miketuan

[spiral lark]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[ancient yew]

In English we use words like "supposedly", "apparently", and "might" to convey that info is unconfirmed or uncertain.

In French this can be done with the conditional present and conditional past. This is often done in the news.

Des biologistes auraient découvert une nouvelle espèce de dinosaure.
Biologists have supposedly discovered a new species of dinosaur.

Le Premier Ministre donnerait sa démission dans les prochains jours.
The Prime Minister might step down in the following days.

[storm wadi]

This alternate translation might bring some light:

L'orage aurait causé plusieurs millions d'euros de dégâts.
The storm might have caused several millions of Euros worth of damages.

[scarlet minnow]

Can we also use conditionnel présent for this use?

[storm wadi]

Totally.
« Le président se rendrait ce matin à un autre pays. »
‘The President might be going to another country this morning.’

The present describes something that has not happened or is currently happening whereas the past describes something that has happened. Since most news report on something after an event has happened, they use the past.

[fiery quartz]

Does that convey the idea of "reportedly" at all

[storm wadi]

I’d say so

[scarlet minnow]

Hey guys, so I learnt about le futur antérieur today and one of its uses is « pour présenter un fait qui est donné comme probable et situé dans le passé ». Par exemple « Elle n'est pas rentrée: sa réunion aura duré plus longtemps que prévu ».
Is this use the same as the one discussed in this thread?

[scarlet minnow]

L'orage aurait/aurai causé plusieurs millions d'euros de dégâts.

[storm wadi]

Sorta, it's more 'probable'

if the conditionnel passé is like 'might have verb-ed', futur antérieur is like 'may/must have verb-ed'

'She didn't come home; her meeting must have gone on longer than expected'

[storm wadi]

aura* causé

[scarlet minnow]

By the way, another use of futur antérieur is « pour présenter un bilan ou un récapitulatif ». Par exemple « Villars met fin à sa carrière sportive où il aura remporté dix titres européens ou mondiaux ». I am quite confused with the use and don't know what the example sentence literally means (aura remporté). Could you help?

[storm wadi]

Same thing, makes it more certain because it’s technically a future action

French works by having a ‘simple’ tense followed by a ‘compound’ tense that portrays an event still in the same timeframe as the simple but more past

For example, we have the simple present tense (je mange) and the compound passé composé tense (j’ai mangé) where the latter can describe a past action that still has relevance in the present. If I said « J’ai allumé la lumière », the action may be in the past but the consequences of that action – that is, the light is still on – remains/has relevance in the present.

This is the same dynamic we have with the futur simple and the futur antérieur, our simple and compound tenses respectively. Yes, the deeds Villars did is squarely in the past, but in relation to the main action which takes place in the future, we use the futur antérieur to create that past action with relevance to the future.

[fiery quartz]

That sounds weird

Sounds calqued from Spanish to me

I don't think it's very common nowadays

Maybe in newspapers

[scarlet minnow]

damn, what I understand in general from what you sent is that, « aura emporté » still a future action technically but more past than « le la fin de sa carrière »

[fiery quartz]

*la fin

[scarlet minnow]

for real, these examples I found them in are from sport news