“Go through the motions”
WorkDéfinition
Faire quelque chose mécaniquement, sans réel intérêt ni effort.
English: To do something mechanically without real interest or effort.
Exemples
Exemples
1 / 2“He was going through the motions at work after losing interest in the project.”
Il effectuait son travail machinalement, sans véritable effort, après avoir perdu tout intérêt pour le projet.
Use this idiom in context
Rewrite this example in plain English without the idiom. Preserve who is speaking, the time and the meaning.
He was going through the motions at work after losing interest in the project.Compare with the original example
He was going through the motions at work after losing interest in the project.
Il effectuait son travail machinalement, sans véritable effort, après avoir perdu tout intérêt pour le projet.
Write a two-line conversation using “Go through the motions”. Make the situation clear enough that a reader can infer the meaning. Then replace the idiom with a plain-English explanation: does your conversation still mean the same thing?
Check the expression in a dictionaryQuestions fréquentes
- What does "Go through the motions" mean?
- "Go through the motions" means faire quelque chose mécaniquement, sans réel intérêt ni effort.
- How do you use "Go through the motions" in a sentence?
- Example: "He was going through the motions at work after losing interest in the project."
- Should I interpret "Go through the motions" word for word?
- Understand the expression as a whole. Use the definition and example to learn its meaning rather than translating each word separately.