Talk:l'an passé

RFD discussion: July 2018–May 2019
SOP. Per utramque cavernam 19:44, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
 * delete. It would be l'année passée anyhows. --Harmonicaplayer (talk) 09:13, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
 * No, l'an passé is good French, but it should be an passé (because it can appear as "un an passé", "ans passés". —Stephen (Talk) 23:33, 23 July 2018 (UTC)
 * l'an passé is indeed good French, and sounds substitutable with l'année passée ~ l'an dernier ~ l'année dernière to my ear, but no, we don't need or want (I'm not sure what you mean by "it can appear as "un an passé", "ans passés"").  Per utramque cavernam 08:21, 31 July 2018 (UTC)


 * Isn’t there a semantic difference between and  ? Like, when on 26 July 2018 someone says, “Last year we experienced a major crisis”, they probably mean "during the calendar year 2017". But when they say, “During the past year we managed to realize many important improvements”, this is more likely in reference to the past 365 days, roughly half in 2017 and half in 2018. Now un an passé means "a year that has passed", i.e., any of several past years. (To complicate matters, it can also mean “a year ago”.) But l’an passé does not simply mean "the past year" as above; normally it corresponds to English "last year", a calendar year. This suggests there is an idiomatic aspect beyond SOP – although it may be at least partly a peculiarity of English idiom.  --Lambiam 09:45, 26 July 2018 (UTC)
 * This would only say that French passé and English past mean different things. But nothing further I say here because it is immaterial what is in English. Delete. Fay Freak (talk) 00:09, 3 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Someone may know the meanings of, , and , but that does not suffice to construct the meaning of . Is knowledge of the meanings of , , and , sufficient to understand the term ? Would one know that – as I surmise – it does not simply mean the same as English ”the year that has passed”? --Lambiam 16:34, 4 August 2018 (UTC)
 * The usage is provided in usage examples, appendices. The French translations for last year are now given as: l'année dernière, l'année passée, l'an dernier, l'an passé by User:Per utramque cavernam, with each word linked separately, which is sufficient and correct in this case. No need for obvious sum of parts entries. Delete. --Anatoli T. (обсудить/вклад) 05:05, 7 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Is it an obvious sum of parts? My argument above is that it is not. I may of course be wrong, but I feel you should not merely state that it is but at least also explain why you think it is. --Lambiam 20:42, 8 August 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't understand your reluctance. means "last" when used with temporal nouns: l'été passé, l'hiver passé, la semaine passée, le week-end passé, le siècle passé, la décennie passée, la nuit passée (not all of them, though: it doesn't work with, , , , ). So it's SOP in French. Per utramque cavernam 23:13, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
 * If has this special meaning when used as an adjective modifying (some) temporal nouns, this sense ought to be reflected in the definitions in our entry for the word. I see that the French Wiktionnaire also does not give this meaning, but the German Wikiwörterbuch does (although without any hint of limitations in its usage; one would be led to think that er hat den vorigen Weltrekord gebrochen can be translated as il bat le record du monde passé).  --Lambiam 09:15, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Our entry is very incomplete, compared to that of the TLFi. Here's what it says about that sense: "[En parlant d'une fraction du temps] Qui vient juste de s'écouler, qui précède immédiatement le moment actuel. Synon. dernier (v. ce mot II B 3). Dimanche passé; l'hiver passé; la semaine, la saison passée." Per utramque cavernam 12:08, 20 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I've added such a sense. Per utramque cavernam 12:10, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

It's time to delete this one. User:Lambiam's argument seems weak. Since this is an English dictionary, we only keep non-idiomatic English entries like last year as a translation hub, which can also house French translations like l'année dernière, l'année passée, l'an dernier, l'an passé - all SoP. (Chignon=former Per utramque cavernam). --Anatoli T. (обсудить/вклад) 02:19, 16 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Deleted. --Anatoli T. (обсудить/вклад) 02:20, 16 May 2019 (UTC)