# FR: it depends on (the) circumstances



## moustic

I know that "dépendre" takes the preposition "de" but, without really thinking about it, I translated "it depends on circumstances" by "ça dépend *les* circonstances".
Am I right or wrong?

Edit: Sorry, just a moment of doubt. I know you can say this. Just as you say: ça dépend _les_ jours, ça dépend _les_ personnes, etc...
Does anyone have an explanation why ...?


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## Kekepop

I'm not sure I see what you mean. Dépendre always takes de, for me... It depends on the circumstances is : ça dépend *des *circonstances.  

Even with ça dépend les jours et ça dépend les personnes, I'm not sure what you're trying to say.. I would say "des" for both of them - unless there is a comma  ça dépend, les jours....; ça dépend, les personnes... And in that case, it's starting an explanation, just like in English  it depends, the people who.... 

but if you're saying depends ON then I would say always put the de.


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## moustic

I often hear "ça dépend les jours" and use it myself.
Maybe it's just an informal / sloppy way of speaking. 
Let's wait for a francophone to comment.


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## theshell

Hi,
I'm French and you can't say " ça dépend les jours ", that's not correct.
Ca dépend des jours, ça dépend des personnes, ça dépend du temps...
You might have heard " ça dépend les jours " but that's a mistake  !

Voilà!


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## Kekepop

Voilà ! Merci, theshell ! 

J'aimerais quand-même savoir ce que ça pourrait bien vouloir dire ce "ça dépend les jours." Moustic, vous pourriez m'en donner la signification, telle que vous la connaissez ?


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## theshell

"ça dépend les jours" means "ça dépend des jours".
 already heard that too. I'm surprised that you heard that a lot! I know some French people don't remember their grammar classes, but still...


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## Oddmania

Hi,

To be honest, I've heard this a lot of times : _Ça dépend les gens, ça dépend les fois, ça dépend les jours,..._ But I agree to say it's not proper French. It sounds a bit loose. On the other hand, it _has _actually become an issue when _dépendre de_ is followed by a clause : see this thread.

...Ça dépend la durée de votre séjour  (acceptable, but poor French)
...Ça dépend *de *la durée de votre séjour 

*But still:*

...Ça dépend *de *combien de temps vous resterez là-bas  (this is supposed to be correct, but that sounds extremely awkward/clumsy).
...Ça dépend combien de temps vous resterez là-bas  (I don't know whether this is grammatically correct or not, but this is what everyone would say).

To back this up with a few facts, note that nobody would say _Ça dépend de + de qui tu parles_ (ths first _de _belonging to _dépendre de_, and the second _de _standing for _parler *de *quelqu'un_). Everyone says _Ça dépend de qui tu parles._


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## moustic

Thanks for the confirmation, Oddmania. I do hear it rather a lot.
It's sloppy French. 
I'll try not to say it any more.


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## Ros_Bif

Incorrect English is unlikely to translate into correct French (just as a rule of thumb ).

It depends on _*the*_ circumstances.
Ça dépend _*des*_ circonstances.


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## moustic

Sorry, but there is nothing grammatically wrong with "it depends on circumstances".


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## Wordsmyth

Nothing grammatically wrong, moustic, but there are two different contexts in play here. 

If I were speaking of a particular situation, driven by the circumstances of that situation, I would say "the circumstances" (normal use of the definite article):
 "Would you send a man to prison?" ... "It depends on the circumstances." 

Whereas if I were generalising, I would probably not say "the" (normal use of the indefinite article - in this case a zero article because _circumstances_ is plural):
 "Perception of guilt is variable. It depends on circumstances."  

As for "ça dépend *les* circonstances", I'm wondering if the usage is regional. I can't remember ever hearing it and I'm sure it would have leapt out at me if I had.

Ws


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## Kekepop

I disagree moustic, and agree with Ros_Bif; it depends on circumstances (if not followed by another clause) is incorrect English.


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## moustic

So, we'll agree to differ.


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## Maître Capello

As far as I'm concerned, I've never heard _Ça dépend les circonstances/jours/personnes/_etc.  Anyway, it is just plain wrong. It cannot be considered correct, nor even acceptable. Please don't ever use it!

Note that both "It depends on circumstances" and "It depends on *the* circumstances" would be translated as _Cela/Ça dépend *des* circonstances_ regardless of context, i.e., whether generalizing or speaking of a particular situation.


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## Wordsmyth

Kekepop said:


> I disagree moustic, and agree with Ros_Bif; it depends on circumstances (if not followed by another clause) is incorrect English.


 Can you substantiate that claim, Kekepop? ... or do you just mean that you don't like it? 

I'll grant you that it's used less frequently than "depends on the circumstances", but I've seen no reasoning that shows it to be incorrect — whereas I did provide, in post #11, an argument for a case where its use is justified and correct. 


Maître Capello said:


> As far as I'm concerned, I've never heard _Ça dépend les circonstances/jours/personnes/_etc._ [...]_


 That might reinforce my suspicion that the erroneous use could be regional: perhaps it has never spread from Limoges to the Midi and to Switzerland ...?

Ws


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