qui travaille
In French, the phrase for 'working' is qui travaille.
The phrase qui travaille is used to describe a person who is performing labor. It is important to distinguish this from the term fonctionnant, which is used when you mean 'working' in the sense of a machine or a system that is functioning.
Meaning: functioning (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase qui travaille literally translates to 'who works'.
Which one should you use?
Use qui travaille when referring to a person performing labor. If you want to say that a machine or a system is 'working' (functioning), use fonctionnant instead.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Québec, Canada, the verb trimer is used to mean 'working' or 'toil'.
How does it change in a sentence?
While qui travaille is the standard form, the verb changes to qui travaillent when the subject it refers to is plural.
Did you know?
- While travaille comes from the verb 'to work', its distant ancestor is the Latin word tripalium, which was a three-pronged instrument of torture.
- The word travail is used in the expression travail au noir, which refers to 'working' off the books or without paying taxes.
- In French, the word for 'working' as in 'functioning' is fonctionnant, but if a machine is broken, people often use the slang en panne to say it is not 'working'.
Examples in context
- Pour qui travailles-tu ?Who is it that you're working for?This sentence is useful for asking who a person is working for using the form qui travaille.Tatoeba #428768 by Archibald, translation #874127 by blay_paul
- Pour qui travailles-tu ?Who are you working for?Tatoeba #3066054 by Blabla, translation #1017396 by CM
- Pour qui travailles-tu maintenant ?Who are you working for now?Tatoeba #6556256 by Aiji, translation #3821891 by CK
- Je travaille dans une entrepriseI work in a company
- Il est en activité professionnelle depuis dix ansHe has been working for ten years
- Je bosse dans un caféI work in a café
- J'ai trimé toute la journéeI worked hard all day
- Il charbonne pour finir ce projetHe is working hard to finish this project
- 17 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Hugo are checking a computer at the office.
- LéaEst-ce que l'écran est qui travaille ?Is the screen working?
- HugoNon, je pense qu'il est cassé.No, I think it is broken.
- LéaRegarde, maintenant c'est un écran qui travaille !Look, now it is a working screen!
- HugoAh, super, merci Léa.Ah, great, thanks Léa.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
