# Il me plaît de



## MrMoto

Bonjour,

J'ai une phrase qui fait partie d'une allocution et qui commence avec « Il me plaît de ... ».
J'aurais pensé que l'équivalent en anglais serait « It gives me pleasure to ... » ou quelque
chose de même, mais ça sonne vraiment mal dans ce cas-ci :

_Il me plaît, en effet, de rappeler que la construction du X suivie par la suite d’une Y ont généré
des nuisances parfois importantes aux populations riveraines._

Donc:

_It gives me pleasure indeed to recall that the construction of the X, and the subsequent Y, have
created hazards, sometimes major ones, for the riverine populations._

S'agit-il d'un misanthrope ?  Est-ce que le sens de « Il me plaît » est plutôt une locution
formelle qui n'a aucun rapport avec le plaisir ?  

Merci d'avance !

P.S. Est-ce que « suivie par la suite de » se dit ? Ça sonne un peu lourd !


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## Singing Teddy

J'aurais simplement dit "I like".

A confirmer.

Je n'aime pas "suivie par la suite".


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## highcs

MrMoto, I have to agree with you - I think "_Il me plaît" _has to be some kind of form of speech - *not* indicating his pleasure at what has happened.  Unless, maybe he objected to the construction of X and Y in the first place and so he's feeling justified at the trouble they have caused?  In which case - maybe he feels "satisfied"?  (Although I think that also gives kind of a horrible reading....)
There *is* a phrase - it's just on the tip of my tongue..... but escaping me a present.  Give me a minute....
or maybe someone else has is?


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## williamc

Bonjour,

I would say: "I am pleased to ...... whatever."


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## Dr. Baha'i

Is it ironic?


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## la grive solitaire

_Il me plaît ... de rappeler :  I like to remind [people] ?
_


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## Dr. Baha'i

That one has possibilities.


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## Musty

Dr. Baha'i said:


> That one has possibilities.



Si ce n'est pas de l'ironie, je trouve que "I'm pleased to ..." dans ce context est on ne peut déplacée. Je dirais plutôt "I would like ..." dans la mesure où "il me plait de ...." serait l'équivalent de "J'aimerais ...."


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## MrMoto

Thanks for the comments so far.

I'm pretty sure this sentence isn't meant to be ironic or snide -- the speaker is the Director General of the organization, and the speech is otherwise full of the appropriate thanks, etc.

I'm tempted to rewrite this as "I ask you to recall that ... ". Does this seem reasonable?


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## MrMoto

Aha!  "I would like to recall that ..." sounds perfect.


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## Moon Palace

It would be interesting to know more about the context of this sentence: who speaks? To whom? 
Because '_il me plaît de'_ is not very commonplace, and there seems to be a purposeful intention in its use, all the more so as it contrasts with the end of the sentence: how can one find pleasure in recalling the obnoxious consequences of a construction? 

I would suggest: _'it is my pleasure to remind that..'_ I do believe there is irony in this choice of style, if only to make the contrast sharper and possibly show that the nuisances have been done away with... Or maybe to show - if there were any - that the former criticisms were premature, and that in the long run, the construction has developed for the better. But I am only trying to figure out the reason why he has chosen this wording.


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## Musty

Je dirais plutôt "I would like to remind you ..."


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## la grive solitaire

Je crois que c'est pour mettre plus d'emphase: _ I would like to remind people / everyone_


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## Musty

la grive solitaire said:


> Je crois que c'est pour mettre plus d'emphase: _ I would like to remind people / everyone_



Oui, parce que "recall" est l'equivalent de "se rappeler" en Français. Le monsieur veut rappeler aux autres ce qui s'etait passé. Autrement sa phrase voudrait dire "je voudrais me rappeler ...."


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## MrMoto

I have gone with "I would like to remind everyone", which makes sense in the context of the speech.

To sum up the speech:
* There will soon be public consultations concerning issues surrounding the Project.
* _I would like to remind everyone that ..._
* But the government has made commitments to sustainable development and wishes to avoid repeating earlier mistakes.
* Economic development should not come at the expense of quality of life.
etc.

Merci encore pour votre aide, tout le monde !


