# to will someone to do something



## Graine de Moutarde

Hello everyone!

  I'm trying to translate this phrase "He willed her to look at him." 

For context, this guy is walking down the street and all of sudden sees this beautiful girl walking in the opposite direction. He wills her to look at him--kinda like really really wants her to look back at him--but she doesn't, and just keeps walking forward, eyes straight ahead, oblivious of his presence. I'm kinda stuck on what word/phrase to use that would accurately describe this. 

Looking up 'to will,' I found that you can 'will _yourself_ to do something'--which would be 's'efforcer de faire quelque chose'; but I'm having some difficulty finding how to 'will _someone else_ to do something.' I found one thread on the forum recounting how a man willed a child who was sick to live. But I'm not sure that helps me in my case, as the man in the other thread was successful and, I'm sure, took special care of the child, rather than just sitting by the bedside thinking, "I want you to live, I want you to live, I want you to live."

To will something/someone to do something, I found simply 'vouloir'; but I'm not sure that's a strong enough word. Instead of saying 'Il voulait qu'elle le regarde,' could I just put a qualifying adverb on it and say "I voulait ardemment qu'elle le regarde.' Or is there another way I could say it? Such as:

1. Il désirait (ardemment) qu'elle le regarde.
2. Il souhaitait/espérait qu'elle le regarde--doesn't seem strong enough...
3. Il la regardait fixement, comme si par la force de sa volonté/ses yeux, il pourrait/croirait lui faire le regarder à son tour.

Okay, that last one is not quite true to the original phrase, but I was thinking I might have to change the overall phrase to save the overall meaning... Or does this option make one think he was telepathic...? :-/  What do you guys think?

