# EN: Je ne voulais pas te dire



## curtis87

bonjour,

Est-ce que quelqu'un peut m'éclairer? En fait, je veux dire "je ne voulais pas te  dire" , j'ai pris le verbe dire mais ça pourrait être un autre verbe, j'ai pensé à "I didn't want to tell u" mais la traduction serait " je n'ai pas voulu te dire" , à un moment précis dans la passé.
Ce que je veux savoir c'est quel est la traduction de "je voulais" , c'est à dire une action(avec le verbe vouloir)  qui était en cours dans le passé, j 'ai pensé à "i wasn't wishing to tell u" est-ce que c'est juste?
merci


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## loginpleaseplease

i don't understand i didn't want to tell you as referring to one moment in time, I understand it as referring to a period in which I didn't want to say something.  so i think your translation "i didn't want to tell you" is correct.  i wasn't wishing to tell you is not natural, just understandable.


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## CDHMontpellier

Yes, the imparfait in French often translates to the preterit in English, so "I didn't want to tell you" is correct.


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## nouvellerin

_Je ne voulais pas te dire:_ I didn't want to tell you


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## Moon Palace

Only context will help you decide if you should say 'I wasn't wishing to tell you' or 'I didn't want to tell you'. And it is the same for us: before deciding to say 'je n'ai pas voulu te dire' or 'je ne voulais pas te dire', we need context. 
The first French form 'ai voulu' is more focused on the result of a past action, but it still happens in the past.


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## CDHMontpellier

For me, "I wasn't wishing to tell you" doesn't sound as natural as "I didn't want to tell you". As a rule (with exceptions, of course! ), the past continuous (was + verb-ing) expresses an action "en train de" in the past, whereas verbs like "want" and "wish" more often remain in the simple form--hence the preterit.


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## Moon Palace

CDHMontpellier said:


> For me, "I wasn't wishing to tell you" doesn't sound as natural as "I didn't want to tell you". As a rule (with exceptions, of course! ), the past continuous (was + verb-ing) expresses an action "en train de" in the past, whereas verbs like "want" and "wish" more often remain in the simple form--hence the preterit.



For the sake of learners of EFL, I wouldn't state it as simply, however right you may be regarding the overall trend of the continuous present. 
For those who might be interested, there are wonderful threads explaining the nuances:
Continuous present (in English)

I couldn't find a thread in French that would show how dangerous it is for learners to translate 'be + ing' by 'en train de'. It is the idea of course, but many students later have trouble staying away from this translation which is too often excessive. 
He is working = il travaille (and the present in French suffices to mean 'en train de'. 
Sometimes, it is only the perception or the commitment of the locutor which is expressed with 'be + ing': 
I am not feeling well = je ne me sens pas bien (and I can tell you how bad I feel because I truly feel it deep down). 
Sometimes we will use 'maintenant' or 'aujourd'hui' to show it is happening as we are talking: 
'unemployment is decreasing' = le chômage est actuellement en baisse.


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## CDHMontpellier

I agree (and thanks for the wonderful explanation!), although I was addressing the past continuous rather than the present, and more specifically, verbs like "want" and "wish" which tend to take the preterit even when in the imparfait in French.


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## Moon Palace

Yes, CDH, I should have made it clear that what applies to the present can also apply to the past: what is felt, believed, is often conveyed with 'be + ing'. 
I was wishing not to tell you: je ne voulais pas te le dire (it is a commitment I had when I thought about it). 
And you're right to say that in these circumstances it could only be the _imparfait _in French.


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## CDHMontpellier

But I would say "I didn't wish/want to tell you" rather than "I was wishing not to tell you", which I don't think most native speakers would say. (Though I may be wrong; let's see if any others chime in! )


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## Moon Palace

I know this sounds more natural, but let's figure this out: 
I was under the pressure of my boss, I had lost my wife. This is why at that time I was wishing not to tell you about this, I felt I couldn't. 
In this example, I am describing the circumstances of my past choice, and the state of mind I was in which led me to this decision. 
Does it make sense to your native ears? (I am seeking the answer too, not stating something I am adamant about).


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## CDHMontpellier

No, I would still use the preterit.  I see this confusion often with my students (and, in the past, when I trained EFL teachers who spoke French before English).

The past continuous is used to denote an action that *was happening* (there's the "en train de") at a specific moment.

I was reading when the phone rang.
What were you doing at midnight?

But:

Quand j'étais jeune, je vivais longtemps seul à la campagne = when I was young, I *lived*...

Je voulais, je souhaitais, etc. = I wanted

Even at a certain moment, "want" is still an "inactive" verb that remains in the simple form, just as we don't say (in good English, anyway!) "I am wanting to tell you." While "wish" isn't exactly the same as "want", it is close enough that I would put it in the same category.

Having said all of this, I won't deny that people speak very differently, and there may be some out there who would say "I wasn't wishing" in your example, but I would say that it isn't correct.


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## Moon Palace

At long last - precisely because as you say, it is far from commonplace - I have found an example from a reliable English source illustrating what I was trying to show: _
Quite soon, I was wishing the red-headed gunman had just pulled the trigger.
_
Extracted from the Daily Telegraph. 
I don't mean to say what you are saying is wrong, CDH. I agree with you on the general basis, yet I was sure I had encountered the use of such verbs as 'will', 'want', 'like', 'wish' in the ing form. And I don't think it had to do with people's peculiar use of language, but to a precise context and intention regarding the message. 
Hope what I had meant to say is now clearer.


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## CDHMontpellier

This is an interesting example and definitely not incorrect, in my book (though somewhat informal).  But I "hear" a difference between this "wishing" (that something would happen) and your example of "wishing/wanting to tell someone".  Hard to explain, and I'm not doing it very well!  I really don't think it would come naturally to anyone to say "I was(n't) wishing to tell you" (here, wish = want), whereas in the Telegraph article, the "wishing" is more of an action closer to "hoping", which is definitely a verb that takes a continuous form.

I have probably just made things ten times more confusing!


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## Moon Palace

OK, we agree on this. But if you type 'was wanting' in Google, it provides 1,500,000 hits. And most of them are from English people asking questions: 'I was wanting to know'... or similar meanings. So I remain doutful on the idea that 'want' can simply not be used with an -ing form. To me, it is like 'I am considering' meaning 'right now, there is this question on my mind', and I can't see why this would not be feasible in the past.


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## Thomas1

CDHMontpellier said:


> This is an interesting example and definitely not incorrect, in my book (though somewhat informal).  But I "hear" a difference between this "wishing" (that something would happen) and your example of "wishing/wanting to tell someone".  Hard to explain, and I'm not doing it very well!  I really don't think it would come naturally to anyone to say "I was(n't) wishing to tell you" (here, wish = want), whereas in the Telegraph article, the "wishing" is more of an action closer to "hoping", which is definitely a verb that takes a continuous form.
> 
> I have probably just made things ten times more confusing!


This is something I agree with. 
I think that there is a difference you have described and that the tense we use with want/wish depends on their meaning, when it shifts closer to hope then I guess both tenses are fine. Would that be true?

Tom


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