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## JeanDeSponde

Usually, _Il me plaît de rappeler..._ is *not* _il me plairait de, j'aimerais...
_The use of the _conditionnel_ in the latter actually means _Il me *faut*, je *dois *rappeler_ (slight, polite understatement...)
Indeed, _Il me plaît de..._ usually means _j'ai le plaisir de..., _and can be translated by _I like..._; So I would not use _would like to remind_.

Now the sentence is weird, because the Director seems to be enjoying to remind bad events.
So, either he can't speak proper French (cf _suivie par la suite..._), or there is some other meaning hidden, and the nuisances to the neighborhood were a good thing?


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## Musty

JeanDeSponde said:


> Usually, _Il me plaît de rappeler..._ is *not* _il me plairait de, j'aimerais...
> _The use of the _conditionnel_ in the latter actually means _Il me *faut*, je *dois *rappeler_ (slight, polite understatement...)
> Indeed, _Il me plaît de..._ usually means _j'ai le plaisir de..., _and can be translated by _I like..._; So I would not use _would like to remind_.
> 
> Now the sentence is weird, because the Director seems to be enjoying to remind bad events.
> So, either he can't speak proper French (cf _suivie par la suite..._), or there is some other meaning hidden, and the nuisances to the neighborhood were a good thing?



I like and I would like have completely different meanings. If he says "I like to remind everyone ..." it means it's one of his hobbies and would do it whenever he could". I would like, however, is the only one that can be used in this context compared to I like.

"J'aimerais rappeler ..." et "Il me plait de rappeler...", although using different tenses, are idiomatic expressions that mean exactly the same thing - except that the second is more formal.


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## JeanDeSponde

Musty said:


> "J'aimerais rappeler ..." et "Il me plait de rappeler...", although using different tenses, are idiomatic expressions that mean exactly the same thing - except that the second is more formal.


Let me disagree here:
_J'aimerais rappeler que le port de la ceinture est obligatoire_ means _I have to remind you stupids...
_While
_Il me plaît de rappeler que nous somme le plus grand forum de traduction _means _let us rejoice that...
_Moreover, _Il me plaît de_... does not mean it's my hobby: here also there is (as often) an understatement, "me" meaning in fact "nous".

The original sentence would have been understandable as in:
_Il me plaît, en effet, de rappeler que*, bien que* la construction du X suivie par la suite d’une Y ont généré des nuisances parfois importantes aux populations riveraines*, [tout s'est bien terminé pour tout le monde]*.
_It would have meant _réjouissons-nous que, malgré...
_


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## Moon Palace

I have been searching different dictionaries, believing I had missed or forgotten something. And every definition of '_plaire'_ in the TLF or here mentions the idea of pleasure, of something being agreeable to someone, even when synonymous with '_vouloir'. _I believe merely saying 'I would like to remind you that' fails to convey this pleasure mentioned by the locutor. 
Can somebody provide a source showing this is an idiomatic phrase merely meaning 'je voudrais vous dire' (that one being indeed '_I would like to say'_)?

Edit: surely in this speech nobody would merely translate '_il me plaît de' _by '_I would like to state'. _


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## Musty

JeanDeSponde said:


> Let me disagree here:
> _J'aimerais rappeler que le port de la ceinture est obligatoire_ means _I have to remind you stupids...
> _While
> _Il me plaît de rappeler que nous somme le plus grand forum de traduction _means _let us rejoice that...
> _Moreover, _Il me plaît de_... does not mean it's my hobby: here also there is (as often) an understatement, "me" meaning in fact "nous".
> 
> The original sentence would have been understandable as in:
> _Il me plaît, en effet, de rappeler que*, bien que* la construction du X suivie par la suite d’une Y ont généré des nuisances parfois importantes aux populations riveraines*, [tout s'est bien terminé pour tout le monde]*.
> _It would have meant _réjouissons-nous que, malgré...
> _



I think you're missing the point here. in the last two posts before you disagreed, the debate over "il me plaît" was over, and the orginal poster was satisied with the outcome. It was just a question of whether I like and I'd like would be used interchangeably, which is not the case - and I expect you'd agree on this one.



