back and forth

d’avant en arrière, de long en large

En allant plusieurs fois dans un sens, puis dans le sens opposé.

En anglais simple : Moving repeatedly in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

• The swing moved back and forth.
• He walked back and forth across the room.
• Why are you rocking back and forth?

Synonymes : to and fro, backwards and forwards

Expressions courantes : walk back and forth, swing back and forth

entre deux choix, d’un avis à l’autre

En passant sans cesse d’un choix ou d’un avis à un autre.

En anglais simple : Repeatedly changing your choice or opinion between different possibilities.

• I keep going back and forth about moving.
• She went back and forth between buying and renting.
• We went back and forth on the date before finally choosing Friday.

Comment l'utiliser : go back and forth between A and B (I keep going back and forth between the two designs.); go back and forth on something (We went back and forth on whether to sell.)

Synonymes : indecisively

Expressions courantes : go back and forth, back and forth between

échange, discussion

Discussion où les personnes se répondent à plusieurs reprises.

En anglais simple : A discussion in which people keep replying to each other.

• There was some back-and-forth about the price.
• After weeks of back-and-forth, they signed the agreement.
• I enjoyed the lively back-and-forth between the speakers.

Comment l'utiliser : back and forth between people (There was some back-and-forth between the buyer and seller.); back and forth over something (We had a long back-and-forth over the price.)

Synonymes : exchange, discussion, dialogue

Expressions courantes : some back and forth, endless back and forth

va-et-vient

Mouvement répété dans un sens, puis retour au point de départ.

En anglais simple : Repeated movement in one direction and then back to the starting point.

• The back-and-forth of the swing calmed her.
• I watched the steady back-and-forth of the pendulum.
• The boat’s constant back-and-forth made him feel ill.

Synonymes : to-and-fro, oscillation

Expressions courantes : constant back and forth, gentle back and forth

de va-et-vient

Décrit un mouvement qui change sans cesse de sens.

En anglais simple : Describing movement that repeatedly changes to the opposite direction.

• The back-and-forth motion made me sleepy.
• Use a gentle back-and-forth movement with the brush.
• The machine produces a steady back-and-forth motion.

Synonymes : to-and-fro, reciprocating

Expressions courantes : back and forth movement, back and forth motion

aller et venir, hésiter

Aller plusieurs fois dans des sens opposés ou changer sans cesse de choix.

En anglais simple : To move repeatedly in opposite directions or keep changing between choices.

• We back and forth over every little decision.
• They back-and-forthed between the two plans for weeks.
• The vans back and forth between the warehouses all day.

Comment l'utiliser : back and forth between A and B (We back and forth between these options every week.)

Synonymes : shuttle, vacillate

Expressions courantes : back and forth between, back and forth endlessly