japprends's avatar
japprends

April 9, 2024

0
Un passage d'un scénario (34)

En haut, on entend que Dolly joue. Michael s'y précipite comme un grand enfant.

Michael : Est-ce que c'est ma ninja préférée ?

Jeanne : Le dîner est prêt en deux minutes !

Michael trouve Dolly au sommet de l'escalier et l'assaille de baisers.

Jeanne regarde le compte à rebours de la dernière minute pour la pizza. Les yeux lourds. Les dents serrées.

Plus tard.

Ils sont assis tous les trois autours la table en partagant la pizza. Dolly dans son pyjama de Star Wars. Jeanne feuillette le courrier de manière décontractée. Michael a de la sauce tomate sur le menton.

Dolly : Cette pizza est sexy.

Michael et Jeanne se regardent.

Jeanne : Chérie, où est-ce que tu as appris ce mot ?

Dolly : D'Holden. Sa sœur l'a enseigné.

Jeanne : Tu comprends ce que ça veut dire ?

Dolly : Oui. Mmm... Cool. Comme Star Wars. Star Wars est tellement sexy.

Jeanne : En fait, mon chat, c'est un mot pour les adultes pour décrire une personne si elle est... euh, jolie.

Dolly : Tu es sexy, papa ?

Michael sourit.

Michael : Eh, je suis médiocre. Mais tu sais qui est très sexy ?

Dolly : Qui?

Michael : Ta mère.

Il lance à Jean un regard amusé. Elle roule des yeux, mais apprécie visiblement son attention.

Dolly : Est-ce que je suis sexy ?

Jeanne intervient...

Jeanne : Tu seras un jour, ma puce. Mais pas avant un très, très, tres longtemps.

Ça semble marcher...


UPSTAIRS, sounds of DOLLY playing. Michael rushes up the stairs, like a grown-up child.

MICHAEL
Is that my favorite ninja?

JEAN
Dinner’s ready in a minute!

Michael finds Dolly at the top of the stairs, attacking her with kisses. Jean watches the timer on the pizza count downhe last minute. Her eyes heavy. Her teeth clenched.

LATER
The three of them sit around the table, sharing the pizza. Dolly in her Star Wars pajamas. Jean flips through the mail, casually. Michael has tomato sauce on his chin.

DOLLY
This pizza’s sexy.

Michael and Jean look at each other.

JEAN
Honey, where did you learn that word?

DOLLY
From Holden. His sister taught him.

JEAN
Do you know what it means?

DOLLY
Yes. MMMM... cool. Like Star Wars.Star Wars is soooo sexy.

JEAN
Actually honey, it’s an adult word that’s used to describe a person if they are uh... pretty.

DOLLY
Are you sexy, daddy?

Michael smiles.

MICHAEL
Eh. I’m mediocre. But do you know who’s very sexy?

DOLLY
Who?

MICHAEL
Your mom.

He shoots Jean a playful look. She rolls her eyes, but clearly enjoys his attention.

DOLLY
Am I sexy?

Jean jumps in-

JEAN
One day you will be, sweetie. But not for a very very very long time.

This seems to work...

Corrections

Un passage d'un scénario (34)

En haut, on entend que Dolly jouer.

entendre quelqu'un faire quelque chose (the subject is clear so an infinitive structure is used)
Your version was grammatically right, but this shorter alternative would be preferred

Michael s'y précipite comme un grand enfant.

Michael : Est-ce que c'est ma ninja préférée ?

Jeanne : Le dîner estsera/va être prêt endans deux minutes !

Le dîner est prêt en deux minutes = the dinner takes two minutes to be ready
Le dîner sera prêt dans deux minutes = two minutes from now, the dinner will be ready

Michael trouve Dolly au sommet de l'escalier et l'assaille de baisers.

Jeanne regarde le compte à rebours de la dernière minute du minuteur pour la pizza.

The other way around: she's looking at the last minute "pertaining to" the countdown
A kitchen timer is more accurately called "un minuteur", this word fits better

Les yeux lourds.

Les dents serrées.

Plus tard.

Ils sont assis tous les trois autours de la table en, partageant la pizza.

autour DE quelque chose
doing something = partageant
"EN partageant" (true gerund) would insist on both actions being simultaneous, but it's not necessary here

Dolly dans son pyjama de Star Wars.

