Verbs functioning as nouns

[Peter En]

In english, verbs can sometimes function as nouns such as:

 

"The gouvernment forbids the hiding of artifacts"

or

"... the stealing of hens eggs was looked down upon"

 

How would i go about to doing this in french? Would I literally convert the verb into a past-participle noun like

"la pensée logique"?

[George Hunt]

I think you are right that you can't copy the formula from English directly to French.

I would look for a noun with a meaning closely related to the verb (le vol or la dissimulation/occultation) but I wouldn't try to convert the verb into any of its other forms.

Although you can use "l'acte de cacher" or "la coutume de voler"

[Peter En]

Thanks George!

 

That's such a shame though- I often find noun-verbs very useful because it often helps with the explanation of an abstract idea!

[Neil Coffey]

Yes, this would often be the most natural equivalent in French: either find an equivalent noun or else use the formula le fait de.... (I think "fait" would be more neutral than the nouns you mention, though they're of course possible under the right circumstances).

Another option with some verbs-- and it would work here-- is to use an infinitive. So for example, the following are also fine:

La loi interdit de dissimuler les artéfacts.

Voler les oeufs de poule sera mal vu.

Where the -ing form has an expressed subject in English, the equivalent is often to use a subjunctive in French:

La loi interdit que l'on dissimule les artéfacts.

La loi interdit que vous dissimuliez les artéfacts.

[Peter En]

Hi Neil,

With regards to your last sentence about how -ing verbs expressed with a subject in english can be used with the subjunctive, would an example be like this?

Les barricades d’alentour empêchent que vous vous échappiez de la ville

The surrounding barriers prevents you from escaping the city

[Neil Coffey]

Yes, you can use that construction, or also:

...vous empêchent de vous échapper de la ville.

That said, I think "barricades d'alentour" is a bit weird. You would probably end up saying something like:

Les barricades/murailles érigées autour de la ville vous empêchent de vous échapper.

[Peter En]

thanks!!