# I've been thinking about getting a laptop



## Charlie Parker

J'ai pensé à acquérir un portable.
I always have difficulty expressing the continuous idea in French. To me, my sentence might mean I thought of it once in the past. If I said _Je pensais à acquérir un portable _that might mean that I was thinking of it but that I am no longer thinking of getting one. On the other hand, if I use the present tense J_e pense à _that suggests that I'm currently thinking of getting one. Perhaps I could say _Je pense à acquérir un portable depuis quelque temps. _How would I best say this in French. Merci d'avance.


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## grosmax

J'envisage moi aussi d'en acheter un


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## Charlie Parker

Merci grosmax. Alors, le présent convient le mieux ? En fait, je pense que ma femme envisage de m'en acheter un pour que nous ne nous disputions plus l'ordinateur.


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## witold bayer-quest

The present "j'envisage d'acquérir" expresses that you are, indeed, considering the purchase of one. It does imply that this is not a thought that has just arisen (or you'd say "je commence à envisager d'acquérir.." or something like that) but it is unspecific as to how long you've been considering it. If you want to convey the meaning that you are a slow decision-maker and have been considering it for a while, you'd have to specify it, with, for instance : "ça fait un bout de temps que j'envisage d'acquérir un ordinateur, (sans parvenir à me décider), (mais je n'ai pas encore sauté le pas), (mais je n'ai pas les moyens)..."


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## grosmax

witold bayer-quest said:


> The present "j'envisage d'acquérir" expresses that you are, indeed, considering the purchase of one. It does imply that this is not a thought that has just arisen (or you'd say "je commence à envisager d'acquérir.." or something like that) but it is unspecific as to how long you've been considering it.
> (...)


Superb explanation of my rather spontaneous thought


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## Charlie Parker

Merci à tous les deux. Est-ce que je me trompe dans ce contexte, si je dit : « J'ai envisagé d'acquérir un portable.» ? Et pourquoi pas le verbe penser ?


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## Teafrog

witold bayer-quest said:


> The present "j'envisage d'acquérir" expresses that you are, indeed, considering the purchase of one. It does imply that this is not a thought that has just arisen (or you'd say "je commence à envisager d'acquérir.." or something like that) but it is unspecific as to how long you've been considering it. If you want to convey the meaning that you are a slow decision-maker and have been considering it for a while, you'd have to specify it, with, for instance : "ça fait un bout de temps que j'envisage d'acquérir un ordinateur, (sans parvenir à me décider), (mais je n'ai pas encore sauté le pas), (mais je n'ai pas les moyens)..."


Yes, great explanation . My first thought was "Ça fait un moment que je pense d'acheter un ordin", or "… bout de temps…" as you suggest.


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## grosmax

"J'ai envisagé..." suggérerait que tu as abandonné l'idée (le verbe est au passé).
"Je pense à acheter..." irait aussi, mais comme tu le disais toi-même,





> On the other hand, if I use the present tense J_e pense à _that suggests that I'm currently thinking of getting one.


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## Charlie Parker

Merci beaucoup grosmax vous me l'avez bien expliqué. En fait, j'ai envoyé un courriel à une ami dans lequel j'ai dit : je pensais à acheter quelque chose et elle m'a corrigé. Elle a écrit : je pense à .....


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## witold bayer-quest

Personally, I find "j'envisage d'acheter", "j'envisage de faire quelque chose" (I am considering doing something) much more elegant and whatsmore, more proper than "je pense à acheter". In fact, "penser à faire quelque chose" means "to remember doing something"  or "not forget doing something" : "il faut que je pense à acheter un ordinateur portable", "pense à acheter du beurre": "don't forget to buy some butter". Using it with the meaning of "envisager de faire quelque chose" creates an ambiguity ("j'ai pensé à acheter un ordinateur", do you mean that you didn't forget to do it, or that you have considered it) and, worse still, is an improper use of the expression. It is in fact a confusion with "j'ai pensé acheter un ordinateur", "j'ai pensé faire quelque chose", "j'ai pensé aller au cinéma" which does convey the same meaning as "j'ai envisagé", but is not as elegant. It also doesn't quite have the time connotation of "envisager". It can best be rendered by "I thought of (buying a computer, going to the movies)"


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## Charlie Parker

Merci witold-bayer quest. Cela m'est très utile.


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## jean sérien

What about "j'ai dans l'idée d'acheter un portable" ?


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## witold bayer-quest

Colloquial, and not very proper. "J'ai dans l'idée qu'il me cache quelque chose", "I've got a hunch that he's hiding something from me" - but really, in the case we are dealing with, "j'envisage" seems to me so perfectly suited as not to warrant the search for another option.

