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I want to write a short message addressed to a friend of mine. Unfortunately my French is not good enough to come up with a French phrase to say the phrase put in italics.

It was luck and luck alone that made me wise up to her little schemes. Now I wouldn't put anything past her.

The message isn't anything formal.

Stéphane Gimenez
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Elen1x
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3 Answers3

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In a casual setting among friends, I'd probably say:

Si je me suis rendu compte de ce qu'elle manigançait, c'est grâce à un coup de chance, rien d'autre. Je ne m'étonne plus de rien de sa part / avec elle.

There are various ways to express the idea, and though not a literal translation, this one comes naturally to me.

Con-gras-tue-les-chiens
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    "Plus rien ne m'étonne(rait) de sa part" is another way to say the same thing. – Hawker65 Aug 31 '18 at 07:45
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    And as a native speaker, @Hawker65 is more idiomatic for this particular construction. The emphasis is on her and her actions, not on your reactions. – Jean Rostan Aug 31 '18 at 15:56
  • The English idiom "wouldn't put anything past her" has not been rendered properly: it is used to mean that you think that someone is capable of doing something illegal, mean, criminal ; it is not used to say that someone has done something, illegal, mean or criminal. – LPH Aug 31 '18 at 17:13
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Since it's "not anything formal", I would say it like this:

J'ai compris à quoi elle jouait purement par chance. Depuis, je sais qu'il faut s'attendre à tout venant d'elle.

Batman
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  • I honestly couldn't tell you if there's a rule that forces a comma here. To me, it looks fine with or without one and I've searched the internet for "s'attendre à tout, venant", it pops up almost always without comma. But it's the internet, so you know. You could also use "avec elle" which doesn't really change anything but flows a little better which would further decrease the need for a comma in my opinion – Batman Sep 02 '18 at 07:41
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Ce n'est que la chance, rien d'autre que la chance qui ait fait que je puisse me rendre compte de ses petits plans de supercherie; depuis je la crois capable de tout.

late addition as the result of the remarks of 200_success and user17522

This next translation might be prefered;

Ce n'est que la chance, rien d'autre que la chance qui ait fait que je puisse me rendre compte de ses petits plans de supercherie; depuis je la crois capable du pire.

LPH
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    "Je la crois capable de tout", on its own, does not necessarily have the negative connotation of "I wouldn't put anything past her". – 200_success Sep 01 '18 at 01:05
  • quite true, good idea; as is my sentence it is unambiguous (200_success) but some reinforcement of it can do it no harm. (I made an addition.) – LPH Sep 01 '18 at 20:23