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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

une action bien légitime

English translation:

surely a legitimate cause

Added to glossary by Minika Seven (X)
Mar 7, 2015 20:34
9 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

une action bien légitime

Non-PRO French to English Other Journalism Interview with a Lawyer/Advocate
Ce sont parfois les enfants qui entament une action en justice. Vouloir être « reconnu » par son père, c’est aussi vouloir être « connu » de lui, une action bien légitime ?

So I know what "une action bien légitime" means, but in this context I am not sure exactly how best to translate it. The context is an interview with a lawyer/advocate/author on the issue of "Forced Fatherhood" or "Paternité Imposée". The interviewer is asking the lawyer whether sometimes it's the children who file paternity suits (because up till this point they've been discussing suits filed by the mothers).

This is what I've been able to translate so far:
Sometimes it’s the children who file a suit in court. The desire to be “recognized” by one’s father, is also a desire to be “known” by him, a legitimate action?
I know that structurally, this is not a very good sentence. Any ideas how to improve it?
Proposed translations (English)
3 surely a legitimate cause
4 +1 Quite a legitimate act
3 a legitimate claim, case

Discussion

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Mar 8, 2015:
You might like to start the sentence with "Children are the ones who sometimes...." for a more natural rendering.
polyglot45 Mar 8, 2015:
turn it round surely it is only legitimate that a child should wish to be "acknowledged", in other words to know his father
Jennifer Levey Mar 8, 2015:
@Phil The '?' is the key to understanding of the entire sentence (which is, in fact, a (rhetorical) question).
With that in mind, Asker's comma after 'father' is not wrong - on the contrary: it's another clue to proper comprehension of the whole.
philgoddard Mar 7, 2015:
There shouldn't be a comma after "father".
I don't understand why there's a question mark at the end.

Proposed translations

3 hrs
Selected

surely a legitimate cause

Vouloir être « reconnu » par son père, c’est aussi vouloir être « connu » de lui, une action bien légitime ?

--> (very appropximately, just to highlight the rhetorical question embedded in the ST quote, starting with "c'est aussi...")

The desire to be 'recognised' by one's father; isn't that also a desire to be 'known' to him? - surely a legitimate cause...
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks, this was very helpful"
+1
53 mins

Quite a legitimate act

I think we should add "quite" but then, we should not render "action" into English as "action"
Peer comment(s):
agree Chakib Roula
15 mins
Something went wrong...
22 hrs

a legitimate claim, case

The use of the term "action en justice" in the first sentence makes we wonder whether the use of "action" at the end of the second sentence conveys the same sense of "action" (en justice) thus, meaning a claim, a case, rather than an "act".
Something went wrong...
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