(machine) faire marcher versus mettre en marche

[alan gould]

are these both used when starting a machine?   merci 

[George Hunt]

My feeling is that "faire marcher" might be used when a machine has been out of action or broken for a time.

"mettre en marche" I would just take to mean "start the machine".

I am sure Stevo will  fill us in....

[Stevo]

( moved message )

Hi Alan, hi George.

I am on holiday. That is why I take a lot of time to answer.

George, your short explanation is perfect ! The difference between « faire marcher » and « mettre en marche » is squarely like you said. It's useless to add something else. ;-)

[George Hunt]

In the interest of mutual linguistic co-operation (and I know you are learning English ) "squarely" might be better expressed as simply "absolutely" or "just"  . I am sure you were thinking of "carrément" ?

We wouldn't use "squarely"  in that case.

"squarely"  can be  used to mean something like  "directly" or "without deviation"  :)

[Stevo]

“I am sure you were thinking of "carrément" ?”

Oui, c'est carrément ça ! ^^ ( Yes, it's right! ^^ )

Thanks for this tip. ;-)

( “carrément” is a more familiar term that we can share in a friendly discussion. In French, this word has likewise the sense of “absolument”, “véritablement”, “complètement” or “totalement”. However, its usage is less formal. )

[Stevo]

( I moved this message after the George's reply, sorry )