French me, please

Been awhile. If you get a better answer use it!

Rein, merci. Je suis quitte.

EDIT: Je suis departi or Je suis sorti might be better. Again, if you get better advice take it.

I'm not a native speaker, and I know I can't express the 'just', but:

Rien, merci. Je sors.

Maybe 'je sors maintenant' -- I'm leaving now.
ETA: Je pars, maybe? Tout de suite instead of maintenant ? Are they not the same?My brain doesn't know the nuances; sorry

MarkEsq said:

A man sits at a table in a cafe, in Paris. Then realizes he has to go. The waiter appears at his shoulder, and he says, "Nothing, thanks, I'm just leaving."

How would he say that in French?

Thanks!

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Aucun merci. Je pars

(According to a free translation web site when asked to translate No thanks. I'm leaving.)

I'm not a native speaker either, but I lived there for four months, and I think it would be "Rien, merci. Je pars." In my experience, "je sors" is the equivalent of "I'm going out" (like, going out for the night) or "I'm exiting," but "je pars" is "I'm leaving."

I agree with Kilawher. But these are all just saying, "Nothing thanks, I'm leaving". Did you want the 'just' in there as well for more urgency?

"Rien, merci, il faut que je parte." "Nothing thanks, I have to leave."

I'd use doit before il faut if I were talking casually about myself, just cos il faut always sounds impersonal to me, or almost like a rule. It may not be. I cheat like that and just avoid using it in some places!

Je dois partir sounds great to me, fwiw.

Literally, "It's necessary that I leave." I always think "Je dois" implies urgency, but that's just me. It would depend on how advance the character's French is. Nobody's going to point and laugh at "Je dois partir", and the "Il faut" construction is taught a lot later. Here, at least. If the character's a beginner, or not fluent, "Je dois partir", or even just "Je parte" would probably be a more obvious choice.

Fran said:

Literally, "It's necessary that I leave." I always think "Je dois" implies urgency, but that's just me. It would depend on how advance the character's French is. Nobody's going to point and laugh at "Je dois partir", and the "Il faut" construction is taught a lot later. Here, at least. If the character's a beginner, or not fluent, "Je dois partir", or even just "Je parte" would probably be a more obvious choice.

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Funny, I was just thinking that doit seems more urgent, too !! They are both great to my ear; it's true. I forgot how often you hear 'il faut que je'...

I think it's just me! (I use besoin/il ma faut more often...)

Sorry, I was just wondering if anything sounded stuffier to natives, but I really couldn't tell

MarkEsq said:

A man sits at a table in a cafe, in Paris. Then realizes he has to go. The waiter appears at his shoulder, and he says, "Nothing, thanks, I'm just leaving."

How would he say that in French?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

With great courage.

Ever try leaving a French cafe without a purchase of some kind?

Chris P said:

Been awhile. If you get a better answer use it!

Rein, merci. Je suis quitte.

EDIT: Je suis departi or Je suis sorti might be better. Again, if you get better advice take it.

Click to expand...

"Rien, merci" is correct for the first part, but "je suis quitte" doesn't mean anything and the others are in the past tense, which you wouldn't say here because he's leaving now/in the future, not in the past.

Kilawher said:

I'm not a native speaker either, but I lived there for four months, and I think it would be "Rien, merci. Je pars." In my experience, "je sors" is the equivalent of "I'm going out" (like, going out for the night) or "I'm exiting," but "je pars" is "I'm leaving."

Click to expand...

Those four months worked out for you. "Rien, merci. Je pars" is the first option that crossed my mind--it sounds the most natural. "Il faut que je parte" also works, though it may be more explanation than you would necessarily give. If you wanted to be apologetic or explain your departure with slight regret, "il faut que je parte" would work, but otherwise "je pars" is very natural and all you need. And you're also right about "je sors"--it is indeed like going out for the evening or going outside from inside. You wouldn't say it if you're already outside on a cafe terrace, and if you said it inside the cafe it could be understood as meaning you were going outside to sit on the terrace, as opposed to leaving.

"Je dois partir" isn't said nearly as often as "je pars" or "il faut que je parte." It's just somehow less colloquial.

^^^ How cool