may in the Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary

Translations for may in the English»French Dictionary (Go to French»English)

Show summary of all matches

may1 [Brit meɪ, Am meɪ] VB mod

See also well2, well1

I.well2 [Brit wɛl, Am wɛl] N

II.well2 [Brit wɛl, Am wɛl] VB intr

View verb table

well → well up

I.well1 <comp better; superl best> [Brit wɛl, Am wɛl] ADJ

2. well (in satisfactory state, condition):

well
bien
all is well
tout va bien
she began to fear that all was not well
elle commençait à craindre qu'il y eût un problème
all is not well in their marriage
il y a des problèmes dans leur mariage
I hope all is well with you
j'espère que tout va bien pour vous
all being well, I'll be home before six
si tout va bien, je serai à la maison avant six heures
that's all very well, but
tout ça c'est bien beau or joli, mais
it's all very well to go on strike, but
c'est bien beau or joli de faire la grève, mais
it's all very well for you to laugh, but
tu peux rire, mais
that's all very well for him, but some of us have to work for a living
tant mieux pour lui, mais certains d'entre nous doivent gagner leur vie
if you think you can cope on your own, well and good
si tu penses que tu peux te débrouiller tout seul, c'est très bien

II.well1 <comp better; superl best> [Brit wɛl, Am wɛl] ADV

1. well (satisfactorily):

well treat, behave, feed, eat, sleep, perform etc
bien
to work well person:
bien travailler
to work well system:
bien marcher
these scissors cut well
ces ciseaux coupent bien
he isn't eating very well
il ne mange pas beaucoup
she can play the piano as well as her sister
elle joue du piano aussi bien que sa sœur
that boy will do well
ce garçon ira loin
he hasn't done as well as he might
il n'a pas réussi aussi bien qu'il aurait pu
I did well in the general knowledge questions
je me suis bien débrouillé pour les questions de culture générale
to do well at school
être bon/bonne élève
mother and baby are both doing well
la mère et l'enfant se portent bien
the operation went well
l'opération s'est bien passée
you did well to tell me
tu as bien fait de me le dire
he would do well to remember that …
il ferait bien de se rappeler que …
we'll be doing well if we get there on time
on aura de la chance si on arrive à l'heure
if all goes well
si tout va bien
all went well until
tout allait bien jusqu'à ce que
well done!
bravo!
well played!
bien joué!
he has done very well for himself since he became self-employed
il s'en tire très bien depuis qu'il travaille à son compte
to do oneself well
bien se soigner
to do well by sb
se montrer généreux/-euse avec qn
they're doing quite well out of the mail-order business
leur affaire de vente par correspondance marche très bien
some businessmen did quite well out of the war
certains hommes d'affaires se sont enrichis pendant la guerre
she didn't come out of it very well (of situation)
elle ne s'en est pas très bien sortie
she didn't come out of it very well (of article, programme etc)
ce n'était pas très flatteur pour elle
as I know only too well
comme je ne le sais que trop bien
he is well able to look after himself
il est assez grand pour se débrouiller tout seul

2. well (used with modal verbs):

you may well be right
il se pourrait bien que tu aies raison
I might well go there
il se pourrait bien que j'y aille, je pourrais bien y aller
the concert might very well be cancelled
il est bien possible que le concert soit annulé
I can well believe it
je veux bien le croire, je n'ai pas de mal à le croire
it may well be that …
il se pourrait bien que …
it may well be that … + subj
il est bien possible que …
+ subj I couldn't very well say no
je pouvais difficilement dire non
you may well ask!
je me le demande bien!, alors ça, si je le savais!
we might just as well have stayed at home
on aurait aussi bien fait de rester à la maison
we may as well go home
on ferait aussi bien de rentrer
one might well ask why the police were not informed
on est en droit de se demander pourquoi la police n'a pas été informée
‘shall I shut the door?’—‘you might as well’
‘est-ce que je ferme la porte?’—‘pourquoi pas’
he offered to pay for the damage, as well he might!
il a proposé de payer pour les dégâts, c'était la moindre des choses!
she looked shocked, as well she might
elle a eu l'air choquée, ce qui n'avait rien d'étonnant
we didn't panic, as well we might (have done)
nous n'avons pas paniqué, alors qu'il y avait de quoi

