Google translation of "you are early today" uses tôt, not "en avance"

Catherine J.A1Kwiziq community member

Google translation of "you are early today" uses tôt, not "en avance"

Google translates "you are really early" as "tu es vraiment en avance"

But it translates "you are really early today" as "tu es vraiment tôt aujourd'hui"

Thoughts?

This question relates to:French lesson "Expressing timeliness in French - late/early/on time - general"

Asked 4 years ago

Like0Answer2

Chris W.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributorCorrect answer

tôt -- early in an absolute sense.
en avance -- ahead of a schedule.

Like14 years ago

Maarten K.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I find that DeepL is generally a better translator than google. Both make errors though so continue to be wary/question them.

As Chris notes, there is a difference here, and it requires context to differentiate. I have never yet seen an online translator give the “answer” most commonly heard in France to questions of translation, grammar, culture, politics etc - “Ça dépend”.

Like04 years ago

Catherine J. asked: