What does the French phrase 'ce qu'ont su faire' mean in English? Please don't recommend online translators

Answer 1

what they knew what to do.
Ce, demonstrative pronoun meaning that/what
qu', conjunction of subordination
ont, 3rd person plural of the verb to have
su, is the past participle of the verb savoir=to know
faire, is the infinitive of the verb to do.
In this phrase the subject is missing it ought to be "ils" they
Hence the nearest translation is the one above.
It could be that the phrase ought to be written:"ce qu'on su faire"
That means"what we knew what to do" or "What we could do" or still"We knew how to do it"
Or "ce qu'ils ont su faire" "what they knew what to do"

Answer 2

This question is a perfect illustration of why language questions should always include whole sentences.

Nikki0603's explanation is THE ONLY ONE here that comes close to the mark (although I would ignore her last example, which doesn't have anything to do with the construction at hand).

"Ce qu'ont su faire" is a relative clause (or rather, part of a relative clause) which refers to a statement made immediately beforehand. Nikki0603 is correct in pointing out that the inversion of the verb and subject pertains to a literary style. Also, in this type of context, the verb "savoir" means "pouvoir" ("to be able to").

Examples:
Persévérer jusqu'au bout, voilà ce qu'ont su faire nos diplômés [ce que nos diplômés ont su faire] => Persevering to the end: that is what our graduates were able to do.

Il faut être prêt à faire des sacrifices pour atteindre le but visé, ce qu'ont su faire nos ancêtres [ce que nos ancêtres ont su faire] => One must be willing to make sacrifices to reach one's goals, something our ancestors were able to do.

Answer 3

Your question is missing a subject and a complement. If this were in a full sentence, it could go like this: "Voici ce qu'ont su faire ces gens". Another way of saying the same sentence would be: Voici ce que ces gens ont su faire. This is a less litterary and more simple form, which would translate as: "Here (voici) is what these people (ces gens) were able to do. Another example of the use of this sentence construction would be: "Ils ont su faire cela très rapidement.

Answer 4

I got this on an online translator : You feel d' mood to have fun the festival!! Will dance 5 times in discotheque! I'm guessing it's something to do with disco's and dancing and festivals. If you reposted the link we could probably help more?

Answer 5

Your sentence to translate is not correct. It is either:
"Ce que l'on su faire", or in bad French "Ce qu'on su faire"
"What we knew how to do"
Or:
"Ce que nous avons su faire" (ont)
"What we knew how to do"
(no change in English: on & nous, are the same in this case).
Voilà! Amitiés.

Answer 6

"ce qu'ont su faire....', there must be something afterwards, which will be the subject.
It would be translated by "what ..... knew how to do".

Answer 7

what we have known doing....it is wrong the sentence..maybe you meant to say ce qu'ont sait faire ..meaning (direct translation:what we know how to do)but English language: doing something we have knowledge of

Answer 8

"Ce qui ont su faire" must be the correct rendering. It is only part of a sentence anyway. "who have succeeded in doing" would convey the meaning. Alternatively, "who have seen fit to do" or "who have chosen to do". You really need to give this one in context.

Answer 9

Did you mean "ce qu'on su faire"? (no "t"). It means: "what we were able to do".
If it was: "ce qui ont su faire", it means: "those who were able to do".
And "ce qu'ils ont su faire" means "what they were able to do"

I'm French

Answer 10

"Ce qu'on sait faire"= What we can do"
Ce qu'on a su faire"= What we could do"