5

I am trying to figure out how to say "I am one of the first people in my family to have English as my mother tongue." Currently, I have "Je suis l’un des premières personnes dans ma famille avoir Anglais". I know that mother tongue is "langue maternelle". But, I've been going back and forth as to how to express the English word "as". I was considering using "est". But, I thought that would be incorrect because "est" translates to "is" and not "as". Any enlightenment on the subject would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Improve this question
1
  • Have a look at Reverso, the various possibilities are present in the examples. As is a preposition in you sentence. And also: "...to have English.." will be à avoir l'anglais – None Sep 11 '16 at 16:08
7

How about:

Je suis un des premiers dans ma famille dont la langue maternelle est l'anglais.

Or:

Je suis parmi les premiers de ma famille dont la langue maternelle est l'anglais.

Improve this answer
6
  • I'd have left out the "people/persons" in English, so +1 for doing so in French! Also, if you don't mind answering, I notice that you also omit the "l'" before "un," unlike the other answers so far that keep it (before "une" in those cases). Is including it or not just a matter of style or does it have something to do with the gender of the indefinite article (genre: "l' before une but not before un")? Thanks! – Papa Poule Sep 11 '16 at 17:02
  • 1
    @PapaPoule You might find the following page useful. french.about.com/od/grammar/a/unlun.htm – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens Sep 11 '16 at 17:13
  • 1
    @PapaPoule the l' is entirely optional, whether orally or in writing, Grevisse does not even mention a difference in register. – None Sep 11 '16 at 17:21
  • @Laure Am I right in thinking that substituting "l'un/l'une" for "un/une" is for, among other things, facilitating pronunciation, just like "l'on" vs "on"? I make it a rule to use "l'un/l'une" when I want to add emphasis on it. Merci. – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens Sep 11 '16 at 17:38
  • 1
    @LUNA I'm not personally convinced by the euphonic aspect of this use of the l' although I know it is sometimes mentioned. Just like some mention a difference in register (that's why I mentioned earlier Grevisse says nothing about register). – None Sep 11 '16 at 18:25
5

As is corresponding here to comme or pour. A word by word translation might give:

Je suis l'une des premières personnes de ma famille à avoir l'anglais comme langue maternelle.

Je suis l'une des premières personnes de ma famille à avoir l'anglais pour langue maternelle.

Je suis l'un des premiers de ma famille ayant l'anglais comme langue maternelle.

Note that I kept the original sentence structure as close as possible in order to properly answer to your question. The remaining answers so far are all rephrasing the sentence in a way that avoid the need to translate "as".

Improve this answer
8
  • 1
    To: jlliagre On the other hand, « parler l'anglais comme ma langue maternelle » means "speak English {like / as well as} my first language", correct? I find it interesting to see these two « comme »s used in a similar way but with a completely different meaning. Merci. – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens Sep 11 '16 at 16:40
  • @Luna: FWIW that ambiguity exists in English. "I speak English as my first language" could be interpreted as an elision, "I speak English [the same] as my first language" or equivalently "I speak English as [I speak] my first language". It's just that if you use "as" like that in English you sound like you're in a Jane Austen novel. – Steve Jessop Sep 11 '16 at 18:27
  • This is because you can't tell other than from context and expectation, whether "as" in the sentence "I speak English as my first language" is a preposition applying to "my first language", in which case it means English has the role "my first language", or an adverb applying to "speak" and meaning "identically with". – Steve Jessop Sep 11 '16 at 18:34
  • @LUNA avoir and parler are significantly different, I wouldn't say comme is used a similar way in your example and my word by word translation. – jlliagre Sep 11 '16 at 19:06
  • 1
    I don't like this phrasing. It doesn't seem idiomatic to me. – Stéphane Gimenez Sep 12 '16 at 6:53
-3

Je suis l’une des premières personnes dans ma famille dont l'Anglais est ma langue maternelle.

Improve this answer
1
  • 3
    Thanks for taking the time to answer Fred. Your sentance sound a little strange to me, though. I would say "la langue maternelle" rather than "ma" and "de ma famille" instead of "dans ma famille". – Jylo Sep 11 '16 at 18:38
-4

Je suis le première personne dans ma famille ayant l'Anglais comme langue maternelle.

google translate has:

Je suis la première personne dans ma famille d'avoir l'anglais comme langue maternelle.

Improve this answer
6
  • 4
    Welcome to French Language guest12345. Don't trust google translate, it's rarely good. And no French native would say this. – None Sep 11 '16 at 18:35
  • Welcome to FrenchLanguage. Sorry but this google translation is incorrect. – Jylo Sep 11 '16 at 18:35
  • I lived in bruxelles for a few years, would guess at 'ayant l'Anglais comme' - non ? thoughts ? – guest12345 Sep 11 '16 at 18:39
  • Yes it would be a correct then ! Trust yourself more next time :) – Jylo Sep 11 '16 at 19:05
  • 1
    neither sentence is correct – njzk2 Sep 11 '16 at 20:25

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.