# One only has to think of



## sofiastone

PLease can you let me know if my english translation is correct? merci!

one only has to think of Britart, for example, whose motif has been the desire to shock, or film.....

on doit penser de l'art britannique, par exemple, dont motif a ete le desir pour choquer ou filmer......


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## pieanne

Sofia, please post the whole sentence + the context! Thanks!


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## A day in Eireann

Il suffit de penser/songer à l'art britannique, par exemple, dont le motif a été son désir de choquer, ou de filmer.......


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## tsimbalar

I don't really know the meaning of "motif" in English... Just for curiosity, does it mean something like "motivation", or is it close to the expression "leitmotiv" (approximative German...)

Because in French,  "un motif"  means "a pattern"..


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## pieanne

tsimbalar said:


> I don't really know the meaning of "motif" in English... Just for curiosity, does it mean something like "motivation", or is it close to the expression "leitmotiv" (approximative German...)
> 
> Because in French, "un motif" means "a pattern"..


Here's what Cambridge says http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=52049&dict=CALD


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## sofiastone

thanks for all your messages, why can't I use "devoir" for the beginning of the sentence?


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## pieanne

sofiastone said:


> thanks for all your messages, why can't I use "devoir" for the beginning of the sentence?


Please post the *whole* sentence and context, Sofia


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## tsimbalar

sofiastone said:


> thanks for all your messages, why can't I use "devoir" for the beginning of the sentence?



I would say that it sounds more that "need to", rather than "must", specially with the use of "only"...
"Devoir" means an obligation
"Suffire" means "it's enough with"


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## sofiastone

oh ok! i just had not heard of suffire before. thank you! 

Pieanne, the context:

It started with the rebirth of pop music as a youth genre, but the concerns and atttitudes of the young generation have since permeated areas that were never adolescent. One only has to think of .......

Elle a commencé la renaissance du musique pop comme un genre jeunesse, mais, depuis les soucies et les dispositions de la géneration jeunes a impregné les endroits qui n'ont jamais été adolescente.


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## pieanne

sofiastone said:


> It started with the rebirth of pop music as a youth genre, but the concerns and atttitudes of the young generation have since permeated areas that were never adolescent. One only has to think of .......
> 
> Elle a commencé la renaissance du musique pop comme un genre jeunesse, mais, depuis les soucies et les dispositions de la géneration jeunes a impregné les endroits qui n'ont jamais été adolescente.


 
Ca a commencé ("elle" is feminine, cannot translate an "it", unless your "it" is feminine in French) avec la renaissance *de la* musique pop comme un genre pour les jeunes, mais depuis, les souc*is*/les problèmes et les attitudes (I still have a problem translating it) de la jeune génération ont imprégné des domaines qui n'ont jamais touché aux adolescents. Il suffit de penser à/un simple coup d'oeil à ...


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## sofiastone

merci beaucoup pour votre aide PieAnne


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## polaire

pieanne said:


> Here's what Cambridge says http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=52049&dict=CALD




"Motif" does exist, but it's not commonly used to discuss popular music.  I'm not saying it can't be, just that one usually doesn't.  The register of "motif" seems more suited to classical music, e.g., as in  Leitmotiv.


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## A day in Eireann

Thank you tsimbalar for replying before I could log back on.
 
Sofiastone, here are the three options I can think of:
 
[if you were to translate it as "on doit seulement .... ": what you would actually be saying is that you have an obligation to do something, but that this something is not much. 
e.g. On doit seulement rendre les livres à la bibliothèque, on ne va pas y rester dix ans. (we only have to bring our books back, it won't take us ten years at the library). While if, you translate it by: il suffit de.... : what you mean is that not much is required for someone to.... ]
 
 
But you could opt for requérir or nécessiter, if you preferred. Twisting your sentence a bit around its axe, you’d then say: L’art britannique ne requiert (ne nécessite) qu’un simple regard (qu’une simple pensée), pour que ….
 
But suffire is more aggressive in an article, and better suited to pop music. The other two would be better in the case of fine arts, or classical music. But can be used too of course (they just seem a bit odd when you mention a desire to shock in the very same sentence). And they are a bit different : 
 
Suffire = to be enough to
e.g.: the singer screams NO and destroys a flag, you do not need any deep intelligence, or much knowledge of language and art, to guess that he is in a state of rebellion against the establishment
Requérir = to require, preferably something like a an ability or a knowledge
e.g.: you have to sense the music or the musically of the lyrics to feel the mood the singer must have been in when he wrote this and so guess at its hidden meanings. Or you need to know about the history of pop and alternative music to understand why one is a punk and one a skinhead from the choice of words or music.
Nécessiter = to require, preferably something like a skill, an instrument, a mean
e.g.: you have to have a good music ear or computer software to know the keys and notes that are being used and recognise them as pure British art of that period.


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## Argyll

sofiastone said:


> one only has to think of Britart, for example, whose motif has been the desire to shock, or film.....
> on doit penser de l'art britannique, par exemple, dont motif a ete le desir pour choquer ou filmer......


I suppose by Britart you mean the likes of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, but if in French you write 'lart britannique', it will be understood as meaning Constable and Turner.


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## tilt

I would like to suggest _volonté _as a better translation for _desir _in such a sentence.


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