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French Language

Hi I was wondering how I would say "Should we regulate children's internet use?" In french.
So far I have written

"Faut-il règlementer l’utilisation d’internet des jeunes enfants?"

However I was unsure of whether to use 'réglementer' or 'réguler', and whether to use 'des jeunes enfants' or ' pour les jeunes.

Thanks :smile:
Original post by Eggonbread
Hi I was wondering how I would say "Should we regulate children's internet use?" In french.
So far I have written

"Faut-il règlementer l’utilisation d’internet des jeunes enfants?"

However I was unsure of whether to use 'réglementer' or 'réguler', and whether to use 'des jeunes enfants' or ' pour les jeunes.

Thanks :smile:


Réglementer / Réguler: The word you need depends on context. Réglementer involves setting up rules and regulations; réguler involves control. For example, you would use réglementer for the supply and sale of a drug which is aimed at réguler blood sugar levels.

So in your context, either are possible depending on the rest of the context. If you're looking at rules and regulations to be set up (by schools, or even by laws) then you need réglementer; if you're looking at parents controlling their children's internet use, then you need réguler.

Enfants / jeunes enfants / jeunes: This is a bit of a tangle and, I suspect, not every French person will necessarily agree with what I am going to say here as these words are not strictly defined. I would suggest that the word jeunes used on its own implies older children - teenagers. Here in Brittany where I live, les jeunes covers young people up to the age of about 25 but that might be local usage; the group aged between 18 and 25 are also sometimes referred to as jeunes adultes. Enfants, to me, means children up to the age of about 12. If you need to make the distinction between very young children and, say, ten year olds, you could use enfants en bas âge or petits enfants - or even, more simply, les petits - for children under the age of about 6. I have come across jeunes enfants only in connection with primary education where the distinction needs to be made between the pupils in the maternelle (up to age 6) and the rest.

So for a good translation of your question, you need to know the age range of the children.

Unless you're specifically talking about parents and children, in which case you'd use réguler and enfants but to make it clear that you're talking about offspring rather than an age group, you might consider adding a possessive: Faut-il réguler l'utilisation d'internet de ses enfants?
you could say "Faut-il réguler l’utilisation d’internet des petits ?"

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