# FR: au / à la / aux - au début du nom d'un restaurant ou d'un magasin



## Dathos

I often see  names of restaurants etc in France using the preposition a + article + noun, for exemple Brasserie aux armes de Bruxelles, Restaurants aux Lyonnais
how would you translate this?
Merci beaucoup!

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## Lacuzon

Bonjour,

I wouldn't translate that. It's an idiomatic way of naming a restaurant. Just drop the article in your translation.


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## OLN

I agree. Keep it simple.

Since we would say "Les Armes de Bruxelles" est fermé tel jour,  I would put a definite article like in most names here.

This famous restaurant's name becomes _*The* dog who smokes_ or is not translated at all . 
See here how they use _*le* Chien... _when the restaurant becomes subject of a sentence.


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## mancunienne girl

In the novel "Au bonheur des Dames" by Zola, why is "au" used and not "le". I have often seen "au" used before the name of a café too and always wondered why this is used when it would normally mean "at the". Any help appreciated.


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## petit1

It is not rare to find "Au ..." in the name of a shop, a store or a restaurant. In my town, there was a shoeshop called "_Au chat botté_" and a store called "_Au printemps de Paris_".


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## mancunienne girl

Petit1, that is what I mean, but how would you translate it? "At the" does not sound right in English, hence my suggestion "the". Drinking establishments, shops etc in English are always "the", you would never see "at the" in a name.


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## OLN

You're right. Restaurants, and cafés have similar names starting with au /à la /aux. […]

You can see _au_ as _dédié au, _but why should you even try to translate the preposition literally? We don't translate the possessive *'s* of English place names.

PS : Simaneon, le Bonheur des dames était un grand magasin (department store) à l'instar du Bon marché


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## Simaneon

I guess "the" would indeed be the best idea, because if I understood well there is no equivalent in English and that "au" does not imply any deep meaning. By the way, I saw "au bonheur des dames" is translated with a "the" in English.


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## pointvirgule

The novel has been translated under the titles _The Ladies' Delight_ and _The Ladies' Paradise_.
No need to overcomplicate matters.

Edit – Crossposted with Simaneon.


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## mancunienne girl

Thanks OLN and Simaneon, although I'm not sure what you meant about the apostrophe (but that's a different question).


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## OLN

mancunienne girl said:


> I'm not sure what you meant about the apostrophe.


You still see the possessive in English business names. I was just pointing out that translating the possessive literally wouldn't make more sense than keeping _à là, au, aux_ in your translation.
Moreover, the proposition is adapted in French as well: Je fais mes courses au Bon Marché ; le Bon Marché ouvre ses portes à telle heure; la façade du Bon marché, etc. The store was even renamed le Bon Marché in the 80s, maybe because someone became tired of hearing some people say J'ai acheté ceci au Au Bon Marché and La façade du Au Bon Marché.

D'accord avec pointvirgule, et je dirais même qu'il faut être compliqué pour vouloir se compliquer les choses à ce point.


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## Maître Capello

See also the thread Au bonheur de - préposition "à" + nom de magasin in the Français Seulement forum.


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## Wonderwhat

What is the function of Au/à la before names of bars in French? For example, I was researching bars in Brussels and found one called À La Mort Subite and one called Au Bon Vieux Temps. There's also a restaurant in Canada called Aux Anciens Canadiens.

Why couldn't they be called, for example, La Mort Subite, Le Bon Vieux Temps, etc.?

In English, pubs, for example, are called things like The Red Lion, The White Horse, etc., not 'To The White Horse/At The White Horse'.

[…]

So does this Au/À La sort of mean, 'the place of/the place dedicated to'? (very clunky sounding I know, but just to give an idea of the meaning).

I'd be interested in reading any articles/posts that discuss this.

Thanks!


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## Locape

Usually, in France, when you raise a toast, you drink *to *something, 'à la tienne' (Here's to you!) or 'à la santé de...' (someone or something).
Maybe it has something to do with this 'à la/au', for me it sounds like 'cheers!', 'to good old times', 'to la Mort subite' (the beer, of course! 😁), etc...
[…]


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## Itisi

I don't think it's anything to do with toasting.  It means 'At' (the whatever), as in 'at the sign of the Red Lion', or whatever.


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## Wonderwhat

That's a good theory too. 

It does seem to have a certain redundance to it. I wonder, does it have a sort of old-timey feel to it in French? A bit like 'Ye Olde...' in English? Or does it just sound totally standard?


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## Bezoard

In the old times, before houses were assigned a number in streets, every shop had to be identified by a special sign, and it was natural to say "à", meaning "at" with the sign name : à la tête d'or, au cheval blanc, aux trois rois mages, au lion d'or (with a pun : au lit, on dort), etc. That's the origin of most restaurant names beginning with "à", even when there is no more shop sign. The use has been extended to anything that could be said peculiar to the shop/restaurant : à la bonne soupe, etc.
However, in some cases, the "à" implies more a kind of dedication : aux bons amis, aux anciens Canadiens, ...


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## Wonderwhat

Oh wow, that's a great explanation. I did think it had a sort of dedication feel in some cases, too. Thanks very much!


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## OLN

Des réponses ont déjà été données dans ce fil :

Au bonheur de - préposition "à" + nom de magasin (FS)

J'oublierais cette idée de trinquer à la santé d'on ne sait qui ou quoi .


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## Itisi

Wonderwhat said:


> does it have a sort of old-timey feel to it in French?


No, it's standard, but you can also have 'Le Lion d'Or', or whatever.


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