THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN CONDITIONAL AND HYPOTHETICAL SENTENCES WITH IF IN ENGLISH AND SI IN FRENCH: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study analyzes the similarities and differences in the use of conditional and hypothetical sentences with if in English and si in French. The primary objective is to determine the degree of correspondence between sentence structures in these two languages. The research first reviews the methods of expressing conditions and hypotheses in both English and French, then conducts a contrastive analysis based on a corpus comprising the original English text and its French translation. The findings reveal that while there are structural similarities and consistent verb tense usage between the two languages, this correspondence is not always absolute. Additionally, the subjective perspective of the translator about conditions and hypotheses plays a significant role in determining the approach to translation.
Article Details
Keywords
conditional sentences, hypothetical sentences, grammatical correspondence, contrastive analysis
References
Agius, L. (2015). Les notions de l’hypothèse et de la condition, telles qu’elles figurent notamment en français et en maltais: théorie et pratique: étude comparative entre deux langues: en y ajoutant quelquefois la comparaison avec l’anglais, l’italien et l’espagnol portant sur les phrases hypothétiques à partir des textes traduits [The notions of hypothesis and condition, as they appear notably in French and Maltese: theory and practice: a comparative study between two languages: sometimes adding the comparison with English, Italian, and Spanish concerning hypothetical sentences from translated texts]. University of Malta.
Benveniste, E. (1966). Problèmes de linguistique générale [Problems in General Linguistics]. Gallimard.
Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book (2nd éd.). Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Celle, A. (1997). Étude contrastive du futur français et de ses réalisations en anglais [Contrastive study of the French future and its realizations in English]. Ophrys.
De Wit, A., Patard, A., & Brisard, F. (2013). A contrastive analysis of the present progressive in French and English. Studies in Language, 37(4), 846-879.
Decapua, A. (2008). Grammar for teachers: A guide to American English for native and non-native speakers. Springer.
Delatour, Y., Jennepin, D., Teyssier, B., Léon-Dufour, M. (2012). Nouvelle grammaire du français - Cours de Civilisation française de la Sorbonne [New French Grammar - Course of French Civilization of the Sorbonne]. Hachette.
Do, Q. V. (2009). So sánh đối chiếu câu hỏi về mặt ngữ dụng trong tiếng Pháp và tiếng Việt [Comparative study of interrogative sentences from a pragmatic perspective in French and Vietnamese]. VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages, 25, 67-80.
Dodig, M. (2018). Le conditionnel dans la langue française et ses équivalents sémantiques dans la langue serbe : étude comparative entre le conditionnel français et le potentiel serbe (Thèse de doctorat) [The conditional in the French language and its semantic equivalents in the Serbian language: a comparative study between the French conditional and the Serbian potential (Doctoral thesis)]. University of Montpellier 3.
Gosselin, L. (2010). Les modalités en français. La validation des représentations (Études Chronos) [Modalities in French. The validation of representations (Chronos Studies)]. Rodopi.
Grévisse, M. (2007). Le bon usage [Proper Usage] (14th ed.). Duculot.
Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford advanced learner's dictionary (8th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Kanté, I. (2010). Mood and modality in finite noun complement clauses: A French-English contrastive study. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 15(2), 267-290.
Khedher, H. (2018). L’étude de la phrase hypothétique en arabe classique d’après les traités de grammaire médiévaux (IIe/VIIIe - VIIIe/XIVe siècles) (Thèse de doctorat) [The study of the hypothetical sentence in classical Arabic according to medieval grammar treatises (2nd/8th - 8th/14th centuries) (Doctoral thesis)]. Sorbonne Paris Cité University.
Lansari, L. (2009). Linguistique contrastive et traduction : les périphrases verbales « aller + infinitif » et be going to [Contrastive linguistics and translation: verbal periphrases "aller + infinitif" and "be going to"]. Ophrys.
Le Querler, N. (1996). Typologie des modalités [Typology of modalities]. Caen University Press.
Lévy, M. (2000). Et si c’était vrai…[ If only it were true…]. Robert Laffont.
Nguyen, N. L. L. (2013). Une vue contrastive sur des modalisateurs en français et en vietnamien [A contrastive view on modalizers in French and Vietnamese]. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 29(1), 33-40.
Nguyen, T. N. (2024). A contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese prototype structures. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 40(3), 105-119.
Palmer, F. R. (1988). The English verb (2nd éd.). Routledge.
Papadakis, M. B. (1986). L’expression de l’hypothèse en grec moderne et en français : perspective comparatiste (Thèse de doctorat) [The expression of hypothesis in modern Greek and French: a comparative perspective (Doctoral thesis)]. University of Paris 4.
Pérennec, M.-H. (dir.). (2002). Le verbe en action: grammaire contrastive des temps verbaux (français, allemand, anglais, espagnol) [The verb in action: contrastive grammar of verb tenses (French, German, English, Spanish)]. ELLUG, University of Stendhal.
Rocq-Migette, C. (1997). L’expression de la condition en anglais contemporain : comparaison avec quelques formes du français (Thèse de doctorat) [The expression of condition in contemporary English: comparison with some forms of French (Doctoral thesis)]. University of Paris 13.
