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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

c'était ton ami

English translation:

Your old friend

Added to glossary by BAmary (X)
Nov 22, 2004 22:17
19 yrs ago
French term

c'était ton ami

Non-PRO French to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I am translating a hand-written letter which is being used as evidence that an asylum seeker is indeed in danger back in Congo. It is pretty illiterate (eg infinitives ending in é insteaad or -er)and ends with "c'était ton ami".

- This was your friend? I was your friend? Your friend as was? Your friend from the past??
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 Your old friend
4 +3 this was your friend
3 +3 your friend (as a signature)
5 +1 from your friend.
5 it was your friend; he/she was your friend
3 +2 this was (is) your friend
4 Your ex-friend .. etc
2 +2 Your friend
4 from one who remembers you as a friend
3 An old friend

Discussion

Charlie Bavington Nov 22, 2004:
Agree entirely with your interpretation as at end of your last comment. Don't really think (UK) English has a neat way of conveying such an emotionally charged sentiment. "We used to be friends" might work...
Non-ProZ.com Nov 22, 2004:
* I though I'd already said: it's evidence that the addressee would be in danger in Congo, eg that there are wanted notices about him, that the police has been to his place to arrest him and destroyed everything in his house, and advising him not to return. So it's obviously meant to be from a friend. I'm leaning towards "your old friend", but I'm still not sure. It's almost as if he's saying they are friends, but may never see each other again. How do you convey that in English?!
Austra Muizniece Nov 22, 2004:
And what is the body of the letter like?
Non-ProZ.com Nov 22, 2004:
* It's the very end of the letter. Like this:

Merci
aurevoir
c'�tait ton ami.

I have to say, though, that it begins (top left):
EXP: [NAME]
which I presume means expediteur. So the writer's name is at the top left of the letter, and the town and date on top right. Then the next line is "Mon cher XXX" etc. Perhaps this person is not quite au fait with the conventions in writing a letter.
Charlie Bavington Nov 22, 2004:
When you say "ends" do you mean it is the sign off, or the last thing before the sign off? Is the letter actually from this 'ami' or is it someone else describing what the 'ami' has been doing or what happened to him?
Julie Roy Nov 22, 2004:
It all depends on whether you want to "embellish" it or not... evidence? probably not.
writeaway Nov 22, 2004:
Any more context? what's the setting-what came before this remark?

Proposed translations

+3
7 mins
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami
Selected

Your old friend

I know it's not the exact translation of "C'était ton ami", but if it is ending the letter, I don't think something like "it was your friend" sounds nice. I guess the meaning is "the one who was your friend (in the past)" or sth of the sort. Well, an idea anyway.
Peer comment(s):
agree writeaway : a literal translation won't work here anyway. one possibility
14 mins
Thanks, Writeaway.
agree RHELLER : or "an old friend"
37 mins
Thanks, Rita
agree Charlie Bavington : Now we've got the context, this seems the most likely English equivalent.
1 hr
Thanks, Charlie
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much. And thank you to all the useful contributions, which have made me change my mind fifty times. I think "your old friend" does not necessarily mean they knew each other a long time, and could convey that they used to be friends and may not see each other again. I hope I'm right!"
4 mins
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

it was your friend; he/she was your friend

x
Peer comment(s):
neutral writeaway : as a literal translation, yes. but as a closing farewell in a letter? (fwiw-can't be she-that would be amie :-) )
14 mins
agree urbanspecies : it was your friend (referring to someone else)
3 hrs
disagree Erik Macki : This doesn't really match the sense of the line given the context added above.
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
+3
6 mins
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

your friend (as a signature)

another option.
Peer comment(s):
agree writeaway : one option
16 mins
thanks writeaway
agree Ariser : in view of new info by asker
57 mins
thanks Ariser
agree Erik Macki : This is not a bad option so long as a close translation isn't needed (e.g. for use in court, etc.).
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
6 mins
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

this was (is) your friend

In my opinion it is your first guess..
Peer comment(s):
agree Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X) : yes the spirit and letter and illiteracy
53 mins
agree Erik Macki : I think in English we might sooner say, "This has been your friend." But this is an appropriate translation for use in asylum/court procedings.
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
5 mins
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

Your ex-friend .. etc

Maybe the idea is to show that the author of the letter does not see the recipient as his friend anymore and wants to emphasize that?

Or "the one that used to be your friend"?

Just ideas...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 mins (2004-11-22 22:26:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Agree to Bamary, \"it was your friend\" really does sound weird..
Peer comment(s):
neutral writeaway : not ex-friend-that means there is no longer any friendship between them. that's not the idea here at all/we have absolutely no context it is true,but you need context to point in this direction imho
14 mins
that is exactly what i intended to give as an option, since the asker talks about letter that serves as a proof of danger back in his home country. That, to my mind, is one of the options, given that there is not too much of context provided.
Something went wrong...
+2
9 mins
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

Your friend

I would have to see the rest of the letter to be sure, but perhaps it is a closing to the letter like "your friend, Bob" or whatever. Literally "It WAS your friend that wrote this letter" (which would account for the imperfect tense). Just a guess and an option.
Peer comment(s):
agree writeaway : same remark as to Sarahl
16 mins
agree David Hunter : Yes, just like a message on the answering machine could end with "C'était Cindy"
11 hrs
Something went wrong...
+3
4 mins
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

this was your friend

this was your friend

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 32 mins (2004-11-22 23:49:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The writer could have been thinking \"this was your friend writing\"?
In that case, you could say:

From your friend,

<signature>

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 34 mins (2004-11-22 23:51:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

As in \"this was written by your friend\"...
Peer comment(s):
agree Josephine Billet
6 mins
agree Erik Macki : If this translation is for use in court, this is by far the best translation because it's closest to the original.
8 hrs
agree David Goward : but the thing that occurred to me was that this would be the last letter from the writer because he thought he would be executed. Does that make sense?
9 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
2 hrs
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

from your friend.

The letter was dictated to the writer by the friend of the recipient.The ending of the leter"Merci.au revoir. c'était ton ami."
shows that the letter was not written by the friend but by someone else.It is a normal ending of a letter written by people with a little knowledge of the language.

c'était ton ami = from your friend.
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M : Ah yes, your suggestion makes a lot of sense!
7 hrs
Something went wrong...
9 hrs
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

An old friend

I think this could work, when you think of the kind of contexts where such an expression is occasionally used.

For example, an anonymous letter sometimes finishes with 'A wellwisher'

It would be suitable if they didn't put their name afterwards, but would also work even if they did.
Something went wrong...
11 hrs
French term (edited): c'�tait ton ami

from one who remembers you as a friend

I think you need to add something to avoid changing the meaning in English. If you say 'was' or 'used to be' your friend, that seems risky to me, in terms of evidence, as I would have thought it could then be argued that this person is no longer a friend. If you say 'an old friend', that suggests that they have known each other for a long time - if that is the case, this could be appropriate, but it may not be. As you say in your explanation, what is probably being suggested is that this person was a friend but doesn't expect to meet the person they are writing about, again. This is why I would suggest that 'remembers' is a good way to translate it.
Something went wrong...
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