6

S’il est vrai que le prestige de la culture française est en perte de vitesse en Roumanie, en revanche les passionnés de Littérature française en sont on ne peut plus amoureux.

I don't understand the meaning of on ne peut between en sont and plus amoureux. If the subject is les passionnés, why do we have after en sont (les passionnés en sont) this on ne peut, which, if I'm correct, means one cannot / we cannot.

It doesn't make any sense at this particular moment, unless I'm being helped to understand this, in my not very educated opinion, weird construction.

2 Answers 2

7

You've not split the sentence correctly. The expression you are interested in here is on ne peut plus, meaning extremely, absolutely (literally one can't be more). It's a way to emphasize the following adjective, amoureux.

Have a look at the Wiktionnaire for extra examples.

6
  • Thank you. So the translation would be: those passionate about French literature couldn't be more in love with it? Where en doubles... Roumanie?
    – indoxica
    Jul 11, 2013 at 9:18
  • Almost! Here, en refers to la culture française. Jul 11, 2013 at 9:35
  • Oh, merci beaucoup! What about my translation? Is it correct? I just want to learn as correctly as humanly possible because I'm quite in love with French.
    – indoxica
    Jul 11, 2013 at 9:41
  • 3
    @indoxica Cette traduction est on ne peut plus correcte! :) Jul 11, 2013 at 10:44
  • Oh, je suis très hereux maintenant! Merci!
    – indoxica
    Jul 11, 2013 at 10:51
0

La phrase, malheureusement, est mal tournée. Je suppose qu'elle signifie:

"S'il est vrai que le prestige de la culture française est en baisse / diminue en Roumanie, en revanche les passionnés de la littérature française n'en sont que plus amoureux."

You can't say that "prestige", an abstract notion, is losing speed, which is mechanical.

The first formulation would suggest that because some ... there is a reaction from others in favor of ....

1
  • 1
    Mmm remplacer une expression victime d'abus par une fausse causalité… bof. Ça remains bad style — heh, switching languages in the middle of a post is disturbing, ain't it? :-) Oct 1, 2013 at 23:26

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

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