I once heard from a friend learning French that the way to say that you are in the process of doing something literally translated to ‘I am on the train to [doing the thing]’. Is that correct?
it would seem like that because the words are the same, but in the locution “en train de [verbe]”, en train has the 15th century meaning of “in action”, “in movement”, this predates the invention of the railroad :)
originally, as a noun, “le train” comes from the latin word trahere “to pull”. It’s then use to describe a convoy of animals. Later its meaning evolved into the “the going motion” (of a horse, a human).
It’s currently in that sense in “arrière-train” to designate the back legs of a quadruped. “Aller de bon train” = to walk briskly, or in automotive, the “train avant” and “train arrière” are the front and rear axles.
There are other expressions like “le train-train quotidien”, meaning the daily grind.
I once heard from a friend learning French that the way to say that you are in the process of doing something literally translated to ‘I am on the train to [doing the thing]’. Is that correct?
it would seem like that because the words are the same, but in the locution “en train de [verbe]”, en train has the 15th century meaning of “in action”, “in movement”, this predates the invention of the railroad :)
Wait, woah, so the term ‘train’ is from the French word for ‘action’ or ‘motion’, essentially? That’s kind of a dub.
originally, as a noun, “le train” comes from the latin word trahere “to pull”. It’s then use to describe a convoy of animals. Later its meaning evolved into the “the going motion” (of a horse, a human).
It’s currently in that sense in “arrière-train” to designate the back legs of a quadruped. “Aller de bon train” = to walk briskly, or in automotive, the “train avant” and “train arrière” are the front and rear axles.
There are other expressions like “le train-train quotidien”, meaning the daily grind.
edit: additional information to the etymology
I’m well on the way to writing that report, boss
Our company is on the road to developing those features
I’m on the path to forgiving you
I’ve lost my train of thoughts
That saying actually predates railroad trains, which were called that because a train meant “that which is drawn along”
Native here, yep it is correct and idiomatic. “Je suis en train de [faire la chose]”
As a person learning French, I think it’s more closely related to “training” or “entrain.”