What hapens when something turns itself over?
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Robert F.Kwiziq community member
What hapens when something turns itself over?
I ran into problems translating "The lorry turned over" Retourner usually takes avoir when it means invert, thus 'He turned over the lorry' = 'Il a retourné le camion, Il l'a retourné' -but would 'It (the lorry) turned (itself) over' = 'Il s'est retourné' or 'Il s'a retourné' ? Doesn't the first translation mean to put the lorry away, rather than leaving it in a ditch?
This question relates to:French lesson "Retourner can be used with avoir or être in compound tenses depending on its meaning in French (Le Passé Composé)"
Asked 4 years ago
Kwiziq Q&A regular contributorCorrect answer
The truck turned over or rolled over, but it did it all by itself. So, it's a reflexive verb. "Il s'est retourné." If someone were putting the truck away, it would be "Il a rangé le camion." I don't think "retourner" means to return in English like returning an item to a store (rendre quelque chose au magasin pour un remboursement) or putting an item away.
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