Elamur: [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [Parse](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/parse/) · [Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · **Translate** · [Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [MCP](https://mcp.elamur.ai/) · [Groupants](https://md.groupants.elamur.ai/free/en/)

This page as HTML: <https://translate.elamur.ai/free/en/en-fr/mean/>

# mean — English to French

How English *mean* is translated into French in open, checked parallel texts: 5 translations with example sentences.

What it means: [mean in the Elamur Dictionary](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/mean/).

Sentence pairs counted, by form: mean (41 865), means (304 722). By style: everyday 1 109 · literary 80 · biblical 62 · parliamentary 39 013 · legal and administrative 79 985 · UN documents 226 338.

## cela

Used about 40 349 times in the texts (literary ≈ 3 · biblical ≈ 3 · parliamentary ≈ 6 502 · legal and administrative ≈ 833 · UN documents ≈ 33 008).

- “Do you know what it will **mean** if we get a breakfast today?
  --Savez-vous ce que **cela** fera si nous déjeunons aujourd'hui?
  ([Project Gutenberg books (Verne, Hugo, Maupassant and their translators)](https://www.gutenberg.org/) · Project Gutenberg, public domain · checked, professional translation · hugo les miserables, row 16055)

- For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things **mean**.”
  Car tu nous fais entendre des choses étranges. Nous voudrions donc savoir ce que **cela** peut être.
  ([World English Bible and Louis Segond 1910](https://ebible.org/) · World English Bible; Louis Segond 1910; public domain, eBible.org · checked, professional translation · ACT 17:20)

- We do not take it by any **means** so seriously.
  C'est trop compliqué pour nous de contrôler tout **cela**.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 1812851)

- However, this does not **mean** that there is double counting because the combined level of duties could already have been justified as a result of the anti-dumping investigation alone.
  **Cela** ne revient toutefois pas à un double comptage, puisque le niveau combiné des droits pourrait déjà avoir été justifié par la seule enquête antidumping.
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 2376411)

- That **means** that they carry the full weight of the international community.
  **Cela** signifie qu &apos; elles ont derrière elles tout le poids de la communauté internationale.
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 775923)

## moyen

Used about 34 286 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 23 · literary ≈ 17 · parliamentary ≈ 813 · legal and administrative ≈ 7 499 · UN documents ≈ 25 935).

- English is a **means** of communication.
  L'anglais est un **moyen** de communiquer.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by CK and sysko · checked, community translation · [\#26247](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/26247) [\#1463351](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/1463351))

- “Well, since there is no other **means**.”
  --Au fait, c'est qu'il n'y a pas d'autre **moyen**.
  ([Project Gutenberg books (Verne, Hugo, Maupassant and their translators)](https://www.gutenberg.org/) · Project Gutenberg, public domain · checked, professional translation · hugo les miserables, row 11897)

- In the medium term, it **means** adapting our legislation on oil and gas stocks to ensure that Member States act with responsibility and solidarity.
  À **moyen** terme, nous devons modifier notre législation relative aux réserves de pétrole et de gaz pour obliger les États membres à agir de façon responsable et solidaire.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 1223999)

- The service provider may supply the declaration by any **means**.
  Le prestataire peut fournir cette déclaration par tout **moyen**.
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 604404)

- The warning indication shall be by **means** of an optical yellow warning signal.
  5.1.6.1 L &apos; avertissement doit être donné au **moyen** d &apos; un signal optique de couleur jaune.
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 29847370)

## signifie

Used about 25 159 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 231 · literary ≈ 2 · biblical ≈ 11 · parliamentary ≈ 8 128 · legal and administrative ≈ 4 999 · UN documents ≈ 11 788).

- It doesn't **mean** a thing.
  Ça ne **signifie** rien.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by CK and Sirio60 · checked, community translation · [\#2269345](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/2269345) [\#4513960](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/4513960))

- “It **means**, sir, that I shall take back Cosette.”
  --Monsieur, cela **signifie** que je reprends Cosette.
  ([Project Gutenberg books (Verne, Hugo, Maupassant and their translators)](https://www.gutenberg.org/) · Project Gutenberg, public domain · checked, professional translation · hugo les miserables, row 9209)

- It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you **mean** by this service?’
  Et lorsque vos enfants vous diront: Que **signifie** pour vous cet usage?
  ([World English Bible and Louis Segond 1910](https://ebible.org/) · World English Bible; Louis Segond 1910; public domain, eBible.org · checked, professional translation · EXO 12:26)

- What does it really **mean**?
  Que **signifie** vraiment ce terme ?
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 365372)

- This **means** that the document is for internal use only.
  Cette mention **signifie** que le document est exclusivement destiné à un usage interne.
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 1832306)

## on

Used about 21 639 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 12 · literary ≈ 2 · biblical ≈ 1 · parliamentary ≈ 813 · legal and administrative ≈ 6 665 · UN documents ≈ 14 146).