Moon Palace said:


> I have been searching different dictionaries, believing I had missed or forgotten something. And every definition of '_plaire'_ in the TLF or here mentions the idea of pleasure, of something being agreeable to someone, even when synonymous with '_vouloir'. _I believe merely saying 'I would like to remind you that' fails to convey this pleasure mentioned by the locutor.
> Can somebody provide a source showing this is an idiomatic phrase merely meaning 'je voudrais vous dire' (that one being indeed '_I would like to say'_)?
> 
> Edit: surely in this speech nobody would merely translate '_il me plaît de' _by '_I would like to state'. _



There is no perfect translation whatsoever. The best way is to get a meaning as near as possible to the original. That's all about it.


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## JeanDeSponde

Musty said:


> I think you're missing the point here. in the last two posts before you disagreed, the debate over "il me plaît" was over, and the orginal poster was satisied with the outcome. It was just a question of whether I like and I'd like would be used interchangeably, which is not the case - and I expect you'd agree on this one.


...?
You might agree on something wrong - it won't make it right though, I'm afraid...
Indeed _I like _and _I'd like _can't be used interchangeably, as _Il me plaît and j'aimerais_ are not one and the same.


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## la grive solitaire

How about:  _I enjoy reminding people... ?_


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## Moon Palace

Musty said:


> There is no perfect translation whatsoever. The best way is to get a meaning as near as possible to the original. That's all about it.



Indeed perfection is not human. Yet, the nearest meaning here is definitively not that of '_I'd like to remind everyone'_. The original poster may be satisfied, this does not mean for all that that the translation is correct. 



Musty said:


> I think "I'd like ... " in the context conveyed the meaning and the thread ought to be closed.


Because you think so seems somewhat a bit light in terms of grounds, doesn't it? 




> Unless perhaps you'd tell us how it should be translated!


Isn't this precisely what you have been doing up to now?


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## Musty

Moon Palace said:


> Indeed perfection is not human. Yet, the nearest meaning here is definitively not that of '_I'd like to remind everyone'_. The original poster may be satisfied, this does not mean for all that that the translation is correct.
> 
> 
> Because you think so seems somewhat a bit light in terms of grounds, doesn't it?
> 
> 
> 
> Isn't this precisely what you have been doing up to now?



We are still waiting for YOUR translation!


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## Moon Palace

Sorry, it is here. Post # 11. I had assumed you had read the whole thread.


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## Musty

Moon Palace said:


> Sorry, it is here. Post # 11. I had assumed you had read the whole thread.



Well well! You are assuming there is irony in that part of speech, in which case I totally agree - and I myself said that before I posted my view.

If there is no irony, then "_it is my pleasure to remind that.." _is totally out of place. And if that's how far you can go .... Mmmmmm!


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## Moon Palace

Musty said:


> Well well! You are assuming there is irony in that part of speech, in which case I totally agree - and I myself said that before I posted my view.
> 
> If there is no irony, then "_it is my pleasure to remind that.." _is totally out of place. And if that's how far you can go .... Mmmmmm!



Thanks for your appreciation . I firstly asked in my post #11 for more context. And I said that indeed there could be irony intended. 
Yet, I retain the idea at all rates (i.e. irony or no irony) - having studied the definition in many French dictionaries - that the idea of pleasure _is conveyed _in '_il me plaît de'_, which the translation ought to respect. 
Now this is all I have to say on the topic, I will leave it up to future readers to decide for themselves. Unless you have some reliable source to provide for your argument, apart from whatyou personallybelieve.


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## Musty

Moon Palace said:


> Thanks for your appreciation . I firstly asked in my post #11 for more context. And I said that indeed there could be irony intended.
> Yet, I retain the idea at all rates - having studied the definition in many French dictionaries - that the idea of pleasure _is conveyed _in '_il me plaît de'_, which the translation ought to respect.
> Now this is all I have to say on the topic, I will leave it up to future readers to decide for themselves. Unless you have some reliable source to provide for your argument, apart from whatyou personallybelieve.



It seems we finally agree here!

With Irony = OK
Without Irony = Not OK

Cheers


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## MrMoto

I'm sticking with "I would like to remind everyone", even if it doesn't quite agree with the original meaning, because it seems to be the only reasonable thing to say.

The writer of the speech might not have French as a first language (he is from a French-speaking country in Africa), and may have written the speech in a hurry. One of the hardest aspects of translation is that not all source texts are perfect!


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