Contempler sits in the middle of this list and is the one word here that an English reader will translate without hesitating and still get wrong. In French it does one thing only: to look at something for a long while because it is worth looking at — il contemple la vallée depuis le col. The eyes are open, the body is still, and nothing is being decided. « Contemplate » once did exactly that, and still can in careful prose, but its ordinary modern sense has moved off the eyes altogether and into the mind: « she contemplated resigning », « the scheme contemplates two stages ». That is a verb of weighing something up, and it takes an action noun or a gerund after it, which contempler never does. French keeps the two jobs in two words, and the second is envisager: what « she is contemplating resigning » says is elle envisage de démissionner. So read contempler as « to gaze at » and never as « to consider » — contempler de partir is a sentence no French speaker has ever had a use for.
Die Wörter
Ansicht
Verb (23)
scruterto scrutiniseVerbC1
Elle scrute le tableau des départs.She is scrutinising the departures board.
contemplerto gaze atVerbC1
Il contemple la vallée depuis le col.He gazes at the valley from the pass.
dévisagerto stare atVerbC1
Les voyageurs dévisagent le nouveau venu.The travellers stare at the newcomer.
lorgnerto eyeVerbC1
L’enfant lorgne le gâteau posé sur la table.The child is eyeing the cake on the table.
entrevoirto glimpseVerbC1
J’ai entrevu son visage derrière la vitre.I glimpsed his face behind the glass.
cillerto blinkVerbC1
Il a écouté la nouvelle sans ciller.He listened to the news without blinking.
se renfrognerto scowlVerbC1
Il se renfrogne dès qu’on parle du travail.He scowls as soon as work is mentioned.
rayonnerto beamVerbC1
Elle rayonnait en sortant de la salle.She was beaming as she came out of the hall.
rougirto blushVerbC1
Il rougit dès qu’on le remercie.He blushes as soon as anyone thanks him.
tressaillirto give a startVerbC1
Elle a tressailli au bruit de la porte.She gave a start at the sound of the door.
grimacerto grimaceVerbC1
Il grimace en soulevant la caisse.He grimaces as he lifts the crate.
frissonnerto shiverVerbC1
Elle frissonne au souvenir de cette nuit.She shivers at the memory of that night.
grelotterto shiver with coldVerbC1
Nous grelottions sur le quai.We were shivering with cold on the platform.
tremblerto trembleVerbC1
Sa main tremble en signant.His hand trembles as he signs.
tressauterto twitchVerbC1
Il tressaute à chaque coup de klaxon.He twitches at every blast of a horn.
gémirto moanVerbC1
Le blessé gémissait doucement.The injured man was moaning quietly.
grognerto gruntVerbC1
Il grogne une réponse sans lever la tête.He grunts an answer without looking up.
bâillerto yawnVerbC1
Il bâille sans se cacher la bouche.He yawns without covering his mouth.
enserrerto grip tightlyVerbC1
Ses doigts enserrent la rampe.His fingers grip the handrail tightly.
agripperto grab hold ofVerbC1
L’enfant agrippe la manche de sa mère.The child grabs hold of his mother’s sleeve.
empoignerto graspVerbC1
Il empoigne la corde à deux mains.He grasps the rope with both hands.
s’avachirto slouchVerbC1
Il s’avachit dès que la réunion traîne.He slouches as soon as the meeting drags on.
gigoterto fidgetVerbC1
L’enfant gigote sur sa chaise.The child fidgets on his chair.
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