Thank you!

~~~GdM


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## jetset

_Il essaya d'attirer son attention._


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## Graine de Moutarde

But wouldn't that mean he's actually doing something physical--like waving or whistling--to get her attention, instead of just looking at her?


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## moustic

Difficult to render that in French ...

..._ il chercha mentalement à attirer son attention ._.. yep, it sounds like he has telepathic powers. 

Still thinking......

_il souhaita ardemment qu'elle le regarde_ ... Still something missing.


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## Graine de Moutarde

maybe 'il essaya d'attirer son attention de ses yeux'? but that just give me an image of a guy squinting his eyes across the street.....


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## jetset

_Il essaya d'attirer son attention_ _par son regard.

_If I were to adapt a book I'd have probably put : _à ce moment précis, il aurait tellement voulu qu'elle le remarque_.


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## Graine de Moutarde

Ah, I do like that... 'Il aurait tellement voulu qu'elle le remarque.' However, what would 'à ce moment précis' add? And would it change the meaning greatly if it was 'il aurait _désespérément_ voulu qu'elle le remarque'?


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## Itisi

il voulut attirer son regard avec la force de son mental ?
-


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## Language Hound

Welcome to the Forum, GdM!
*If you SAY OR WRITE that you willed someone to do something, it means (the result is) they did it.
*Therefore, I am a little confused by your explanation of the context.
Even though you say "He willed her to look at him,"
you add that she didn't.
So, for me at least, the original sentence would need to be something like:
"He tried to will her to look at him but was unsuccessful."

I lean towards Moustic's suggestion for _to will someone to do something:
*chercher mentalement à...
*_That it sounds like the person has telepathic powers is only natural:
When you will (or try to will) someone to do something, you are using the power of your mind/will.

EDIT:  I also like Itisi's *il voulut attirer son regard avec la force de son mental*,
which I just read after posting the above.


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## Kelly B

Can you say 
_Il attira son regard de par sa force de volonté ?_

Edited to add: or _Il chercha_... if you want more uncertainty as to his success?


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## Graine de Moutarde

Thanks so much for the welcome! 

That's actually the first time I've heard that 'willing someone to do something' is usually successful. Maybe it's because most of the times I've heard/read that phrase, is wasn't successful.... Unless it was maybe an inanimate object, like willing something to fit into an already-crowded closest...

But what you say does make sense. So, it looks like it's between 'chercher mentalement à attirer son regard' and 'aurait tellement voulu qu'elle le remarque".... seems the difference of active and passive....


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## Graine de Moutarde

now there, I would have said, would be an instance where he succeeded by using his mental powers.... in my opinion.


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## Itisi

Graine de Moutarde said:


> That's actually the first time I've heard that 'willing someone to do something' is usually successful.


Who said that! It might or it might not!

Later: Oh, I see what you mean, *Language Hound* - you are not commenting on telephathy!


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## jetset

I think here we can forget _mental_, as it refers to extra-psych powers.
But based on Itisi "il souhaita attirer son regard de toutes ses forces" can work.


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## Itisi

Whether we have, or believe we have, those powers or not, sometimes we try to influence things with our will - It can't be denied.  Avec sa volonté' ou 'de toutes ses forces', c'est kif-kif !


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## jetset

Not exactly kif-kif 
"Avec sa volonté" here is like he would try to bend a teaspoon with telekinesis.
"De toutes ses forces" is more like when you wish upon a star, and will to make it happen.


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## Language Hound

Graine de Moutarde said:


> That's actually the first time I've heard that 'willing someone to do something' is usually successful.
> It's all a matter of perspective/opinion. Some people believe this is possible; others don't.
> However, in my experience, whenever someone has said/written "He willed her to do it,"
> the meaning was that he was successful.
> If the meaning is to be that he was not successful, the sentence would be something like:
> "He attempted to will her to do it."
> 
> But what you say does make sense. So, it looks like it's between 'chercher mentalement à attirer son regard' and 'aurait tellement voulu qu'elle le remarque".... seems the difference of active and passive....
> The difference is much more than that to me.  The second phrase does not include the notion of "*willing* someone to do something,"
> only *wanting* them to do something.


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## William Stein

I don't like "Il souhaita" because anybody could desire somebody to look at him, that's not at all the same as WILLING somebody to look at you. Whether or not the forum members believe in telepathic powers is irrelevant, because a person who wills somebody to do something definitely believes he has psychic powers and can accomplish things purely by mental will-power (hence "power"). I disagree with Language Hound, because t's not true that willing somebody to do something will actually have any effect, though. I would say:

