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FR: I'm from India

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moe-moe I want to say "I'm from India." I need to know (from a native speaker of French,
New Member please) which is more correct:

Delhi
- Je viens de l'Inde.
English - Indian, British
& American
- Je viens d'Inde.

I need to know how to say it in a formal situation. For example, someone goes from
India to France and talks to a business partner there.

Thanks!

moe-moe, Aug 3, 2010 #1

Je viens d'Inde is correct.

ora8888
Senior Member ora8888, Aug 3, 2010 #2

France
French-France

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moe-moe Thank you. Could you also say whether "de l'Inde" is actually wrong?
New Member

Delhi
English - Indian, British
& American

moe-moe, Aug 3, 2010 #3

Je viens de l'Inde is incorrect (or at least totally not natural to my ears if someone
does say it is correct)

ora8888
Senior Member ora8888, Aug 3, 2010 #4

France
French-France

I would say : "je suis originaire de l'Inde"

"je viens d'Inde" sounds weird I think

Micia93
Senior Member
Micia93, Aug 3, 2010 #5
in the center of France
FRANCE FRENCH

pas forcément,
on dirait toujours "je suis originaire d'Inde"

hersko1, Aug 3, 2010 #6

hersko1
Senior Member

Paris - France
French - France

bien sûr, mais c'est le verbe "venir" qui n'est pas terrible ici
on dirait que la personne revient d'un voyage en Inde ...

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Micia93
Senior Member
Micia93, Aug 3, 2010 #7
in the center of France
FRANCE FRENCH

Isashani Lorsque l'on met "de l'Inde" ou "de la France", cela semble bizarre car on s'attend à
Senior Member un complément d'information... Comme par ex : Je viens de la France métropolitaine,
ou de L'Inde occidentale ... etc Si on veut parler de la France ou de l'Inde en général,
France
il vaut mieux dire je suis "originaire de France" ou "je viens d'Inde".
French - France

Isashani, Aug 3, 2010 #8

Oui, c'est effectivement une remarque qui tient la route

cependant, phonétiquement parlant, "je viens d'Inde" ne sonne pas très bien
encore une fois, tout ceci est purement subjectif

Micia93
Senior Member
Micia93, Aug 3, 2010 #9
in the center of France
FRANCE FRENCH

moe-moe Micia93 said: ↑

New Member
I would say : "je suis originaire de l'Inde"
Delhi "je viens d'Inde" sounds weird I think
English - Indian, British
& American
Thanks for your reply, but I did not mean "native" of India. That's what "originaire"
would convey, right? I meant that I come from India (could have been born there or
anywhere, it's not important).

moe-moe, Aug 3, 2010 #10

Kinoka Intéressant cet échange sur les habitudes et les évolutions de la langue (pas
Senior Member toujours en bien d'ailleurs )
Français - France
Mais pour en revenir à ta question moe-moe, oui "originaire" insinue que tu soit né
dans le pays (ou que tout du moins tu y aies passé la plus grande partie de ta petite
enfance...).

Kinoka, Aug 3, 2010 #11

[…] We also have the thread FR: de France / de la France. […]

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11/29/2018 FR: I'm from India | WordReference Forums

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 30, 2017

jann, Aug 3, 2010 #12

jann
co-mod'

English - USA

A l'origine on disait des Indes. Puis, lorsque j'ai appris le français, on disait de l'Inde.
Je le dis toujours. Je viens d'Inde me semble bizarre. On dit la République d'Autriche,
mais on dit bien la République de l'inde. Et, pardonnez-moi Jann, mais selon le
CNTRL, on dit aussi originaire de l'Inde.

geostan
Senior Member
Last edited: Aug 4, 2010
English Canada geostan, Aug 4, 2010 #13

unmec moe-moe said: ↑

Member
I want to say "I'm from India."
English - Australian - Je viens de l'Inde.
- Je viens d'Inde.

There are two meanings for this simple phrase:

I'm from India ie I have travelled from India
I'm from India ie I was born in India
so both Je viens de l'Inde and Je suis d'origine d'Inde are correct
But I think in the case of the Indian businessperson visiting l'Hexagon
"Je viens de l'Inde"

Geoff
Last edited by a moderator: Sep 30, 2017

unmec, Aug 5, 2010 #14

moe-moe Thanks, everyone! I conclude from the above discussion, and also based on my
New Member enquiries outside this forum, that

Delhi 1. "Je viens d'Inde" is correct, but opinion is clearly divided as to whether "Je
English - Indian, British
viens de l'Inde" is incorrect.
& American
2. More people seem to find that "Je viens d'Inde" sounds awkward, and prefer
the sound of "de l'Inde" to "d'Inde".
3. Thanks to Geostan, I checked the Prolex database of CNRTL and found that
even this French government-funded project makes an exception for India (to
say "de l'Inde") although the other countries whose names begin with a vowel
don't take the definite article (Iran, Irak, Italie, Irlande, Indonésie).

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4. I conclude "d'Inde" sounds awkward to most people is because l'Inde is the

only country among the above whose name is monosyllabic and abrupt. It does
not sound awkward to say "d'Italie" or "d'Iran".

Thanks again to everyone. […]

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 30, 2017

moe-moe, Aug 8, 2010 #15

Stephen52 Micia93 said: ↑

New Member
Oui, c'est effectivement une remarque qui tient la route
Anglais
cependant, phonétiquement parlant, "je viens d'Inde" ne sonne pas très bien
encore une fois, tout ceci est purement subjectif

D'accord. C'est une question d'euphonie et de style. On dit "je viens de l'Inde"
Sur le pont d'Avignon l'on y danse.....
Il me semble préférable de ne pas dire "dinde". C'est une espèce d'oiseau

Stephen52, Sep 30, 2017 #16

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