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with 2 each
With the park as your basis
Jan 17, 2010 18:41
14 yrs ago
English term

You're the boy who played Chopin on the piano!

Non-PRO English to French Art/Literary General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
This is just for a story I'm writing. With Babel Fish, I get "Vous êtes le garçon qui a joué Chopin sur le piano," but I know better than to trust a machine to get it completely right. Thanks for any help!
Proposed translations (French)
3 +2 Toi, t'es le gamin qui jouait Chopin au piano!
5 +1 au piano
4 +1 Tu es le garçon qui ....
5 au piano
3 +2 Le gamin qui jouait du Chopin au piano, c'était vous!

Discussion

Tina Wooden (asker) Jan 18, 2010:
LOL I like that! Not only does it sidestep the issue altogether, it would stand to sense for him to word it that way since he was just talking to his friend (the hotel owner) whose piano Johann had played so many years ago. I didn't know you could word things that way in French, too!
mediamatrix (X) Jan 18, 2010:
One way to avoid the tu/vous problem altogether: The source text could be reworded, in the same register, as 'If it ain't the kid who played Chopin on the piano!", where we use the impersonal 'it' rather than 'you'.
Likewise, in French:
"Si ce n'est le gamin qui jouait Chopin au piano!"
Tina Wooden (asker) Jan 18, 2010:
A simple sentence can be SO difficult! Mediamatrix: So an older shopkeeper (let's say around 70 years old), caught by surprise when he recognizes the younger man, would probably just blurt out the first thought that comes to his mind, which would be most likely the familiar "tu" form? I can certainly see that happening.
mediamatrix (X) Jan 18, 2010:
This is reported speech expressing surprise. The text says: "... the man above cried out in surprise...", so he's hardly likely to formulate a well-thought out literary expression (such as Alias's suggestion) involving both the historic 'tu' and the more polite 'vous' that's perhaps more appropriate for the present-day. He'd blurt out the simple familiar 'tu' form and have done with it.
AnneMarieG Jan 18, 2010:
@ Tina Yes -)
Tina Wooden (asker) Jan 18, 2010:
tu vs vous Amg, I see what you're saying. If they had been more familiar before (perhaps on a first-name basis, in which case he would have called him by name) maybe "tu" would be okay, but even if the gentleman is much older, since the "boy" is now an adult, it would come across as rather rude to address him so familiarly.
AnneMarieG Jan 18, 2010:
Vous - tu It depends upon the style of this book, however when you see somebody (30 years old, not a child anymore) you don't know and you haven't seen for a long time, you would not say 'tu' even if you are astonished. Hence ALIAS' suggestion is interesting, because it shows the process of recognizing (which however does not reflect the original).
Tina Wooden (asker) Jan 18, 2010:
pertinent excerpt (at the Passage Jouffroy) As we walked out with our purchase, we found the hotel owner looking up and talking to a man who was leaning out of a second-floor window. There was a pair of what looked to be moose horns mounted above that shop's door, but I couldn't fathom what the place was selling until I glanced into the display window, where canes and walking sticks of all sizes were lined up on velvet. Some of them, I thought, looked like antiques. We were about to go on to the next store when the man above cried out in surprise.
"Toi, t'es le gamin qui jouait Chopin au piano!" [You're the boy who played Chopin on the piano!] he called down to Johann excitedly.
Tina Wooden (asker) Jan 17, 2010:
play I was worried that the expression for "playing" a musical instrument might be different, but it seems that part was okay. But "sur" must make it sound like he was sitting on top of the piano! LOL

Proposed translations

+2
22 mins
Selected

Toi, t'es le gamin qui jouait Chopin au piano!

In French as she is spoke... (always assuming your story-line demands reported speech here).

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Note added at 23 mins (2010-01-17 19:04:53 GMT)
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Given the fuller context under Carmen's answer, 'tu' is entirely appropriate here.

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Note added at 1 hr (2010-01-17 19:41:10 GMT)
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FWIW:
I don't think Paris France makes much difference - my rendering is typical of the way French-speakers in Belgium would express themselves in this situation.

