what is the meaning of this Élevée à Paris par une mère française, elle rejoignait son père

Question

What is the meaning of this sentence: Élevée à Paris par une mère française, elle rejoignait son père.

Reared in Pairs by a French mother, she was traveling (in order) to join her father.

1 is this translation correct?

2 I do not understand rejoignait.

Does it mean rejoined or traveled to meet? Maybe it means she was also reared by her father?

Thank you

Answer 1

The original is:

Élevée à Paris par une mère française, elle rejoignait son père.

A possible translation is:

Raised in Paris by a French mother, she was returning to her father.

I would not translate "rejoignait" as "to rejoin." This verb has for meaning in English "to meet", "to go back to", "to return", "to join."

It is hard to pin down the exact meaning of "rejoignait" here, but my translation is plausible. Maybe the parents were together in New York when she was a baby, then they separated, she moved to and was raised in Paris, and then decided to return to her father in New York.

Answer 2

An interesting sentence taken from the popular novel Arsene Lupin Gentleman-Cambrioleur by Maurice LeBlanc! A quick explanation of the verb "rejoindre". In this sentence, it can mean:

1. To join someone: Physically moving to meet or be with someone, often after a separation. For example, "Elle rejoint ses amis au café" (She is joining her friends at the café).
2. To reach a destination: Often used in contexts of arriving or reaching a place. For instance, "Nous avons rejoint la gare à temps" (We reached the station on time).
3. To reconnect or reunite with someone: Can imply an emotional or relational dimension, such as re-establishing a bond.

The meaning you choose will depend on the rest of the text. For now, I would propose two translations, depending on what you want to emphasize:

"Raised in Paris by her French mom, she was going to join her father..." This is a simple translation, staying close to the original.

"Brought up in Paris by her French mom, she was on her way to join her father..." This focuses on the result of her upbringing and gives a slightly more dynamic sense of the action of reuniting with her father.

Note the use of the imperfect tense “rejoignait”, a bit unusual in French in this context, but it makes sense here because it's a literary novel. It gives the sense of a moment in progress. Using the imperfect here subtly emphasizes her journey or transition. It invites the reader to imagine her in motion. Contrary to a verb in the past perfect, It doesn't close the story with a resolution or completed action.

Answer 3

Another extrait from Arsène Lupin ! Glad you're still interacting with this text; its a fun read. The last part of this sentence actually helps clarify your question about whether her father, Underdown, took part in her rearing. As Sarah H. has correctly informed, "élevée" tells us that her mother brought her up in Paris and that only after that has occurred does our subject go to her father in Chicago. I believe the use of the imparfait here is due to the fact that this sentence comes from a short description of the novel's premise; when setting up the events of a narrative in French, one often uses a mixture of passé composé and imparfait to signal the temporal distinctions between events that have taken place before the beginning of the narrative and those that will unfold within it.

If you would like to discuss this work in further detail, I would love to do a lesson on it !

Answer 4

This sentence is not translated correctly."Élevée" comes from the verb "to raise" in the past tense. "Rejoignait" is also a verb conjugated in the imperfect which means "to rejoin".

So, the correct translation is "Raised in Paris by a French mother, she rejoined her father."