Essayez de le tenir en échec.

Sentence Discussions French
#1
English Translation

Try to keep him in check.

en échec
locution adverbiale
mettre ou tenir quelqu’un en échec = to put ou to hold somebody in check
il a tenu toutes les polices d’Europe en échec = he thwarted the entire European police network
© Larousse 2014

#2
English Translation

Try to keep him in check.

check as in in chess

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#3

Is the example from Larousse wrong? Or maybe not used much? Mostly used when talking about chess? Thanks. (I’m not being sarcastic, other people have criticized the Larousse examples.)

#4

I’m not sure what to think.

  • First the Larousse defintion:

This example is the only thing I like about it.

  • And then there is the French translation - To me,

    • to keep somebody in check" means to keep them under control (contenir, garder/maintenir sous contrôle), whereas
    • "tenir quelqu’un" en échec" is closer to “to prevent them from succeeding” or even “to beat them”, depending on context. (I think that “to thwart” can be a good option to convey this idea sometimes.)

The French translation feels off, but…

I have seen a few examples in which “keep somebody in check” was translated as “tenir en échec.”, which also feel off - (random internet posts, no books or papers, but still)

  • Now I’m wondering… Can “keep someone in check” actually be used to mean “to prevent someone from succeeding?”
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#5

It could in some rare circumstances but usually not. It would be a deliberate understatement. The Larousse example sentence seems a little strong to me in terms of what I understand “keep in check“ to mean in English.

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#6

Interesting, thank you. This means that if that was the intended meaning, then the French translation would be OK.

If the intended meaning was to keep him under control, then the following would sound more natural to me:

  • Essayez/Faites en sorte de le garder/maintenir sous contrôle.
  • Essayez/Faites en sorte de le contenir.

One thing I thought was weird was: They listed to put or hold s.o in check as possible translations for “tenir en échec”, but then did not actually use either of them in their example sentence (using to thwart instead). On the plus side, I actually like “to thwart” better.

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#7

It’s good to know that. Thanks for posting @whitekiko and getting this started.

#8

Indeed, thanks @whitekiko and welcome to the forums.

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