[surface, object] dur (e)
→ the hard wooden floor
→ The green apples were as hard as rocks.
→ hard wooden benches
This cheese is very hard. Ce fromage est très dur.
[question, problem] difficile
→ That is a very hard question to answer.
→ Their work is hard and dangerous.
→ Coping with three babies is very hard work.
→ The hard part is knowing who to trust.
[life, time] difficile
→ He's had a very hard life.
→ We have been through hard times together.
→ By now the hard part was over. He had taken the course and his rivals on and had achieved a psychological victory over both
[day] dur (e)
→ I'd had a long, hard day on the wards
This question's too hard for me. Cette question est trop difficile pour moi.
a hard day's work une dure journée de travail
→ after a hard day's work, I just didn't want to get my books out in the evening and study
it's hard work doing sth c'est dur de faire qch
→ it's hard work serving in a shop
→ Looking after young children is very hard work.
it was hard going ça a été dur
it is hard to do sth, It is hard to understand what is happening. C'est difficile de comprendre ce qui se passe.
It's hard to tell. C'est difficile à dire.
→ Did he hit her deliberately? It's hard to tell.
It's hard to tell what the effect will be. C'est difficile de prévoir quels seront les effets.
It's hard to say. C'est difficile à dire.
→ which way the vote will go? It's hard to say.
It's hard to say what he'll do next. C'est difficile de prévoir ce qu'il fera par la suite.
It's hard to know what to do. C'est difficile de savoir que faire.
to find it hard to do sth avoir du mal à faire qch
→ You'll find it hard to get another job.
→ He found it hard to keep up with the other athletes.
→ She found it hard to accept some of the criticisms made about her work.
I find it hard to believe that ... je n'arrive pas à croire que ...
→ I find it hard to believe that nobody heard me knocking.
to be hard to please être difficile
→ Her manager is notoriously hard to please.
to be hard on sb
[situation] être dur pour qn
→ It was hard on the children splitting up like that.
→ His behaviour has sometimes been hard on the whole family.
→ Yes, it's hard on the fans.
to be hard on the eyes faire mal aux yeux
→ the grey light was hard on the eyes after the candlelit church
to be hard on the ears faire mal aux oreilles
no hard feelings! sans rancune!
→ Boyzone star Ronan Keating celebrated beating Geri Halliwell to No1 in the charts yesterday and said: "No hard feelings, Geri."
hard cheese! * pas de bol! * , pas de chance!
[person] dur (e)
→ Her father was a very hard man.
→ the hard look on Maggie's face
[voice] dur (e)
→ His voice had become hard
to be hard on sb
(=severe with) être dur (e) avec qn
→ Don't be so hard on him - it wasn't his fault.
[kick, punch] violent (e)
→ He gave her a hard push.
→ We have no hard evidence to indicate that he is the culprit.
[facts] concret (-ète)
→ There are probably fewer hard facts about the life of Henry Purcell than that of any other great composer since the Renaissance.
→ the hard winter of 1944-45
[frost] fort (e)
→ A hard frost covered the grass
→ There was a hard frost last night.
[hit, kick, push] fort
→ I hit him hard.
→ He kicked the ball too hard.
→ I've been working hard all day.
He has worked very hard. Il a travaillé très dur.
to think hard bien réfléchir
→ He was thinking hard about what to do next.
to try hard faire de son mieux
to try hard to do sth faire de son mieux pour faire qch
→ Cherie was trying hard not to laugh
→ I tried hard to persuade him
to try a bit harder essayer un peu plus
→ if you tried a bit harder
to laugh hard rire fort
→ I've never seen Terry laugh so hard.
to look hard at sth
[+problem, issue] examiner qch
→ We need to look hard at the reasons for these poor results.
→ Photojournalists need to look hard at how to approach the changing marketplace.
→ We need to look hard at what's gone wrong and put it right.
to look hard at sb/sth
(=stare) regarder fixement qn/qch
to fight hard to do sth faire d'énormes efforts pour faire qch
→ She has fought hard to bring the case to justice.
→ The Queen fought hard to hold back her emotions.
to fight hard for sth se battre durement pour qch
→ They fought hard for this right: today they should use it
→ I've fought hard for fair compensation terms
to be hard put to do sth, to be hard pushed to do sth avoir beaucoup de mal à faire qch
→ I'd be hard pushed to teach him anything.
to be hard hit by sth être durement frappé (e) par qch
→ plans to create employment in areas hard hit by the economic depression
→ Energy companies have been hard hit by corrupt practices.
→ She works in Kwazulu-Natal, the province hardest hit by Aids.
