quand on se souvient de la guerre"?


----------



## Oddmania

Keep in mind that you simply cannot use "_on_" as an object.

_Le souvenir de la guerre rend triste  ... nous rend triste  ...rend triste on  ...s'attriste _​


----------



## Maître Capello

The most natural way to translate "one" in your example is to use _nous_ or _vous_. (I prefer the former.)

_Le souvenir de la guerre *nous* rend tristes._



Kergouet said:


> I specifically want to use the pronoun "on".





Kergouet said:


> I'm creating a series of sentences to practice the use of personal pronouns used as object.


As suggested above you cannot use _on_ as an object. I'm therefore afraid that you're after something impossible. See also FR: translating the direct object pronoun "one".

P.S.: As already suggested above, please don't confuse _mémoire_ and _souvenir_. See memory - mémoire / souvenir.


----------



## ForeverHis

Maître Capello said:


> _Le souvenir de la guerre *nous* rend tristes._


----------



## Kergouet

Thanks everyone.  Problem solved.


----------

