English translation of "l'unité au distributeur" - "a single ticket from the vending machine"

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141 months ago

Barbara Cochran (a guest user) asked this question:

Language pair:	French > English
Subject:	General
Level of diffculty:	Easy / medium
Word or term in question:	l'unité au distributeur
Context:	Il acheta un billet à l'unité au distributeur dans le métro et paya avec des pièces.

Important This question has already been answered and rated. Therefore, no new answers can be given.

Complete list of answers and comments

141 months ago

wrote:

he bought a ticket apiece from the ticket-machine

My comment:

The phrase a single ticket is ambiguous, that's why I prefer this translation.

141 months ago

Claude Le Frapper wrote:

a single ticket from the vending machine

The asker rated this answer best

141 months ago

Claude Le Frapper wrote:

a single ticket from the vending machine

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

141 months ago

wrote:

La formulation single ticket est ambiguë car elle peut signifier un aller simple, ce qui peut prêter à confusion pour le lecteur-cible.

141 months ago

David Edwards Translation and Training wrote:

I think Claude's translation is fine - as there are no return tickets in the metro (assuming it's the Paris one) I don't think the theoretical ambiguity of 'single' applies. However, I can well imagine simplifying it to 'he bought a ticket from the machine in the metro' - because the alternative of a 'carnet' would be 'a book of tickets' so there's no need to specify 'single'. Ditto probably no need to specify 'vending'; it's maybe a bit 'too correct'.

The asker rated this answer best

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