Brands identifying an object generally don't require article, they function as adjectives => un ordinateur Apple, un pyjama Star Wars, un cartable Hello Kitty...

Jeanne feuillette le courrier de manière décontractéenégligemment le courrier.

négligemment = without actually paying attention to it or doing an action with care

Michael a de la sauce tomate sur le menton.

Dolly : Cette pizza est sexy.

Michael et Jeanne se regardent.

Jeanne : Chérie, où est-ce que tu as appris ce mot ?

Dolly : D'e Holden.

A French-speaking kid would probably say "c'est Holden qui me l'a appris", as the question is "où" and not "de qui", but it's a subtlety

This one would most likely be a "h aspiré" here, so it'd be "de Holden"

Sa sœur l'a enseignée lui a appris.

le = le mot ; lui = to him, to Holden
"enseigner" is a pretty formal word. In everyday conversations, we rather tend to use "apprendre" (which mean both "to teach" and "to learn" but "apprendre quelque chose à quelqu'un" makes it very clear it's "to teach")

Jeanne : Tu comprends ce que ça veut dire ?

Dolly : Oui.

Mmm... « Cool ».

Better to directly quote meanings between parentheses for more clarity (that way, a reader immediately understands "cool" is what the word is supposed to mean to her)

Comme Star Wars.

Star Wars est tellement sexy.

Jeanne : En fait, mon chat, c'est un mot pour les adultes pour décrire une personne si elle est... euh, jolie.

Dolly : Tu es sexy, papa ?

Michael sourit.

Michael : Eh, je suis médiocrnon, moi je suis pas terrible.

Being "médiocre" in French is rather a matter of performances; there are a lot of terms for people who don't look very good: "pas terrible" would fit well

I'd also add "moi" to emphasize the "me vs others" contrast

Mais tu sais qui est très sexy ?

Dolly : Qui ?

Michael : Ta mère.

Il lance à Jeanne un regard amusé.

Better not to mix up names: if you want to "francisize" her name as "Jeanne", it's better to stick to it

Elle roule des yeux, mais apprécie visiblement son attention.

Dolly : Et moi, est-ce que je suis sexy ?

Same thing here

Jeanne intervient...


Jeanne : Tu
le seras un jour, ma puce.

There would be a pronoun here, replacing "jolie"

Mais pas avant un très, très, treès longtemps.

"longtemps" works as an adverb, and therefore doesn't require any article

Ça semble marcher...

Feedback

I hope I'm not discouraging you with all the modifications of your text that is overall very good both in terms of language and dialogues (I laughed at "cette pizza est sexy ":-D). They mostly aim to make it more natural. As you might have noticed, colloquial French is a real "language within the language", and the very sad thing is most lessons and manuals don't teach it.

Don't worry, we basically have the same problem with English... If you don't regularly watch movies, series, play video games with slang and "everyday spoken English", you're not very likely to find a teacher who will teach you!

japprends's avatar
japprends

April 10, 2024

0

Au contraire, your edits are extremely helpful! I always learn useful tips in addition to the basic corrections. It's interesting that enseigner can be inappropriate in certain contexts (in place of apprendre à qqn). It is very much required to use the word teach in English in any manner of speaking. You could hear someone say, for example, "Jimbob learned me somethin' today!" and it would be an evidence of someone's poor education, lol (ok I'm venturing into southern American redneck stereotypes with this example).

Monsieur_Elephant's avatar
Monsieur_Elephant

April 10, 2024

93

I wouldn't say "inappropriate" in the sense you have the right meaning and register, but "apprendre" would definitely sound more natural in a conversation.

Yes, "apprendre" can mean both though, (like "uchit" in Russian). I didn't know "to learn" could be used for this too. Interesting, because I think the Old English "laeran" (which is a cognate of German "lehren", "to teach") didn't produce any word in Middle-English, hence the use of "to teach". Maybe a French influence? Or maybe "to learn" used to mean both... I've observed Southern American English features some archaisms. I'm not competent enough to settle the matter!

Les yeux lourds.


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Les dents serrées.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Plus tard.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Ils sont assis tous les trois autours la table en partagant la pizza.