3. well (intensifier):

well
bien, largement
to be well over the speed limit
être bien au-dessus de la vitesse autorisée, avoir largement dépassé la vitesse autorisée
she is well over 30
elle a bien plus de 30 ans
she looks well over 30
elle fait largement 30 ans
there were well over a hundred people
il y avait largement plus de cent personnes
the house is well over a hundred years old
la maison a bien plus de cent ans
the museum is well worth a visit
le musée mérite vraiment la visite
it was well worth waiting for
ça valait vraiment la peine d'attendre
the weather remained fine well into September
le temps est resté au beau fixe pendant une bonne partie du mois de septembre
she was active well into her eighties
elle était toujours active même au-delà de ses quatre-vingts ans
temperatures are well up in the twenties
les températures dépassent largement vingt degrés
profits are well above/below average
les bénéfices sont nettement supérieurs/inférieurs à la moyenne
stand well back from the kerb
tenez-vous bien à l'écart du bord du trottoir
the house is situated well back from the road
la maison est située bien à l'écart de la route
it was well after midnight
il était bien après minuit
it went on until well after midnight
ça s'est prolongé bien au-delà de minuit
the party went on well into the night
la soirée a continué tard dans la nuit

III.well1 [Brit wɛl, Am wɛl] INTERJ

well (expressing astonishment)
eh bien!
well (expressing indignation, disgust)
ça alors!
well (expressing disappointment)
tant pis!
well (after pause in conversation, account)
bon
well (qualifying statement)
enfin
well, who would have thought it!
eh bien, qui aurait pu croire ça!
well, I think so
eh bien, je crois
well, you may have a point, but
bon or d'accord, ce que tu dis est peut-être vrai, mais
well, you may be right
après tout, tu as peut-être raison
well, as I was saying
bon, comme je disais
well, that's too bad
c'est vraiment dommage
well then, what's the problem?
alors, quel est le problème?
they've gone already? oh well!
ils sont déjà partis? tant pis!
oh well, there's nothing I can do about it
ma foi, je n'y peux rien
well, well, well, if it isn't my aunt Violet!
ma parole, c'est ma tante Violet!
well, well, well, so you're off to America?
alors comme ça, tu pars aux États-Unis!
the weather was good, well, good for March
il faisait beau, enfin beau pour un mois de mars
‘he said he'd kill himself’—‘well, did he?’
‘il a dit qu'il se tuerait’—‘eh bien or et alors, est-ce qu'il l'a fait?’
very well then
très bien
View verb table

may2 [Brit meɪ, Am meɪ] N (hawthorn)

May [Brit meɪ, Am meɪ] N (month)

devil-may-care [Am ˌdɛvəlmeɪˈkɛr] ADJ

May Day [Brit, Am ˈmeɪ ˌdeɪ] N

Your search term in other parts of the dictionary
‘may cause drowsiness’ (on medication)
‘risque de somnolence’

Translations for may in the French»English Dictionary (Go to English»French)

Show summary of all matches

may in the PONS Dictionary

Translations for may in the English»French Dictionary (Go to French»English)

Show summary of all matches

may <3rd pers sing may, might, might> [meɪ] VB aux

See also April

Translations for may in the French»English Dictionary (Go to English»French)

Show summary of all matches

may Examples from the PONS Dictionary (editorially verified)

be that as it may
malgré cela
may I be of service?
je peux vous aider?
“may I ?” “please do!” form
“Puis-je ?” “je vous en prie, faites !”
if I may just say this
si je peux me permettre de dire ceci
for all he may think
quoi qu'il en pense
those who have finished may leave
celles qui ont fini peuvent sortir
this medicine may well be effective, but ...
ce médicament est peut-être efficace, mais ...
I accept that you may be right
j'admets que tu as raison
as crafty as she may be ...
toute maligne qu'elle soit, ... (subj)
so that all may know of it
afin que nul n'en ignore
American English

Monolingual examples (not verified by PONS Editors)

English
One situation where starch may be less effective than glucose or sucrose is when a person is taking acarbose.
en.wikipedia.org
These phrases may be used with reference to concerns about rapid global warming.
en.wikipedia.org
Pollen carried on their bodies may be carried to another flower where a small portion can rub off onto the pistil, resulting in cross pollination.
en.wikipedia.org
He or she may not react at all to circumstances that usually evoke strong emotions in others.
en.wikipedia.org
Schools may pushout truant students, who formally enroll in classes, but then refuse to attend.
en.wikipedia.org
Adverse conditions may lead to disorientation, large numbers gathering on ships on overcast or wet nights.
en.wikipedia.org
Ultimately the bid may have been wrecked by the city's history and volatile politics.
en.wikipedia.org
This may also free up short supplies of summer time water for other beneficial uses.
en.wikipedia.org
The cluster of LARP-1 homologs may function to control the expression of key developmental regulators.
en.wikipedia.org
Such perceived inequality may cause dissatisfaction, mistrust and result in unfair practices.
en.wikipedia.org

Would you like to add some words, phrases or translations?

Submit a new entry.

Browse the dictionary

English

Look up "may" in other languages


Choose your language Deutsch | Ελληνικά | English | Español | Français | Italiano | Polski | Português | Русский | Slovenščina | Srpski
Browse the dictionaries
Most popular