And they would most likely preface the sentence with 'Eh, ben !' (or 'Ça alors !'), to express a degree of (pleasant) astonishment at this unexpected reunion.

Eh ben, ça alors - WordReference Forums - [ Translate this page ]
13 posts - 7 authors - Last post: 17 Aug 2007
Eh ben, ça alors French-English Vocabulary / Vocabulaire Français-Anglais.
forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=614764 - Cached - Similar
Note from asker:
Yes, I'd like it to be as natural (colloquial) as possible! This is in Paris, if it makes a difference.
Peer comment(s):
agree Carmen Schultz : I totally agree although some years may have passed tu is till appropriate versus what amgtraduction says in her comment to me
7 mins
agree Françoise Vogel : oui dans un style très familier
19 mins
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you for coming up with a solution for sidestepping the issue altogether!"
+1
6 mins

au piano

et non pas "sur le piano"

Je suis pianiste donc sûre de ma réponse :o)
Peer comment(s):
agree Alison Sabedoria (X)
2 mins
Something went wrong...
+1
6 mins

Tu es le garçon qui ....

Since it is a boy ( a young person), it is perhaps more realistic to address him as "Tu" versus "Vous"--

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Note added at 9 mins (2010-01-17 18:50:02 GMT)
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Thus it would be:"Tu es le garçon qui a joué Chopin au piano"
Note from asker:
Actually, he was a young boy when he had played the piano, and an older man recognized him when he went back to that hotel as an adult. So, he's addressing him as a young man (about 30 years old), but remembering when he was about 12 years old. Would that be "tu" or "vous" do you think?
Thanks for your e-mail! Yes, I think in this case the older gentleman has some affection for the younger, as well as some familiarity, so I'll go with "tu".
Peer comment(s):
agree Alison Sabedoria (X)
1 min
merci !
agree Boris Tsikel (X)
6 mins
merci bien
disagree AnneMarieG : he would say 'vous'!// En utilisant 'vous ' et 'gamin', vous créez un effet de style intéressant : il montre justement le temps qui a passé. En France, ça dépend des contextes certes, on vouvoie facilement.
14 mins
Something went wrong...
8 mins

au piano

"au piano" instead of "sur le piano"

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Note added at 4 heures (2010-01-17 22:58:34 GMT)
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Carmen's remark RE "tu" makes a lot of sense ...
Something went wrong...
+2
14 hrs

Le gamin qui jouait du Chopin au piano, c'était vous!

That's the way I would say it in French :
"du Chopin",
"vous" because the other guy is now an adult and I think the man would address him as such, even if he recognizes him
and I would reverse the word order.

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Note added at 15 hrs (2010-01-18 10:34:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I've changed the word order because I feel that "c'était vous" coming last is all the more emphasized. (reflecting the "YOU're the one who ...")
Note from asker:
So this is something else I hadn't thought of... but as mediamatrix says, would the man immediately change his word order upon recognizing him? What would be the most likely way he would express this?
Why "du" Chopin? Nobody else has put it that way...
Peer comment(s):
agree AnneMarieG : ou bien "c'est vous' ; par contre je pense qu'on dit 'jouer Chopin'. Bonne journée !
57 mins
Merci. Ne dit-on pas les deux ? Bonne journée aussi.
neutral Jennifer Levey : This reverses the chronology of the man's thought process - as if he were trying to remember who had played Chopin and remembered when he saw the grown man, whereas in the ST he sees the grown man and recogizes him as being that (former) kid.
1 hr
I was merely saying that in French, if you want to emphasize something you do not necessarily say it first. I see what you mean but I think it's a bit too far-fetched here. Thank you anyway.
agree Alain Chouraki : "du Chopin" is just colloquial, not wrong. Or even : "C'était pas vous le gamin qui jouait du Chopin au piano ?"
22 hrs
Merci. Elle est bien aussi, votre réponse. Ou : Votre réponse est bien aussi. ;-)
Something went wrong...
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