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donner

Pronunciation: /dɔne/

English translation of donner

A. vtr

  • 1 to give [present, headache, advice, dinner, lesson] donner l'heure à qn = to tell sb the time je lui donne 40 ans = I'd say he/she was 40 donner faim à qn = to make sb feel hungry elle donne sa fille à garder à mes parents = she has my parents look after her daughter j'ai donné ma voiture à réparer = I've taken my car in to be repaired les sondages le donnent en tête = the polls put him in the lead Definition of give in the British & World English dictionary Definition of give in the US English dictionary Translate give | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

B. vi

  • 1le poirier va bien donner cette année = the pear tree will yield a good crop this year
  • 2ne plus savoir où donner de la tête (figurative) = not to know which way to turn
  • 3donner sur [room, window] = to overlook; [door] = to give onto donner au nord = to face north la cuisine donne dans le salon = the kitchen leads into the living-room
  • 4donner dans = to tend toward(s)
  • 5donner de sa personne = to give of oneself

C. v refl (+ v être) (se donner)

  • 1se donner à = to devote oneself to
  • 2se donner le temps de faire = to give oneself time to do
  • 3se donner pour but de faire = to make it one's aim to do
  • 4se donner de grands airs = to put on airs
  • 5se donner des coups = to exchange blows se donner le mot = to pass the word on

Idioms

donnant donnant: je fais la cuisine, tu fais la vaisselle

fair's fair: I cook, you do the washing-up

avec lui, c'est donnant donnant

he never does anything for nothing