French Release Note: Pronoun Reference and Orthography Under a Style Guide
You are translating a software release note from English into French for a Canadian client. Source: "Users who have enabled two-factor authentication and whose devices were registered before 1 March 2024 must re-register their devices; otherwise, they will not be able to access the dashboard until they do so." Your draft reads: "Les utilisateurs qui ont activé l’authentification à deux facteurs et dont les appareils ont été enregistrés avant le 1er mars 2024 doivent réenregistrer leurs appareils ; sinon, ils ne pourront pas accéder au tableau de bord jusqu’à ce qu’ils le fassent." The reviewer flags four points: the referent of "ils," the referent of "le," the date format, and the spelling "réenregistrer." The client's French style guide prefers 1990 orthography and uses "tableau de bord" as a defined term.
1. Diagnose each flagged point: which are genuine mechanics problems and which are stylistic or policy choices?
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The referent of "ils" is a genuine ambiguity. After "sinon," "ils" can refer to "utilisateurs" or "appareils," because both are masculine plural. The sentence's logic favors users, but the form does not force that reading. The referent of "le" is not an agreement error: "le" in "le fassent" is an invariable neuter pronoun replacing the action of re-registering, not a masculine noun. It is grammatically possible but heavy and slightly formal. The date "1er mars 2024" is correct French; the ordinal marker is appropriate for the first day. "Réenregistrer" is the 1990-reform spelling; "ré-enregistrer" is the traditional form. Because the client prefers 1990 orthography, the draft spelling is correct. So the genuine mechanics problem is the ambiguous "ils"; the other points are either correct or matters of style and house policy.
2. Revise the sentence to remove the ambiguity while preserving meaning and register. Explain each change.
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A cleaner revision is: "Les utilisateurs qui ont activé l’authentification à deux facteurs et dont les appareils ont été enregistrés avant le 1er mars 2024 doivent réenregistrer ces appareils ; à défaut, l’accès au tableau de bord leur sera refusé jusqu’à ce qu’ils aient procédé au réenregistrement." "Ces appareils" anchors the object and makes clear that the devices are what must be re-registered. "À défaut" replaces "sinon" and avoids a second pronoun chain. "L’accès ... leur sera refusé" keeps the users as the affected party without repeating "ils" as the subject of an ambiguous clause. "Jusqu’à ce qu’ils aient procédé au réenregistrement" uses the required subjunctive after "jusqu’à ce que" and replaces "le fassent" with a full nominal action. The register remains neutral software documentation, and "tableau de bord" is retained as the defined term.
3. The client asks whether "réenregistrer" should be hyphenated. How do you answer, and what if the termbase lists "ré-enregistrer"?
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I would answer that under the 1990 orthography, "réenregistrer" is written without a hyphen, so the draft is consistent with the client's stated preference. The hyphenated form "ré-enregistrer" belongs to the traditional orthography and is not wrong in general French, but it would be inconsistent with the style guide. If the termbase lists "ré-enregistrer," I would not silently override a binding termbase. I would flag the conflict, note that the style guide prefers 1990 orthography, and ask the terminologist or project manager to confirm which authority controls. If the termbase is confirmed as binding, I would use its form consistently and document the deviation from the general rule. If the termbase is merely a legacy entry, I would recommend updating it to "réenregistrer" and apply the style guide.