"Il chercha à attirér son regard vers lui-même par sa seule force de volonté"


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## Oddmania

Language Hound said:


> *If you will someone to do something, they do it.*



Hi,

This is interesting, because I discovered the verb _to will_ only a few weeks ago, and I'm still unclear about this. I did look it up, though, and the dictionary entry reads _«to induce or *try to induce* by sheer force of will: We willed the sun to come out.»_ So, apparently, it doesn't necessarily imply making something actually happen with desire. It may, or it may not have happened.

Still, it's very tricky to translate.


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## Language Hound

William Stein said:


> I disagree with Language Hound, because it's not true that willing somebody to do something will actually have any effect, though.
> I disagree with myself, too! I will have to go back and edit my comment, which was meant to reflect the nonsensical
> nature of following the statement _"He willed her to look at him"_ by the explanation that she did NOT look at him.
> 
> I would say:
> "Il chercha a attiré son regard vers lui-même par sa seule force de volonté"
> ​I like this as well.


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## Itisi

*Jetse*t, quand on dit 'de toutes ses forces', ce sont des forces mentales et pas des forces physiques, non ?

Mais je trouve que ta suggestion avec 'de toutes ses forces', est mieux !


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## William Stein

Bloodhound: ok, sorry, now I feel guilty!


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## Itisi

William Stein said:


> "Il chercha a attiré son regard vers lui-même par sa seule force de volonté"


More typos! Il chercha *à* attir*er* son regard.


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## William Stein

C'est vrai, j'ai déconné avec l'orthographe mais à part ça, c'est pas mal, non?


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## Language Hound

Oddmania said:


> This is interesting, because I discovered the verb _to will_ only a few weeks ago, and I'm still unclear about this. I did look it up, though, and the dictionary entry reads _«to induce or *try to induce* by sheer force of will: We willed the sun to come out.»_ So, apparently, it doesn't necessarily imply making something actually happen with desire. It may, or it may not have happened.


I agree with the definition given in your link, _to make happen with desire,
_*when it is a matter of willing something to happen*.
I think the example is a good one:
_If the runner wills it enough, he could break the record._--->_Si le coureur le veut suffisamment, il battra le record.
_However, *when it is a matter of willing someone to do something*, it's different:
use of the mind/will is involved then.

"_We willed the sun to come out_" was probably said in jest because we know that we can't effect the sun's arrival,
but the point to note here is that the sun DID come out.  If the sun had not come out, the statement would have been:
_"We *tried to* will the sun to come out._"


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## Graine de Moutarde

Wow, I went to get something to eat and came back to many great and varied views and suggestions! This forum's great! So, it would be best to say 'chercha à attirer son regard par sa seule force de volonté'? Why wouldn't it be 'par force de sa volonté'?


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## William Stein

Graine de Moutarde said:


> Wow, I went to get something to eat and came back to many great and varied views and suggestions! This forum's great! So, it would be best to say 'chercha à attirer son regard par sa seule force de volonté'? Why wouldn't it be 'par force de sa volonté'?


Because we're used to people trying to accomplish things through their actions, but this is a really weird situation where the guy is just relying on his mental powers (he's probably too shy to actually approach her", so "par sa seule force..." emphasizes the lack of action on the gross material plane


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## Oddmania

Language Hound said:


> I agree with the definition given in your link, _to make happen with desire,
> _*when it is a matter of willing something to happen*.
> I think the example is a good one:
> _If the runner wills it enough, he could break the record._--->_Si le coureur le veut suffisamment, il battra le record.
> _However, *when it is a matter of willing someone to do something*, it's different:
> use of the mind/will is involved then.
> 
> "_We willed the sun to come out_" was probably said in jest because we know that we can't effect the sun's arrival,
> but the point to note here is that the sun DID come out.  If the sun had not come out, the statement would have been:
> _"We *tried to* will the sun to come out._"



So, whether you will _something _to happen or _someone _to do something, the result will be the same : it'll happen, right? I couldn't say _I willed him to stop_ if he didn't actually stop, could I? But what about* 1.* Graine de Moutarde's context where the girl actually walked away and *2. *the dictionary definition I looked up? It's got me confused. Is the meaning of the verb _to will_ ambiguous? I've heard different opinions about it.




Graine de Moutarde said:


> Wow, I went to get something to eat  and came back to many great and varied views and suggestions! This  forum's great! So, it would be best to say 'chercha à attirer son regard  par sa seule force de volonté'? Why wouldn't it be 'par force de sa  volonté'?



You could say _par *sa *seule force de volonté_ (literally, _"*his *force of volition"_) or _par *la *seule force de *sa *volonté_ (literally, _"*the *force of *his *volition"_), but_ par force de sa volonté_ doesn't make much sense to me. It's just not something we say. What about _Il voulait qu'elle pose les yeux sur lui; il le voulait de toutes ses forces _?


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## Graine de Moutarde

