flashlight2537 | French - Learn French in a friendly community! | Page 1

tawdry juncoBOT Jan 13, 2025, 4:27 AM

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sand geode Jan 13, 2025, 4:34 AM

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two things:

meaning-wise, it just makes more sense for it to mean "ready". To be close to someone in hardships for instance, other constructions would be preferred like "être aux côtés de", whereas "être près de" indicates physical distance and isn't good metaphor material
grammaticaly, to be near something using "près", you'd have to use the preposition "de" (près de quelqu'un). The line would thus be "De ton roi, tu seras toujours près"

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they do sound the same still

ripe swallow Jan 13, 2025, 5:22 AM

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sand geode two things: - meaning-wise, it just makes more sense for it to mean "ready". To ...

Can't we use « près » on its own to mean 'close by' like 'You're always standing close by (to the court or whatever) for your king'

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I was thinking that a second meaning using « près » was possible like you will be ready to fight or whatever for the king but you're also close to said king because of that readiness to fight (your responsibility/duty to fight)

sand geode Jan 13, 2025, 5:29 AM

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ripe swallow Can't we use « près » on its own to mean 'close by' like 'You're always standing...

it can, but there is an issue in this instance, at least from the way I feel
"pour ton roi" can be interpreted two ways: "for your king", or "from your king's pov"
in the first instance, it just doesn't work without using "de". just like you wouldn't say "I would be near for my king"
in the second... then what are you close to? because the king is not the target, but the point of view. just like "from you're king's pov, you'll always be near"

ripe swallow Jan 13, 2025, 5:30 AM

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yeah I was talking about the second way

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as in you're always nearby, ready to risk it all for the king's safety and all that

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I dunno, I guess I was just thinking about homophones to create additional meaning like Stromae did in his song Te Quiero

sand geode Jan 13, 2025, 5:31 AM

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I mean maybe it's used like that. But on its own I would definitely say this meaning is unnatural

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