Jul 3, 2019 15:37
4 yrs ago
4 viewers *
French term

je ne suis pas forcément que dans l’esprit de compétition

Non-PRO French to English Other Sports / Fitness / Recreation Bureaucratic forms
Hi. Could anyone explain the nuance of this phrase please? Is it something like 'I don't necessarily have a competitive spirit'? I'm a bit confused by the construction of ne, pas, que.
The preceding phrase is: moi j’aime beaucoup pratiquer le sport...
Thank you.

Discussion

Ph_B (X) Jul 3, 2019:
From the late Michel Serres, "Elle est belle, mais pas que. Mozart a du talent, mais pas que. Je suis prêt à vous aider, mais pas que. Cette expression rapide, qui prend la place de pas seulement, signifie que cette femme est, aussi et en plus, aimable et intelligente, que le compositeur a du génie, enfin que je souhaite vous soutenir jusqu’au bout de vos entreprises.
<p>
Pas seulement est la forme du bon usage ; pas que est d’usage courant. Non seulement je suis favorable à l’usage, que j’entends souvent avec plaisir et que j’utilise avec gourmandise, mais j’aurais aussi de la joie à entendre ce pas que adopté par mes amis de l’Académie."<p>http://www.academie-francaise.fr/pas-que<p>"avec plaisir et... avec gourmandise"? I like that...
writeaway Jul 3, 2019:
I think that it would sound more natural as spoken French than it looks at first glance as written French. I'm not just about sounds obvious now. Vive le hindsight
Charles Davis Jul 3, 2019:
mais pas que This seems to have become popular very recently. Usage example:
"Promis juré, les frites McDo sont faites avec des pommes de terre (mais pas que)"
https://www.terraeco.net/Promis-jure-les-frites-McDo-sont,58...

The French wiktionary, from which I took this, says it's "Années 2010" and is a "raccourci elliptique pour mais il n’y a pas que cela, mais ce n’est pas que cela, etc." It adds: "Cette locution est un néologisme très récent. Selon l’Académie française, il s’agit d’une grave incorrection qu’il convient de proscrire. La forme correcte est « mais pas seulement »."
https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/mais_pas_que

Which would seem to bear out the idea that "pas que" is a normal form of words, used here colloquially in preference to "pas seulement".
B D Finch Jul 3, 2019:
@writeaway I think it's quite a usual form of words, especially when spoken, with the emphasis on "que".
writeaway Jul 3, 2019:
The pas and the que together are confusing maybe an error

Proposed translations

+7
29 mins
Selected

but I'm not just about the competition.

Depending on how formal the text is - it's quite common in French to use a double negative e.g. 'pas que' for emphasis. I think keeping 'esprit' as 'spirit' is a little clunky, so you'd be better off with something like the above or:

I don't just enjoy it for the competition.
I'm not just a competitive person.
etc.
Note from asker:
Thank you, very helpful!
Peer comment(s):

agree B D Finch
23 mins
agree Charles Davis
45 mins
agree Michele Fauble
1 hr
agree Ph_B (X) : I would also include Nicolas's "not necessarily" (= pas forcément)
2 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher : no need to repeat "I" ...and it's not just/only about the competitive aspect
16 hrs
agree Verginia Ophof
1 day 5 hrs
agree Robert Brown
1 day 17 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
16 mins

I am not necessarily only in a competitive spirit

The French sentence is a fairly common one. This is a generally a defensive statement. "While I like to win, I am not necessarily only in a competitive spirit"
Peer comment(s):

neutral B D Finch : That sounds more Franglais than English.
36 mins
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search