The phrase 'Don’t let it get you down' is generally translated into French as 'Ne te laisse pas abattre'. But, literally, the phrase appears to mean 'Don't let yourself cut down'. Wouldn't better ways to say it in French be 'Ne le laisse pas t'abattre' or 'Ne te laisse pas être abattu'?
Are there any other phrases like this, where the active voice is translated as passive?
[And why is my question suddenly centre justified?]
The French expression is "ne pas se laisser abattre". It is similar in meaning and is used in similar contexts to the English 'don't let it get you down' (and other equivalents). It is already in the pronominal form - 'se laisser abattre' effectively can be translated as 'to let/allow (oneself) be knocked/cut down' (or similar).
It is not a literal translation - expressions often aren't, and they do not always make sense in their native language either !
See wordreference as linked by Jim, and Larousse.
https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/abattre/59#locution
Hi Harry,
See here: https://www.wordreference.com/fren/abattre
Looks like the term needs to be "ne pas se laisser abattre"
Jim
@Jim - Thanks for your contribution, but it doesn't resolve my question. All you've done is put the problem into the infinitive. The literal meaning is still in the active voice: 'not to let yourself cut down', not 'not to let yourself be cut down'.
Thanks to everyone. I guess it's just one of those idioms that all languages have and that make no literal sense. It's still a niggle, though, why people don't say 'Ne le laisse pas t'abattre'.
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