But I guess, if anything, I've always seen 'willing someone/something to do something' was a situation that could go either way, that the outcome could or could not be what you wanted, it was just a situation you strongly wanted to go a certain way.

Just for an example, you're in an apartment overlooking a street and you see a horrible accident _about_ to happen. A baby carriage has just lost its breaks is rolling swiftly towards an intersection with fast-moving traffic. And so, you stand in front of your window and you _will_ the carriage to go slower, you _will_ the mother to reach the carriage in time, you _will_ the traffic to stop , you _will_ one of the people in the street to jump to stop the baby carriage, you _will_ for _something_ to happen before the horrendous accident occurs. 

Given the idea that 'willing something' could be seen as 'wanting something very badly,' could you say 'aurait voulu de toutes ses forces?'

edit: sorry, Oddmania, I didn't see your post! I might have to go with this one. I'm beginning to feel like I've entered the Matrix... ;-)


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## William Stein

Graine de Moutarde said:


> But I guess, if anything, I've always seen 'willing someone/something to do something' was a situation that could go either way, that the outcome could or could not be what you wanted, it was just a situation you strongly wanted to go a certain way.
> 
> Just for an example, you're in an apartment overlooking a street and you see a horrible accident _about_ to happen. A baby carriage has just lost its breaks is rolling swiftly towards an intersection with fast-moving traffic. And so, you stand in front of your window and you _will_ the carriage to go slower, you _will_ the mother to reach the carriage in time, you _will_ the traffic to stop , you _will_ one of the people in the street to jump to stop the baby carriage, you _will_ for _something_ to happen before the horrendous accident occurs.
> 
> Given the idea that 'willing something' could be seen as 'wanting something very badly,' could you say 'aurait voulu de toutes ses forces?'
> 
> edit: sorry, Oddmania, I didn't see your post! I might have to go with this one. I'm beginning to feel like I've entered the Matrix... ;-)



Oddmania: The fact that you will something to happen by no means guarantees success. As GdM, says, the situation could go either way.


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## Graine de Moutarde

Also, we would say "voulait de toutes ses forces' instead of 'aurait voulu de toutes ses forces' because 'aurait voulu' something is another way of saying 'to wish', right?


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## Language Hound

Oddmania said:


> I couldn't say _I willed him to stop_ if he didn't actually stop, could I?
> No, not in my opinion.
> 
> But what about* 1.* Graine de Moutarde's context where the girl actually walked away
> As I wrote earlier, it doesn't make sense, at least not to me. (See my post #9)
> 
> and *2. *the dictionary definition I looked up? It's got me confused.
> Well, I share your confusion about the *second part* ("5. To induce or *try to induce* by sheer force of will").
> I don't have the time now but will search other dictionary entries later to see what they say.
> 
> Is the meaning of the verb _to will_ ambiguous? I've heard different opinions about it.
> I have never thought it was.



EDIT: After just reading GdM's example in Post #29 in the context of something about to happen,
I'm thinking I may have to revise my position. In the meantime, I will sleep on it, allow my
exhausted brain to recover, do some research in the morning and come back to post.


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## Mauricet

N'a-t-on pas ici _he willed her to look at him_ avec _to will _dans le sens





> *3. * To decree, dictate, or order.


? « Il lui ordonna (mentalement) de le regarder » ...


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## Graine de Moutarde

Well, with this phrase, I got the impression it wasn't so much that he was 'ordering her' with his mind, but rather 'pleading with her' with his mind.


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## William Stein

Graine de Moutarde said:


> Well, with this phrase, I got the impression it wasn't so much that he was 'ordering her' with his mind, but rather 'pleading with her' with his mind.



That kind of thing all depends on the context, the personalities of the characters, the specific situation, etc. Can you give us a bigger quote or link to the text?


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## Graine de Moutarde

I'm not sure if it will help, but the entire paragraph is as follows:

_He could take his eyes off her. His heart beat faster and faster as she came near. He willed her to look at him, but she didn't. He let out his breath after she passed him, not even aware that he had been holding it.

_Maybe a bit more about the context. The guy basically I think thinks it's love at first sight. He's spent most of his time waiting for just the right woman to come into his life, and now he believes he's finally found her, 'the one.' The girl, however, doesn't immediately reciprocate his feelings, but that's later in the story. 

Does this help at all? Character wise, the guy is actually a rather quiet though self-assured man, which is a trait that everyone notices about him; however, his friend, who was standing near him when this occurrence, well, occurred  did notice the unusually strong effect the girl had on him.

Does this help the situation at all?


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## William Stein

Of course, it helps. For one thing "but she didn't" puts a stop to the whole debate about whether the thing that is willed has to become a reality (which we never believed anyway, but a lot of cyber-ink was spilled on that subject in this thread). I think the idea behind "willed" is that he is physically paralyzed and too shy to attract her attention by taking action, so he falls back on his "psychic powers" (or wishful thinking, depending on how you look at it).


