# Colocation



## Sev

How do you say that in English please ? I've heard that colocataire is "room mate" but I'm not sure it's exactly the same meaning as in "partager un appartement".

Thanks, merci.


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## fetchezlavache

there is also flat-mate, and house-mate


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## LV4-26

My take on "colocation"
_flatshare_ (for a flat) or _houseshare_ (for a house).
NB : I'm not definite.


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## Sev

> there is also flat-mate, and house-mate


 So, maybe I should use castle-mate  . Seriously, is flat-mate as used as colocataire in french ?



> My take on "colocation"
> _flatshare_ (for a flat) or _houseshare_ (for a house).
> NB : *I'm not definite*.


 Thanks. Attendons donc confimation ou infirmation.


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## fetchezlavache

i'd say it's used much more often than 'colocataire', if only for the reason that flat or house sharing is much more common in the usa and uk etc... than in france...

but that's only my perception of it.


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## timpeac

It is a very common, normal word.


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## lainyn

Well, I share a suite with 2 other girls, and I call them my roommates. Everyone here does, even though we all have our own bedrooms.

~Lainyn


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## Sev

ok for roommate, thanks. How would you say "La colocation est une expérience intéressante" ? "Flat sharing is an interesting experience" ?


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## Nywoe

Although I am sure that you can correctly have a verb for "roommate" (or any variation thereof), I'd be more inclined to say: "Having a roommate is an interesting experience."

N.


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## timpeac

In the UK I think we would only call someone a roommate if we literally shared a bedroom (in a non-sexual sense eg two beds). We would all say "flatmate" or "housemate" as appropriate unless we share a room.


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## LV4-26

Sev is searching an equivalent for "colocation" rather than for "colataire".

Nywoe did suggest an interesting way of turning the sentence. What do the others think ?
<Chat mode ON> On doit pas être bien loin l'un de l'autre, Sev. Une poignée de kilomètres, à vol d'oiseau. <Chat mode OFF>


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## rayb

In English, colocation is used quite oftently in the telecommunication industry to designate the space rented to third party providers within a local exchange switch. In fact, in many countries telecom operators are binded to rent space in their LXS to other providers. I'm not sure which is the name currenly used in French for this provision, however my take would be: "location d'espace".


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## timpeac

In English, with double ll "collocation" I learnt this word in linguistic terms meaning "words which tend to go together" (for no immediately obvious reason).

For example "to pick a fight" you just tend to "pick" a fight. or the order of the words "black and white" never "white and black". A collocation is different from an idiom such as "to be raining cats and dogs" which is a special set of words taking on a specific meaning. A collocation of words are just ones that native speakers tend to use together.

I suppose this is using the "location" root of "position" rather than "hiring".


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## Sev

rayb said:
			
		

> In English, colocation is used quite oftently in the telecommunication industry to designate the space rented to third party providers within a local exchange switch. In fact, in many countries telecom operators are binded to rent space in their LXS to other providers. I'm not sure which is the name currenly used in French for this provision, however my take would be: "location d'espace".


Erm..thanks rayb but I was looking for the english equivalent of colocation (french word)...
Basically, I gave an exemple of sentence so that people tell me how they would translate "colocation", but Nywoe found another way to say it without that word Question now : if I want to say "Je vis en colocation" I'd better say "I live with two roommates (or flat mates)" ? And avoid things like "flat sharing" ?

<chat enclenché> oui Jean Michel, je suis même passée juste à côté de Fontenay-le-Marmion samedi, et je me suis dit que ce nom me rappelait qch...<chat terminé : amis mods, promis j'le f'rai plus ! Mais c'est pas moi qu'a commencé...  >


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## LV4-26

I'm afraid I got everybody confused. I meant an equivalent for the French "colocation"


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## Auryn

Sev said:
			
		

> Question now : if I want to say "Je vis en colocation" I'd better say "I live with two roommates (or flat mates)" ? And avoid things like "flat sharing" ?



You can say "I share a flat with two people", "I live in a flatshare" or "I have two flatmates" (in one word).

I agree with timpeac: British people use 'flatmate' or 'housemate'. 'Roommate' is something you hear on _Friends_


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## shakril

Hi there, 


First of all, happy new year to everyone !!! (It's never too late  )
I was wondering something about the translation of a french idiom which we use in order to mean we share an apartment (or house) with some other persons (so in this case, flatmate or roommate). My question is about the translation of the word "collocation" in english. Indeed, I looked up in different dictionnaries but I didn't find out any translation   Does a specific word exist in English ? or do you employ simply the sentence I share my accomodation with flatmates ? 

Thanks in advance for your replies


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## mgarizona

Cohabitation?

Wait, I understand now:

house-sharing?


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## shakril

Ok thanks to both of you. So, as I thought, there is not a real translation for that. House sharing looks great to me. I will consider it as my wanted word.


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## aph_

On dit souvent "I live in shared housing", "I share <a house/apartment> with other people", "I rent with someone else" pour decrire la situation
On dit "roommate, flat mate, housemate" pour la personne avec qui on partage.


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## aph_

Auryn said:


> You can say "I share a flat with two people", "I live in a flatshare" or "I have two flatmates" (in one word).
> 
> I agree with timpeac: British people use 'flatmate' or 'housemate'. 'Roommate' is something you hear on _Friends_


 
Je ne suis pas sure quelle langue vous voulez parler - en l'anglais australien, on ne dit jamais "flatshare", ce mot n'existe pas.


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## kebudd

You're right, I don't think there is an exact translation.

But (at least in the USA) we don't really say, "house sharing"...I understand what you mean, mais ça se dit pas. 

I would need a sentence with context to give you the idea of what we would say in that situation.

Here is an idea:

I'm really excited about my new living situation next year. I'm sharing an apartment with 4 wonderful roommates!


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## wildan1

_cohabitation_ between humans means _concubinage (living as a couple without marriage)_

_I'm going to live in a group house_ or a _shared apartment_

_I'm going to share an apartment with somebody (no romance involved)_


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## Joanne83

In NZ we say 'flatting'


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## Fred_C

Bonjour.
Il semble que Shakril ait confondu "co*l*ocation" (de co- et location) (action de louer à plusieurs) avec "co*ll*ocation" (du lat collocare : placer ensemble) , un terme juridique assez rare, également parfois employé en linguistique (auquel on préfère cependant "cooccurrence", il me semble)


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## the dazzler

Flat-sharing is a commonly used expression in UK (at least, in London).  The people you share with are called 'flatmates'.


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## Keith Bradford

the dazzler said:


> Flat-sharing is a commonly used expression in UK (at least, in London). The people you share with are called 'flatmates'.


 
Equally: _house-sharing,_ and I've only just come across _house-mates_.


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## mally pense

the dazzler said:


> Flat-sharing is a commonly used expression in UK (at least, in London).  The people you share with are called 'flatmates'.



Throughout England and the rest of the UK too probably. The single word _collocation _is probably best translated more precisely as flat-sharing, house-sharing or room-sharing depending on the exact nature of what is being shared, and _colocs_ as flat-mates, house-mates or room-mates correspondingly.

Note: Although I've used hypens, these words can be (and are) used without, e.g. flatsharing, flatmates, etc. or sometimes with spaces instead of hyphens.


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## mally pense

Also, _flat-share_ can be used to describe flat-sharing in general (e.g. a flat-share agency) or _"a flat-share_" to describe a single instance of a flat sharing arrangement. Ditto for house-share etc.

(Again with or without the hyphens/spaces).


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## gubbles85

I would say the closest translation would be "house-sharing" or "shared housing" but we don't really have a word that really sums it up as well.


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