Ils sont assis tous les trois autours de la table en, partageant la pizza.

autour DE quelque chose doing something = partageant "EN partageant" (true gerund) would insist on both actions being simultaneous, but it's not necessary here

Dolly dans son pyjama de Star Wars.


Dolly dans son pyjama de Star Wars.

Brands identifying an object generally don't require article, they function as adjectives => un ordinateur Apple, un pyjama Star Wars, un cartable Hello Kitty...

Jeanne feuillette le courrier de manière décontractée.


Jeanne feuillette le courrier de manière décontractéenégligemment le courrier.

négligemment = without actually paying attention to it or doing an action with care

Michael a de la sauce tomate sur le menton.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Dolly : Cette pizza est sexy.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Un passage d'un scénario (34)


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

En haut, on entend que Dolly joue.


En haut, on entend que Dolly jouer.

entendre quelqu'un faire quelque chose (the subject is clear so an infinitive structure is used) Your version was grammatically right, but this shorter alternative would be preferred

Michael s'y précipite comme un grand enfant.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Michael : Est-ce que c'est ma ninja préférée ?


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Jeanne : Le dîner est prêt en deux minutes !


Jeanne : Le dîner estsera/va être prêt endans deux minutes !

Le dîner est prêt en deux minutes = the dinner takes two minutes to be ready Le dîner sera prêt dans deux minutes = two minutes from now, the dinner will be ready

Michael trouve Dolly au sommet de l'escalier et l'assaille de baisers.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Jeanne regarde le compte à rebours de la dernière minute pour la pizza.


Jeanne regarde le compte à rebours de la dernière minute du minuteur pour la pizza.

The other way around: she's looking at the last minute "pertaining to" the countdown A kitchen timer is more accurately called "un minuteur", this word fits better

Michael et Jeanne se regardent.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Jeanne : Chérie, où est-ce que tu as appris ce mot ?


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Dolly : D'Holden.


Dolly : D'e Holden.

A French-speaking kid would probably say "c'est Holden qui me l'a appris", as the question is "où" and not "de qui", but it's a subtlety This one would most likely be a "h aspiré" here, so it'd be "de Holden"

Sa sœur l'a enseigné.


Sa sœur l'a enseignée lui a appris.

le = le mot ; lui = to him, to Holden "enseigner" is a pretty formal word. In everyday conversations, we rather tend to use "apprendre" (which mean both "to teach" and "to learn" but "apprendre quelque chose à quelqu'un" makes it very clear it's "to teach")

Jeanne : Tu comprends ce que ça veut dire ?


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Dolly : Oui.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Mmm... Cool.


Mmm... « Cool ».

Better to directly quote meanings between parentheses for more clarity (that way, a reader immediately understands "cool" is what the word is supposed to mean to her)

Comme Star Wars.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Star Wars est tellement sexy.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Jeanne : En fait, mon chat, c'est un mot pour les adultes pour décrire une personne si elle est... euh, jolie.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Dolly : Tu es sexy, papa ?


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Michael sourit.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Michael : Eh, je suis médiocre.


Michael : Eh, je suis médiocrnon, moi je suis pas terrible.

Being "médiocre" in French is rather a matter of performances; there are a lot of terms for people who don't look very good: "pas terrible" would fit well I'd also add "moi" to emphasize the "me vs others" contrast

Mais tu sais qui est très sexy ?


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Dolly : Qui?


Dolly : Qui ?

Michael : Ta mère.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Il lance à Jean un regard amusé.


Il lance à Jeanne un regard amusé.

Better not to mix up names: if you want to "francisize" her name as "Jeanne", it's better to stick to it

Elle roule des yeux, mais apprécie visiblement son attention.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Dolly : Est-ce que je suis sexy ?


Dolly : Et moi, est-ce que je suis sexy ?

Same thing here

Jeanne intervient... Jeanne : Tu seras un jour, ma puce.


Jeanne intervient...


Jeanne : Tu
le seras un jour, ma puce.

There would be a pronoun here, replacing "jolie"

Mais pas avant un très, très, tres longtemps.


Mais pas avant un très, très, treès longtemps.

"longtemps" works as an adverb, and therefore doesn't require any article

Ça semble marcher...


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

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