- Being objective **means** not telling everybody whose side you are on.
  **On** appelle « être objectif » le fait de ne pas divulguer le côté duquel on est.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by Zifre and le\_petit\_ane\_gris · checked, community translation · [\#1789](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/1789) [\#3609](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/3609))

- This person, the story ran, was a man of **means**, whose name no one knew exactly, and who lived alone with a little girl of eight years, who knew nothing about herself, save that she had come from Montfermeil.
  Ce personnage était, disait-**on**, un rentier dont personne ne savait au juste le nom et qui vivait seul avec une petite fille de huit ans, laquelle ne savait rien elle-même sinon qu'elle venait de Montfermeil.
  ([Project Gutenberg books (Verne, Hugo, Maupassant and their translators)](https://www.gutenberg.org/) · Project Gutenberg, public domain · checked, professional translation · hugo les miserables, row 10201)

- If you don’t have **means** to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?
  Si tu n’as pas de quoi payer, Pourquoi voudrais-tu qu’**on** enlève ton lit de dessous toi?
  ([World English Bible and Louis Segond 1910](https://ebible.org/) · World English Bible; Louis Segond 1910; public domain, eBible.org · checked, professional translation · PRO 22:27)

- Is this what diversifying the economies of the regions **means**?
  C'est ainsi que l'**on** diversifie l'économie des régions ?
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 329084)

- For the purposes of this Directive cigarettes shall **mean**:
  Aux fins de la présente directive, **on** entend par cigarettes:
  ([DGT-TM v2021](https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/language-technology-resources/dgt-translation-memory_en) · Source: European Commission, DGT-TM (Steinberger et al. 2012), re-used under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU; the Commission keeps ownership of the data · checked, professional translation · segment 2313154)

## dire

Used about 4 724 times in the texts (everyday ≈ 300 · literary ≈ 29 · biblical ≈ 5 · parliamentary ≈ 2 032 · UN documents ≈ 2 358).

- What do you **mean**?
  Que voulez-vous **dire** ?
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by CK and sacredceltic · checked, community translation · [\#24706](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/24706) [\#499169](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/499169))

- “What does this **mean**?”
  «Qu'est-ce à **dire**?
  ([Project Gutenberg books (Verne, Hugo, Maupassant and their translators)](https://www.gutenberg.org/) · Project Gutenberg, public domain · checked, professional translation · hugo notre dame, row 7890)

- They were all amazed and were perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this **mean**?”
  Ils étaient tous dans l’étonnement, et, ne sachant que penser, ils se disaient les uns aux autres: Que veut **dire** ceci?
  ([World English Bible and Louis Segond 1910](https://ebible.org/) · World English Bible; Louis Segond 1910; public domain, eBible.org · checked, professional translation · ACT 2:12)

- What I **mean** by this is that it is hard to understand for the ordinary citizen.
  Ce que je veux **dire** par là, c'est qu'elle n'est pas des plus facile à comprendre pour le citoyen ordinaire.
  ([Europarl v8](https://www.statmt.org/europarl/) · Source: European Parliament proceedings, Europarl v8 (Koehn 2005) via OPUS (Tiedemann 2012) · checked, professional translation · segment 1446728)

- When I speak of meaningful change, I **mean** change that goes beyond lip service and makes a noticeable difference in the lives of entire populations.
  Quand je parle de changement véritable, je veux **dire** un changement qui ne soit pas de pure forme et qui fasse une différence perceptible dans les vies de populations entières.
  ([United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0](https://conferences.unite.un.org/UNCorpus) · Source: United Nations, United Nations Parallel Corpus v1.0 (Ziemski, Junczys-Dowmunt and Pouliquen 2016) · checked, professional translation · segment 18250116)

## More sentences

Sentence pairs with the word where no single translation was found: it may be translated by a phrase, or left out.

- Just because he likes painting doesn't **mean** he's good at it.
  Ce n'est pas parce qu'il aime la peinture qu'il peint bien.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by CK and Aiji · checked, community translation · [\#1972277](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/1972277) [\#129967](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/129967))

- The Spanish word "langosta" can **mean** either "lobster" or "locust".
  Le mot espagnol « langosta » peut signifier « homard » ou « locuste ».
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by mervert1 and mervert1 · checked, community translation · [\#4645234](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/4645234) [\#4648018](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/4648018))

- It will **mean** a lot for the village.
  Ça signifiera beaucoup pour le village.
  ([Tatoeba](https://tatoeba.org/) · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR · sentences by Lindoula and sacredceltic · checked, community translation · [\#3626598](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/3626598) [\#3629583](https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences/show/3629583))

## Grammar

Notes on grammar and translation on Mova: [English grammar](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/en/) · [French grammar](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/fr/) · [translating between English and French](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/translation/pairs/en-fr/) · [translating from English](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/translation/from-en/) · [translating into French](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/translation/into-fr/).

## About these examples

Translations are found by how often the two words stand in the same sentence pairs, and the highlighted words are matched automatically: both are approximate. Counts are estimated from a sample of each source. Every example names its source and licence. [Submit a better translation or example](https://md.translate.elamur.ai/free/en/submit/?pair=en-fr&word=mean).


Every example is quoted under its source's licence and credited with it; the rest of the site is open under the Elamur Cosmic License.