Learn English – Is “It’s a shame” too strong

french

When I want to translate the French sentence "Oh, c'est dommage que tu n'aies pas eu ton examen" into english, I think about:

  • "It's a shame that you didn't pass your exam" => This sounds very strong / agressive / blaming!

  • "It's a pity that …"

  • "Too bad …"

In French, "C'est dommage" is very neutral, it involves no judgement. No one would get offended if you say "C'est dommage que tu n'aies pas eu ton examen".

However, it seems to me that the translation "It's a shame" sounds very blaming. One reason for that is that "shame" also means "honte" in French, which is a very strong bad feeling.

In English, is "It's a shame" neutral or does it contain a little bit of blame? like when saying "Shame on you"?

Best Answer

Words have different meanings in even the slightest of different contexts.

"What a shame" or "It's a shame"

is just like "Quel dommage" which means 'I feel bad for you (because you didn't pass your drivers test)'. It's not about something you have done but about a poor situation. This is not judgmental at all about you.

"What shame" or "Shame" or "Shame on you" (the latter too more idiomatic English)

are very different and more like "Quelle honte" which means "You have embarrassed yourself (because you were caught cheating on your drivers test)". This is strong and judgmental and places blame on you.