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I've generated the following translations for these two sentences, but they don't quite sound right to me. I'd like some feedback!

After the pink progress bar disappears, you must restart the device to complete the upgrade. = Une fois que la barre de progression rose disparaît, redémarrez l'appareil pour terminer la mise à niveau.

The process may take several minutes. = Le processus peut prendre quelques minutes.

Please advise! I don't want the text to sound too robotic or formal. How would this sound in conversational Canadian French?

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  • Quebecer reporting in. Both of these sound fine to me.
    – ApplePie
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 23:14
  • several = plusieurs (not quelques)
    – Pas un clue
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 23:18
  • @Feelew I wouldn't reject quelques which looks to me as good as plusieurs here.
    – jlliagre
    Commented Apr 22, 2017 at 12:05
  • @jlliagre, Here is the time to transmit the very useful information Volée de chênes et rosiers indicated to me just a few days ago about plusieurs in France and New France. Cheers mate!
    – Pas un clue
    Commented Apr 23, 2017 at 0:27
  • @Feelew Interesting thanks. The OQLF also states Le déterminant pluriel quelques signifie « plusieurs, un petit nombre de, un certain nombre de » so should still properly translate "several" unless I'm missing something.
    – jlliagre
    Commented Apr 23, 2017 at 8:27

1 Answer 1

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The une fois structure doesn't work quite like "once" in English.

Une fois la barre de progression rose disparue, redémarrez l'appareil pour terminer la mise à niveau.

As Feelew writes, quelques could be replaced by plusieurs. (I think quelques connotes that it'll be "only a few", whereas the English usually reads like an invitation to go make yourself a cup of tea.)

Le processus peut prendre plusieurs minutes.

You can also trade the "can" of peut for the "could" of pourrait, though both seem okay to me here.

Le processus pourrait prendre plusieurs minutes.

Those are my suggestions. I'm open to anyone else's if they want to comment them.

Edit: Also, noting the comments below, if you give some extra context as to what sort of upgrade it is, we can help decide if the various terms are perfectly right (type of process, significance of upgrade...).

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  • I believe the conditional might sound better, for a reason I cannot quite pinpoint. Also, while I process my data at the end of the day on an English job, je traite mes données on a French job... «Le traitement pourrait prendre plusieurs minutes» could be considered.
    – Pas un clue
    Commented Apr 22, 2017 at 8:55
  • @Feelew But this is not about data analysis. I's clearly about some sort of software update. "traitement" has no business anywhere near this translation. On the other end, it should be mise à jour, not mise à niveau.
    – Circeus
    Commented Apr 22, 2017 at 11:57
  • @Circeus "Upgrade" can be translated by mise à niveau and "update" by mise à jour although the latter might be used for both. This topic has been discussed and not everyone agreed. See french.stackexchange.com/questions/16254/…
    – jlliagre
    Commented Apr 22, 2017 at 12:11
  • True. I'm guilty of not having put together the two sentences. It is indeed about updates, and not about treating data. I just found processus quite vague and thought it could be processed as a unit. My mistake.
    – Pas un clue
    Commented Apr 23, 2017 at 0:24

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