Now, OK, here is another option: colloquial and not grammatically proper, but used nonetheless would be: "je réfléchis à acheter à portable", which is shorthand for "je réfléchis à la possibilité (ou l'éventualité) d'acheter un portable", which would be the proper form. And for the nuance of "I've been thinking..." : "ça (or, more formally: cela) fait quelque temps que je réfléchis à la possibilité d'acheter un portable". Still, "ça fait quelque temps que j'envisage d'acheter un portable" is more compact and more elegant - and can be used naturally in spoken French.


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## Budd

Charlie Parker, you've already been given good advice, but here's something to think about.  Both English and French have syntactical aspect, the idea being that some actions can be durative or punctual.  Durative, in English, would be "I've been thinking about...," that is, it represents something that has been _going on over time_.  French generally shifts this to the present tense, e.g. "J'envisage..."  The punctual form in English is "I'm thinking about...," the idea being it exists in this point or moment (hence, _punctual_) in time.  The present tense in French, having only one conjugated form (English has three: I think, I am thinking, I do think) does not handle this; thus, looking at a verb that implies duration (envisager) is the solution.  I hope this is useful without being too much.


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## Charlie Parker

It is not too much at all Budd. It is most helpful. Thank you for your thoughtful response.


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## Budd

My pleasure... and did you really play in Birdland?


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## Charlie Parker

No, he's my favourite jazzman of all time.


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## Nicomon

Autres solutions possibles :

_J'ai l'intention de / je songe à_ ...  m'acheter un portable.  

_Acquérir_ ne me vient pas spontanément.


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## Budd

Nicomon said:


> Autres solutions possibles :
> 
> _J'ai l'intention de / je songe à_ ... m'acheter un portable.
> 
> _Acquérir_ ne me vient pas spontanément.


 
Good suggestions, Nic, and all of them support, I think, the different way aspect is expressed in French from English.  Merci.


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## Charlie Parker

Merci Nico. Je suis tellement content de mon portable. Alors, je ne songe pas maintenant à m'en acheter un autre. J'apprécie ta phrase.


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## calembourde

So how about 'I was thinking about...'? To say 'I was thinking about getting a laptop, but I decided to get a hat instead' would it be:

J'envisageais d'acheter un portable, mais finalement j'ai décidé d'acheter plutôt un chapeau.

or maybe something like

Je songeais à m'acheter un portable, mais je me suis contenté(e) d'un chapeau.


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## Charlie Parker

That sounds good to me calembourde. I'm not too sure about _plutôt. _I wonder if _à la place _would work for "instead." I don't think I would use "hat" in the example. What about: "I was thinking of buying a laptop, but I decided to get a desktop instead." _J'envisageais d'acheter/de m'acheter un portable, mais j'ai décidé d'acheter un ordinateur de bureau à la place. _Hmm. Not very convincing is it? We'd better ask our francophone friends.


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Salut Charlie et calembourde,

Pour moi, toutes vos propositions marchent !


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## Charlie Parker

Merci beaucoup Karine. Alors je n'ai pas besoin de les Moleskiner.


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## Lacuzon

Bonsoir,

Je suis aussi pour j'envisage/je songe d'/à acheter un (ordinateur) portable depuis un (petit) moment/bout de temps.

I do agree with Budd.


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## catheng

"I was thinking of buying a laptop, but I decided to get a desktop instead.

= j'envisageais d'acheter un portable mais j'ai finalement opté pour un PC.


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## wistou

And just for fun: 

"Depuis un moment, je caresse l'idée d'acheter un portable"

Quand on caresse, c'est pour durer, et on ne caressera jamais trop...


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## Budd

That, wistou, depends on whom or what one is caressing.  Also willingness.


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## wistou

Hummm, are you suggesting you could caress against your own will, and someone (or something) you would not have chosen to ?... sounds strange to me (but it might be that I am just _too much_ French..). Regards.


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## Budd

I was thinking of the will of the caressee.  That transcends nationality, coco.


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## Nicomon

catheng said:


> = j'envisageais d'acheter un portable mais j'ai finalement opté pour un PC.


 C'est aussi « _opté pour _» qui m'est venu spontanément dans ce contexte d'achats semblables. 

Mais pour revenir à l'idée de Calembourde qui a réanimé ce fil, soit petite dépense, plutôt que grosse dépense, j'aime bien : _je me suis contentée de..._

Par exemple :  _J'avais l'intention de remplacer mon vieux manteau / je rêvais d'un nouveau manteau (bien chaud), mais finalement, je me suis contentée d'un chapeau._


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## Charlie Parker

Tu vas avoir très froid cet hiver, Nico, ne portant qu'un chapeau.


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## Nicomon

Charlie Parker said:


> Tu vas avoir très froid cet hiver, Nico, ne portant qu'un chapeau.


  Non parce qu'en fin de compte, j'ai craqué pour le nouveau manteau bien chaud.  Sinon, j'aurais porté mon vieux manteau avec mon chapeau neuf. 

Je sens que ce message va être supprimé.


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