Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
il a su
English translation:
he was able to
French term
United States
Telecom/new media tech, law, bus, mktg
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, French to English, and 1 more.
il a su
Il a su réunir autour de lui
It sounds odd to me to say, he knew to developed himself/he knew to surround himself. Is it all right simply to say he developed himself/he surrounded himself?
| 5 +4 | he was able to |
Paul Stevens
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| 5 +3 | he learned to do it ; he was able to do it |
NancyLynn
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| 4 +3 | he knew how to |
IanW (X)
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| 4 +3 | He knew how to/ He was able to/ He managed to |
CMJ_Trans (X)
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| 4 +2 | he successfully |
STEVEN DEWITT
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| 5 | he was capable of forging |
Cristina Giannetti
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| 4 | he learnt how to.... |
Austra Muizniece
|
Non-PRO (1): Richard Nice
When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.
How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:
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A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).
Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.
When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.
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Proposed translations
Accurate and reliable translations
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English
he was able to
HTH
he learned to do it ; he was able to do it
It depends on context, but you can say he had the ability to do it, he was skilled in that area... you know, depending on context!
| agree |
Pierre POUSSIN
: He has been able to...
6 mins
|
| agree |
writeaway
: I usually use 'to be able to' and it would seem to fit this context best as well
1 hr
|
| agree |
suezen
10 hrs
|
Canada
Financial/medical/technical, 24 h e-mail
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English to French, and 1 more.
he successfully
Steve
he knew how to
He knew how to/ He was able to/ He managed to
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Note added at 2004-09-30 13:13:24 (GMT)
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savez-vous parler français - do you know how to speak French?
Pouvez-vous me donner une réponse - Are you able to give me a reply?
In Belgium, savoir is often used in palce of pouvoir: sais-tu me dire: ccan you tell me?
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Note added at 2004-09-30 13:14:17 (GMT)
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He was able to sourround himself
He managed to forge relationships
Latvia
Attention to detail and style
Native in: Latvian
Works in: English to Latvian, French to Latvian
he learnt how to....
develop doesn't seem to be the right word though
A passion for languages and translation
Native in: Italian
Works in: English to Italian, French to Italian
he was capable of forging
formidable fighting force. When he was calm he was dangerous. ...
il a su - he was capable of
| neutral |
Richard Nice
: to be capable is not necessarily to do it. If "il a su" he notonly could, he did.
20 mins
|
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