→ Parts of the coast have also been struggling with a four-year drought, but the hardest hit areas are inland.
to take sth hard être très affecté (e) par qch
to play hard to get se faire désirer
to be hard done by être traité (e) injustement
to feel hard done by (British) se sentir brimé (e)
→ The team are feeling very hard done by - it wasn't a fair decision at all.
→ It was snowing hard by the time night fell.
to set hard durcir → The concrete takes about 24 hours to set hard to freeze hard geler to be frozen hard être complètement gelé (e)
hard and fast , hard-and-fast
[evidence] concluant (e)
→ There is no hard and fast evidence that young children's mental well-being suffers when both parents work.
[decision, conclusion] définitif (-ive)
→ They opted out of making a hard and fast decision.
There are no hard and fast rules. Il n'y pas de règle absolue.
→ There are no hard and fast rules, but rather traditional guidelines as to who pays for what ...
[journalist, soldier, detective] endurci (e)
→ ... a cynical hard-bitten journalist.
hard-boiled , hard boiled
[egg] dur (e)
hard-boiled egg œuf m dur
[person] endurci (e)
→ She's hard-boiled, tough and funny.
n argent m liquide
in hard cash en liquide, en argent liquide, en espèces
→ I'd prefer to be paid in hard cash.
→ One thousand dollars in hard cash.
hard cider (US)
n cidre m
n (COMPUTING) version f papier
→ The maintenance of archives, whether in hard copy or on the Internet, is very important.
→ I need hard copy of the files.
→ When I'm finished, I'll print out a hard copy.
→ We keep a hard copy of everything.
n (TENNIS) court m en dur
n devise f forte
→ The government is running short of hard currency to pay for imports.
n (COMPUTING) disque m dur
adj qui boit beaucoup
→ She had transformed him from being a hard-drinking womaniser into a devoted husband and father.
n drogue f dure
adj durement gagné (e)
[battle] acharné (e)
[election, competition] âprement disputé (e)
[+construction worker] casque m
(=riding hat) bombe f
(=construction worker) ouvrier (-ière) m/f du bâtiment
→ ... a hard-headed and shrewd businesswoman ...
→ They are taking a hard-headed commercial decision.
adj dur (e) , impitoyable
[speech, article] sans complaisance
hard labour , (British) hard labor (US)
n travaux mpl forcés
→ He was condemned to six months hard labour.
n extrême gauche f
hard left , hard-left
[party, leader] d'extrême gauche
[belief, viewpoint] d'extrême gauche
→ ... the hard-left view that foreign forces should not have been sent.
n alcools mpl forts
I never touch hard liquor. Je ne touche jamais aux alcools forts.
(=bad luck) malchance f
We had a bit of hard luck this season. On a un peu joué de malchance cette saison.
to be hard luck on sb, It was hard luck on him. Ce n'était vraiment pas de chance pour lui., Ce n'était vraiment pas de bol * pour lui.
→ It was jolly hard luck on him, wasn't it?
excl pas de chance, pas de bol *
→ Hard luck, chaps, but don't despair too much.
hard-luck story , hard luck story
n récit m des déboires
→ He was always a sucker for a hard luck story and was quick to put his hand in his pocket, never worrying if he was being conned.
→ We've heard all these hard-luck stories about her repressed childhood and abused adulthood before.
adj impitoyable, dur (e)
hard of hearing , hard-of-hearing
to be hard of hearing être dur (e) d'oreille
the hard of hearing les malentendants mpl
hard porn *
n porno m hard *
adj sous pression
to be hard-pressed to do sth avoir du mal à faire qch
n extrême droite f
hard right , hard-right
[party, leader] d'extrême droite
[belief, viewpoint] d'extrême droite
→ ... the appearance of hard-right political groupings.
n (MUSIC) hard rock m
hard sell , hard-sell
(=aggressive sales pitch) vente f agressive
[tactics, approach] de vente agressive
→ I don't like his hard sell approach.
n (British) bande f d'arrêt d'urgence
hard up , hard-up
(=not well-off) sans le sou, fauché (e) *
→ Her parents were very hard up.
adj résistant (e)
→ hard-wearing cotton shirts
→ hard-wearing fabrics such as denim
→ it is better to pave the space with a hard-wearing surface such as brick or stone
hard-wired , hardwired
(into the brain)
→ Others think that the rules for what is `musical' are hard-wired in our brains to some degree.
adj durement gagné (e)
adj travailleur (-euse)
rock-hard , rock hard
adj dur (e) comme la pierre
→ During the dry season the land is rock hard.