cross vs through

[Argaz]

Hello,
Do you know what is the difference betwen cross and through in my dictionnary (french-english) it seems similar (traverser), it's true ?
Thanks a lot.

[Thomas]

Well, basically, "cross" is a verb" and "through" is an adverb or a preposition. For example...

I'm crossing the room. Je traverse la chambre. (cross = verb)
You're going through the room. Tu vas à travers la chambre. (through = preposition)

You cannot use "through" as a verb. "I through the room" is not a sentence. I would personally translate "traverser" as to cross, to go through, or to pass through, depending on the context (but all three are very similar).

A similar pair is "through" and "across" -- these two are more difficult to differentiate. "Through" means inside of something, like a tunnel or a room. "Across" means from one end to the other, but not necessarily inside of something. For example...

I went across the roof = (meaning, perhaps, that I walked across the roof)
I went through the roof = (meaning, perhaps, that I fell through the roof -- I was "inside" the roof as I passed through it.)

[Argaz]

Thank's a lot, now, I can use it without "stress"

[pierre]

I've an actually good book "L'anglais de A à Z" aux éditions Hatier, written by Michael Swan and Françoise Houdart. There is a text which is called "Across & through". I write it here: (i'm so sorry, it's in french... )

1. On emploie "across" quand "à travers" se réfère à un espace à deux dimensions. Pour un espace à trois dimensions, on emploie normalement "through". (il y a entre "across" et "through" le même rapport qu'entre "on" et "in".)

across the fields                   
à travers champs

through the forest
à travers la forêt

Un verbe anglais suivi de "across" et "through" se traduit souvent par "traverser".

at the moment I was walking across the road.
à ce moment là, je traversais la rue (à pied).



2. on emploie "across" (et non "through") lorsqu'il s'agit de traverser une rivière, un lac, etc.., à la nage.

she swam across the Thames.
elle traverse la Tamise à la nage.