Il a soudain poussé un cri de surprise.

Sentence Discussions French
#1
English Translation

He gasped suddenly.

“Il a soudain poussé un cri de surprise” seems to translate to "“He suddenly let out a cry of surprise” and not “He gasped suddenly”

When I ask Gemini to translate “He gasped suddenly” it says

  • Il a eu un hoquet de surprise
    • He had a hiccup of surprise
    • “This is the closest equivalent to the actual sound and physical sensation of a gasp. “Hoquet” here doesn’t mean a literal hiccup, but that sharp, involuntary intake of air.”
  • Il a eu le souffle coupé
    • He had [his] breath cut.
    • “This is a very common idiom. It implies he was so shocked he couldn’t breathe for a moment. It is less about the sound and more about the state of shock.”
#2

That’s a tough one. I don’t think I have ever heard or read anyone use the first sentence. As for the second one, it does indeed sound much better, but I wouldn’t say it’s really the translation of the english sentence. However, I have been thinking about it for a bit, and I’m not able to find a better option, so probably stick to the second one. My feeling is that, when describing this kind of situation, a french writer would probably focus on another part of the reaction (and say, for example, “Il en fut très surpris”, or something)

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#3

I see, thank you! In that sense, I guess the original sentence is also about the “surprise” and not the gasp itself.

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