Rowling, J. K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Scholastic Press.
Rowling, J. K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (translated by J.-F. Ménard). Gallimard.
Thomson, A. J., & Martinet, A. V. (1986). A practical English grammar (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Vold, E. T. (2008). Modalité épistémique et discours scientifique - Une étude contrastive des modalisateurs épistémiques dans des articles de recherche français, norvégiens et anglais, en linguistique et médecine (Thèse de doctorat) [Epistemic modality and scientific discourse - A contrastive study of epistemic modalizers in French, Norwegian, and English research articles in linguistics and medicine (Doctoral thesis)]. University of Bergen.
Benveniste, E. (1966). Problèmes de linguistique générale [Problems in General Linguistics]. Gallimard.
Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book (2nd éd.). Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Celle, A. (1997). Étude contrastive du futur français et de ses réalisations en anglais [Contrastive study of the French future and its realizations in English]. Ophrys.
De Wit, A., Patard, A., & Brisard, F. (2013). A contrastive analysis of the present progressive in French and English. Studies in Language, 37(4), 846-879.
Decapua, A. (2008). Grammar for teachers: A guide to American English for native and non-native speakers. Springer.
Delatour, Y., Jennepin, D., Teyssier, B., Léon-Dufour, M. (2012). Nouvelle grammaire du français - Cours de Civilisation française de la Sorbonne [New French Grammar - Course of French Civilization of the Sorbonne]. Hachette.
Do, Q. V. (2009). So sánh đối chiếu câu hỏi về mặt ngữ dụng trong tiếng Pháp và tiếng Việt [Comparative study of interrogative sentences from a pragmatic perspective in French and Vietnamese]. VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages, 25, 67-80.
Dodig, M. (2018). Le conditionnel dans la langue française et ses équivalents sémantiques dans la langue serbe : étude comparative entre le conditionnel français et le potentiel serbe (Thèse de doctorat) [The conditional in the French language and its semantic equivalents in the Serbian language: a comparative study between the French conditional and the Serbian potential (Doctoral thesis)]. University of Montpellier 3.
Gosselin, L. (2010). Les modalités en français. La validation des représentations (Études Chronos) [Modalities in French. The validation of representations (Chronos Studies)]. Rodopi.
Grévisse, M. (2007). Le bon usage [Proper Usage] (14th ed.). Duculot.
Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford advanced learner's dictionary (8th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Kanté, I. (2010). Mood and modality in finite noun complement clauses: A French-English contrastive study. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 15(2), 267-290.
Khedher, H. (2018). L’étude de la phrase hypothétique en arabe classique d’après les traités de grammaire médiévaux (IIe/VIIIe - VIIIe/XIVe siècles) (Thèse de doctorat) [The study of the hypothetical sentence in classical Arabic according to medieval grammar treatises (2nd/8th - 8th/14th centuries) (Doctoral thesis)]. Sorbonne Paris Cité University.
Lansari, L. (2009). Linguistique contrastive et traduction : les périphrases verbales « aller + infinitif » et be going to [Contrastive linguistics and translation: verbal periphrases "aller + infinitif" and "be going to"]. Ophrys.
Le Querler, N. (1996). Typologie des modalités [Typology of modalities]. Caen University Press.
Lévy, M. (2000). Et si c’était vrai…[ If only it were true…]. Robert Laffont.
Nguyen, N. L. L. (2013). Une vue contrastive sur des modalisateurs en français et en vietnamien [A contrastive view on modalizers in French and Vietnamese]. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 29(1), 33-40.
Nguyen, T. N. (2024). A contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese prototype structures. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 40(3), 105-119.
Palmer, F. R. (1988). The English verb (2nd éd.). Routledge.
Papadakis, M. B. (1986). L’expression de l’hypothèse en grec moderne et en français : perspective comparatiste (Thèse de doctorat) [The expression of hypothesis in modern Greek and French: a comparative perspective (Doctoral thesis)]. University of Paris 4.
Pérennec, M.-H. (dir.). (2002). Le verbe en action: grammaire contrastive des temps verbaux (français, allemand, anglais, espagnol) [The verb in action: contrastive grammar of verb tenses (French, German, English, Spanish)]. ELLUG, University of Stendhal.
Rocq-Migette, C. (1997). L’expression de la condition en anglais contemporain : comparaison avec quelques formes du français (Thèse de doctorat) [The expression of condition in contemporary English: comparison with some forms of French (Doctoral thesis)]. University of Paris 13.
Rowling, J. K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Scholastic Press.
Rowling, J. K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (translated by J.-F. Ménard). Gallimard.
Thomson, A. J., & Martinet, A. V. (1986). A practical English grammar (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Vold, E. T. (2008). Modalité épistémique et discours scientifique - Une étude contrastive des modalisateurs épistémiques dans des articles de recherche français, norvégiens et anglais, en linguistique et médecine (Thèse de doctorat) [Epistemic modality and scientific discourse - A contrastive study of epistemic modalizers in French, Norwegian, and English research articles in linguistics and medicine (Doctoral thesis)]. University of Bergen.