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## Itisi

*William*, GdeM told us that 'she didn't' in post #1, and it didn't stop the cyber-ink spilling!


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## William Stein

Itisi said:


> *William*, GdeM told us that 'she didn't' in post #1, and it didn't stop the cyber-ink spilling!



Well it's never to late to apply a cyber-tourniquet


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## Itisi

William Stein said:


> Well it's never to late to apply a cyber-tourniquet


 I hope it works!


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## nodnol

*He could(n't) take his eyes off her. His heart beat faster and faster as  she came near. He willed her to look at him, but she didn't. He let out  his breath after she passed him, not even aware that he had been holding  it.
*
For me there is the same 'meaning', just with different degrees of 'strength' in each of these:
He willed her to look at him (in general, strength 4-5, in this case, strength *5*)
He prayed for her to look at him  (in general, strength 1-5, in this case it is less appropriate, wrong register/context, it would be strength *2*)
He wished for her to look at him (in general, strength 1-4, in this case, strength *1-2*) 

So is the french verb _prier pour que_ a possibilty?


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## Itisi

nodnol said:


> Is the french verb _prier pour que_ a possibilty?



As you say, it's not so strong, so it would have to be:

Il pria de toutes ses forces qu'elle le regarde

Or  how about  just:   il voulut de toues ses forces etc


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## William Stein

Translators try to make things appear normal (banal) in their own language, but that can be a mistake in literary language, which is often deliberately deviates from the norms for artistic effects. "Il voulut de toutes ses forces" sounds like a Harlequin but "He willed her to look at him" in this context sounds comic  (deliberately) because it emphasizes his powerlessness and falling back on superstition in an age when most people don't believe in telepathic powers.
I would therefore recommend the wonderful translation (I forget now who suggested it "Il essaya de attirer son regard par sa seule force de volonté".


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## Itisi

William Stein said:


> I would therefore recommend the wonderful translation (I forget now who suggested it "Il essaya de attirer son regard par sa seule force de volonté".


 Not wonderful enough.


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## Brestoise

Well, I'll give it a try (clearly inspired by what everyboy said so far): "Il cherchait de toutes ses forces à accrocher son regard par sa seule volonté".
Or: "Concentrant toute sa volonté dans son regard, il cherchait désespérément à attirer son attention"


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## Graine de Moutarde

Wow! Now there's an interesting thought.... Doing some research, the story is not a Harlequin but I did find it was written by an author who used to write Harlequin. Does that bit of info affect the word choice that greatly?!  (though going with attracting a person's attention 'par sa seule force de volonté' is begining to grow on me.


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## Itisi

Graine de Moutarde said:


> attracting a person's attention 'par  sa seule force de volonté' is begining to grow on me.


 Don't let  it - it would mean that he is trying to hypnotize the girl.  Just 'par* la* force de *sa* volonté' would make more sense, but it's clumsy, and you have several better choices.  Why not try and keep it simple, without overtranslating!


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## Graine de Moutarde

I shall resist, Itisi.  So, to prevent over-translating, which I admit is one of my flaws... , I guess I could just stick with "voulut de toutes ses forces qu'elle le remarque," because, for some reason, I have difficulty thinking the guy was mentally trying to get her to look at him... When I think about it, it may be that the guy, thinking he found 'the one,' did feel powerless to do anything (maybe physically and mentally?) and maybe was desperately hoping that by some higher power, she might look back at him. Then, maybe she too would feel some connection, and sensing that, the spell would be broken, his paralysis would stop, and he could just walk over there and start a conversation.

...to think this all got started because I was dissatisfied with 'vouloir' as a translation of 'to will'


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## Itisi

*Graine de Moutarde*, I think it's just that sort of thing we all do, like concentrating hard on the bus in the hope that that will make it come so we won't miss our important appointment.  It's not rational, it's magical thinking, but we do it all the same, because there is nothing else we can do at that time.


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## Graine de Moutarde

Now, what about '_il chercha à attirer son attention de la force de son regard_'? Or would that be more like '_draw her attention with the power of his gaze_'? Recently read that somewhere...


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## William Stein

Itisi said:


> Don't let  it - it would mean that he is trying to hypnotize the girl.  Just 'par* la* force de *sa* volonté' would make more sense, but it's clumsy, and you have several better choices.  Why not try and keep it simple, without overtranslating!



I think again you're trying to avoid anything strange (he's trying to hypnotize the girl!) but the strangeness is the only thing that makes it interesting and it definitely sounds strange in English in the original! Otherwise, it's just a boring Harlequin (but maybe it really is, since GdM says the author used to write for Harlequin).


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