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  3. Poetry & Literature

his Freud: personal name with a possessive pronoun

Japanese translation: 彼のフロイト

15:16 Jan 29, 2014
English to Japanese translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / memoir
English term or phrase: his Freud: personal name with a possessive pronoun
I came across the following sentence:
He knew his Freud at least as well as I did. (A)

The sentence has a possessive pronoun "his" before personal name "Freud".
What is the difference between (A) and (B) "He knew Freud at least as well as I did" ?

I wonder if (A) means that he knew Freud not personally but in his works. Could anybody explain the difference?
keyaki
Austria
Local time: 00:25
Japanese translation:彼のフロイト
Explanation:
This is an idiomatic way of reinforcing that you are talking about a person's knowledge of a subject. It is the same as saying "he knew Freud's theories/work." If you were talking about someone who studied Japanese you could say "he knew his kanji better than the teacher".
Selected response from:

David Gibney
Ireland
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4彼のフロイト
David Gibney


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
his freud: personal name with a possessive pronoun
彼のフロイト


Explanation:
This is an idiomatic way of reinforcing that you are talking about a person's knowledge of a subject. It is the same as saying "he knew Freud's theories/work." If you were talking about someone who studied Japanese you could say "he knew his kanji better than the teacher".

David Gibney
Ireland
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 25
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you very much for your quick answer! What matters to me was what "his + 人名” implies. It was cleared by your explanation. In case of "his Japanese", it can be translated as 彼の日本語 without problem, however, "his Freud" should not be word for word translated as 彼のフロイト, but should be translated from the meaning. Anyway, how to translate it is not my point here.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  michiko tsum (X)
1 hr
  -> Thank you and thank you for the excellent explanation.
agree  Misae Lucasey
2 hrs
  -> Thank you!
agree  MariyaN (X)
10 hrs
  -> Thank you!
agree  Takeshi MIYAHARA
12 hrs
  -> Thank you!
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