# faire avouer



## Mloun

Hello^^

I'd like to translate "faire avouer" in English but I found no result  for "make someone avow". Is  it the right translation?


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## david314

Pourriez-vous nous donner la phrase entiére?


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## Mloun

oui, pardon:

"Dire que j'étais à deux doigts de le lui faire avouer!"


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## david314

Perhaps: ... _*to get* him/her *to admit it.*_

 We ought to wait for confirmation.


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## Suehil

Or 'make him confess', perhaps.  It all depends on the context.


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## david314

-Just because it smacked me in the face, may I be permitted to ask how we translate *dire*, in our case? 

-Couldn't it be _him or her_?


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## Mloun

- It's "her"
- "faire dire"? Wouldn't it be "make someone say"?

So it's "to  make her confess"

Thanks^^


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## Sandrine79

david314 said:


> -Just because it smacked me in the face, may I be permitted to ask how we translate *dire*, in our case?
> 
> -Couldn't it be _him or her_?




Dire que ... (in our case) = to think that...


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## Mloun

Yes, I translated it as "And to think that..."


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## Sandrine79

C'est possible d'avoir un peu plus de contexte Mloun ? J'ai des idées de traduction mais j'ai souvent des verbes transitifs en tête, du coup il me faut + d'élément pour finir ma phrase.

Il s'agit de faire avouer quoi à cette personne? Et quelle est la phrase précédente (pour éviter d'éventuelles répétitions). ?


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## Mloun

En fait il s'agit de lui faire avouer qu'elle voit quelqu'un en cachette. L'autre  personne était persuadée d'arriver à ses fins lorsque qu'un cri a interrompu leur conversation.


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## sam's mum

_make her fess up_ if you want something more idiomatic.


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## Sandrine79

Mloun said:


> En fait il s'agit de lui faire avouer qu'elle voit quelqu'un en cachette. L'autre personne était persuadée d'arriver à ses fins lorsque qu'un cri a interrompu leur conversation.


 

Peut-être pourrait-on dire 'And to think I was about to make her confess that she had a love affair' (s'il s'agit bien de voir un amant en cachette)


QUOTE : sam's mum 
*Re: faire avouer*
_make her fess up_ if you want something more idiomatic. 


Is 'fess up' a familiar or formal phrase?


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## sam's mum

_fess up_ is slang.
*VERB:*_Slang_. To recognize, often reluctantly, the reality or truth of: acknowledge, admit, avow, concede, confess, grant, own (up).


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## Mloun

I have never heard about the word and I was wondering if it was a slang^^

  Concerning the sentence, I had  written "And to think I was close to make her confess it" (Il ne s'agit pas d'un amant mais ça y ressemble)         

But "close"and "about" have the same meaning.


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## Sandrine79

Thank u sam's mum 

So, 'And to think I was about to make her fess up' would be a solution indeed.

Is the text written in a high register?


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## Sandrine79

Mloun said:


> I have never heard about the word and I was wondering if it was a slang^^
> 
> Concerning the sentence, I had written "And to think I was close to make her confess it"(Il ne s'agit pas d'un amant mais ça y ressemble)
> 
> But "close"and "about" have the same meaning.


 

Peut-être que 'about to' montre qu'il est encore plus près de l'aveu qu'avec 'close to' .

Mais ta traduction semble correcte.


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## Mloun

Yes, the person is intelligent and studious.


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## Sandrine79

Euh ... tu parles de quoi ?  le personnage sur le point d'avouer, l'autre???


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## Mloun

Je parle du personnage qui dit cette phrase.


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## Suehil

''Fess up' is not, as far as I know, used in BE.  In this situation I think I would use 'admit'.


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## david314

Sandrine79 said:


> *Dire que* ... (in our case) = *to think that...*


 


Mloun said:


> Yes, I translated it as "*And to think that...*"


 -Sorry to digress folks, but it was _too important to let go_. Thanks so much.


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## david314

Suehil said:


> ''*Fess up' *is not, as far as I know, used in BE. In this situation I think I would use 'admit'.


  It's outdated in A.E., too -though you _can_ use it.  For something colloquial, I'd likely say:  *to spill the beans *


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## Sandrine79

david314 said:


> It's outdated in A.E., too -though you _can_ use it. For something colloquial, I'd likely say: *to spill the beans *


 

Hi David,

Is 'to spill the beans' similar to 'cracher le morceau' ?


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## Dr. Baha'i

A couple of comments: "fess up" is lower register, "fess" being short for confess.

I don't think I have _ever _heard the word "avow" in spoken language, and I've rarely seen it written. It would be best to avoid it entirely except in quite formal writing.


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## Mloun

david314 said:


> -Sorry to digress folks, but it was _too important to let go_. Thanks so much.


 
It’s nothing^^ But if the original sentence is “Et dire que…” can we translate it as “And to say that…”?
By the way, it’s true that I haven’t heard the word “avow”…


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## Sandrine79

Maybe 'avow' would fit in juridical contexts, like in a trial for instance


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## david314

Sandrine79 said:


> Hi David,
> 
> Is 'to spill the beans' similar to *'cracher le morceau'* ?


  Yes, & it's in the dico (above).


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## Sandrine79

david314 said:


> Yes, & it's in the dico (above).


 
didn't mean to bother  , sorry.


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## Dr. Baha'i

"Et dire que" -- "and to think that"


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