italki - se dévoiler - only in a negative way? Bonjour tous les francophones! In the dictionary one of the se

Jens

se dévoiler - only in a negative way? Bonjour tous les francophones! In the dictionary one of the several meanings of "se dévoiler" was translated as "show what you are made of" , "show your personality" or "show your true colours". The sentence "Lors de cette soirée, Julie s'est vraiment dévoilée" was translated by "At that party, Julie really showed what she was made of." "To show your true colours" is often used in a negative way. Is this also the case for "se dévoiler", or could this expression also be used when someone shows a positive side? Merci d'avance!

Aug 9, 2018 8:15 AM

Answers · 5

Bonjour, je suis du Québec et du moins ici, si on dit que "Julie s'est dévoilée au cours de la soirée", on y comprendrais qu'elle s'est retiré des vêtements au cours de la soirée et qu'on a bien vu ce qu'il y avait à voir de Julie ! Donc oui, connotation romantique/érotique.

August 9, 2018

To my mind no, "se dévoiler" doesn't have a negative connotation, so yes, you can use it in a positive way. "To show your true colours" would be more something like "se montrer sous son vrai jour", and as in English, this expression has a negative sense. "Se dévoiler" sounds more romantic, the meaning is "enlever le voile" (to remove the veil), it's more like "to reveal herself" for example.

August 9, 2018

Still haven’t found your answers?

Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!