French from The moon and sixpence
February 21, 2021 1:10 AM Subscribe
Bureau au premier. This is a sign on the poor hotel door. Why isn't there an article before 'Bureau'? And 'au premier 'means 'a le premier etage',right? Isn't 'etage' necessary here?
"office on first"...we would do the same in English
posted by stray at 4:50 AM on February 21 [3 favorites]
posted by stray at 4:50 AM on February 21 [3 favorites]
(Or, even more commonly, English does it with street names: "First" rather than "First Street," "Main" rather than "Main Street." So "Entrance on First" is a clear-but-shorthand way of saying "The entrance is on First Street.")
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:50 AM on February 21
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:50 AM on February 21
À becomes au before the masculine l'étage, so au premier étage would be correct.
posted by emelenjr at 6:32 AM on February 21
posted by emelenjr at 6:32 AM on February 21
Dropping 'étage' is common in French, and in signage the article is often dropped.
posted by ellieBOA at 6:45 AM on February 21
posted by ellieBOA at 6:45 AM on February 21
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posted by crocomancer at 3:03 AM on February 21 [1 favorite]