I know that "Est-ce que tu dors?" is "Are you sleeping?" but how would you ask "Are you STILL sleeping?"
-
1STILL = ENCORE : Je suis encore en train de dormir– PersonneJan 23, 2015 at 13:41
-
1I can't speak for the OP, but that's probably what he/she means, @Amphiteóth , unless it's an issue of talking in their sleep or the narration of a dream sequence!– Papa PouleJan 23, 2015 at 14:48
-
@Amphiteóth C'est une expression courante pour dire que l'on n'est pas encore bien réveillé, que l'on a ouvert un (seul) œil, mais que l'on est prêt à se rendormir, ou encore, que l'on semble réveillé, mais que l'on est dans un état comateux, "vaseux", que l'on n'est pas encore entièrement réveillé (entre rêve/somnolence et réveil)– PersonneJan 23, 2015 at 14:58
-
1Are you a native English speaker? Your use of "I'm still sleeping" is weird here. As @PapaPoule says it's something you'd say while sleeping... I'd say "I'm still asleep" (adjective) which in French would be je suis encore endormie.– NoneJan 23, 2015 at 15:56
-
Using you/tu instead of I/je would clear the ambiguity. I suggest you rephrase your question.– NoneJan 23, 2015 at 15:59
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
Out of any context, a plain "est-ce que tu dors encore?" comes to mind.
« Dors-tu encore ? » or you could say too « Es-tu toujours endormi ? » Encore and toujours meaning still.
Hmmmm... "Es-tu toujours endormi?" might be seen also as deprecatory. Meaning: "Are you always so asleep as not seeing anything?!?!? (or whatever was expected)?" In fact, in that case "Dors-tu encore?" is a more accurately translated by: Are you still asleep?
So, I discussed this with my French girlfriend.
"Still" would be translated as "toujours" in this case - the implication is that it's been happening continuously. "Encore" is sort of like "again" - it would signify that the person stopped sleeping, woke up, then went back to sleep. So:
Est-ce que tu dors TOUJOURS ?
If this were said out loud (like an angry parent talking to their teenager), they would probably just say "tu dors TOUJOURS !?" or "tu es TOUJOURS endormi !?" ("you're STILL asleep!?"), using tone of voice to signify the question.
It's not necessary to be precise about the "am sleeping" part by using "...en train de...", unless you really want to stress the continuity of the action. But the difference here would be even more subtle than the toujours/encore difference.
-
No, here still is encore. Je dors toujours would be "I keep sleeping" or "I'm always asleep".– NoneJan 23, 2015 at 15:48
-
3The use of toujours in the example in your comment is not the same as in the sentence je dors toujours. In your sentence both, encore & toujours are acceptable and with the same meaning. Je dors toujours cannot mean you are still sleeping, but that you are always (meaning all the time) sleeping (maybe you've got a decease that makes you seep all the time...)– NoneJan 23, 2015 at 16:05
-
1I've checked this with a native French speaker - her first response was to use "toujours." In addition, "je dors toujours" is most certainly NOT "I keep sleeping." The verb "to keep" implies a certain persistence that would be better translated as something like "je continue à dormir."– KricketJan 23, 2015 at 18:23
-
1@Laure My Larousse junior poche (printed on paper, and intended for primary school children) gives as its second meaning, "(2) Encore, maintenant: tu es toujours fâché contre moi?" (which I think means, "Are you still angry with me?")– ChrisWJan 23, 2015 at 18:47
-
3The fact that toujours and encore are interchangeable in some cases doesn't mean they're always interchangeable. As a native speaker, est-ce que tu dors toujours does not initially sound to me as "are you still sleeping". After a few repetitions, I can see how one could think so, but it still does not sound idiomatic at all to me. Asking someone in the morning if they're still sleeping, I'd definitely say est-ce que tu dors encore.– KareenJan 23, 2015 at 18:54