# il en a vu d'autres



## mattboost

comment traduire en Anglais : 

''il en a vu d'autres.''


merci


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## Suehil

'He has seen others' - referring to something already mentioned.


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## carolineR

'he isn't wet behind the ears' ?


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## zinc

D'autres possibilités, suivant le contexte : "he has seen it all" or, "this is not the first time he has come across this/it", or even "he has experience (in that matter)."


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## Ayoup

_Been there, done that_ ?


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## mattboost

thanks for all replies.

I like ''he has seen others'' of suehil
is it the good expression in the sense of '' he has experience in that matter'' ?

i've discovered a new expression as ''he's not wet behind the ears'' of caroline

thanks


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## david314

_-He's been around (the block)._

_-He's seen a few things in his day._


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## zinc

david314 said:


> _-He's been around (the block)._
> _-He's seen a few things in his day. _



Keep them coming.


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## Arrius

He's seen a thing or two in his day.
That was no surprise/nothing new to him.
He's seen more/done more/had more X's than you've had hot dinners.


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## Fillesinge217

I don't think that 'been there, done that,' 'he's been around the block' and 'that was no surprise/nothing new to him' are really accurate translations for this.  They can refer to more than just what this quote is saying.


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## Fillesinge217

The basic 'He's seen others' would probably be best. 

The alternate expressions you could use depend on the context the phrase is used in.


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## Oluc (Yvon)

The problem is that "He's seen others" is not a colloquial expression in English like "Il en a vus d'autres" is in French.


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## Suehil

As always, this discussion will never reach a satisfactory conclusion if we don't have any context.  Colloquial expressions can rarely be translated directly and the best choice has to be the one that conveys the idea in the given context.


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## Oluc (Yvon)

But "He's seen others" is not even an expression in English, except in a very narrow, bland and literal sense: "He has seen other guys similar to these ones".


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## Fillesinge217

It doesn't neccessarily refer to people. It could mean that he has seen other objects like whatever is being discussed. And when used in English, it is actually more likely that they would be saying "he's seen better" that "he's seen other similar ones."


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## verbivore

He knows a thing or two.


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## mattboost

hye and thanks to all of you


is the sentence ''he's seen a few things in his days' a colloquial expression?


the context:

HE , is in mountain, in a most difficult route, but ''he's seen a few things in his days'', today it's simply wilder and it's certainly not the end...



thanks


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## Arrius

Yes, it is a colloquial expression.


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## mattboost

the sentence is only made to explain the context...

now, it's ok for me ... ''he's seen a few things in his days'' is a colloquial sentence, that's what I wanted to be sure.

thanks for all your replies.


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## wildan1

Oluc (Yvon) said:


> The problem is that "He's seen others" is not a colloquial expression in English like "Il en a vus d'autres" is in French.


 
But _he's seen it all_ is often used for this--and means the same as _he's been around the block_.

Or _he's seen/he knows every trick in the book_ when you are describing someone's knowledge about a profession or practice of some sort (especially clever or sneaky ways to do things).


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## Oluc (Yvon)

Yes, and your suggestions are a far cry from the bland and awkward "He's seen others".


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## mattboost

ok!

so, ''he's seen a few things in his day'' seems to me insisting on the fact that HE has visited a lot of mountains and known a lot of adventures...


thanks to all for your aid


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## Keith Bradford

I've always translated "_il en a vu d'autres_" as "_*he's seen it all before*_" which means "this situation holds no surprises for him".


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## LakeLife

Thought I'd add in one more possibility (depending on the context): "This ain't his/her first rodeo!" I love this colloquial expression used in rural US (and maybe all over the US?).


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## Topsie

Ayoup said:


> _Been there, done that_ ...


... *got the T-shirt*


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## Dansky

LakeLife said:


> Thought I'd add in one more possibility (depending on the context): "This ain't his/her first rodeo!" I love this colloquial expression used in rural US (and maybe all over the US?).



I first heard it in Australia a couple of years ago.  A girl said it to me and an older friend who is in fifties, and he had never heard it before either. Wouldn't you normally say it about _yourself _though? 'It's not my first rodeo.'  That's how I heard it, anyway.

And to respond to this 2007 comment, - *But he's seen it all is often used for this--and means the same as he's been around the block *_- _yes, but the former is a lot stronger than the latter.  'He's seen it all' means that nothing that might happen (in a given context) will surprise him.  'He's been around the block' means he's no fool, but there isn't the same assurance that nothing that happens will surprise or perturb him.


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## SwissPete

He wasn't born yesterday.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

SwissPete said:


> He wasn't born yesterday.



I think this is similar to "Il n'est pas né de la dernière pluie.", meaning more "He's not naif/gullible." (personality trait) than "He's experienced."


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## SwissPete

Right! I checked the definition of "*born yesterday*":


> *born yesterday*
> Meaning​
> naive; inexperienced
> someone, like a new born baby with no experience
> to be stupid or easy to mislead
> The idiomatic expression is typically used in the negative, past-tense form as wasn’t born yesterday. As the negative use of this phrase is more prevalent, we’ve explained this expression with its negative meanings and examples to understand it clearly without any further confusion.
> 
> Source: theidioms.com


So my #41 post was not quite on target.


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## joelooc

WillM said:


> _He's seen worse_.
> (He has seen worse)


He's been through worse


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

joelooc said:


> He's been through worse



I see this as a comment on his toughness/resiliency.


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## joelooc

I guess it's what "il en a vu d'autres " is about.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Yes, I guess it could well be, come to think of it. 


joelooc said:


> I guess it's what "il en a vu d'autres " is about.


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## Danny_T

mattboost said:


> comment traduire en Anglais :
> 
> ''il en a vu d'autres.''
> 
> 
> merci


Maybe, "He has seen it all".


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