To, share the pleasure to read 2 - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Hi Gerard, Hi everyone
In order to share the pleasure to read, I’d like to talk about another book. The boy in the striped pyjamas by John BOYNE.
The story starts in Berlin during the forties (dark years). A German officer has been assigned by the Führer to manage a concentration camp in Poland. It was the beginning of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. Bruno, his son, nine-year-old, knew nothing of that. He has simply notice that he and his family have left their grand home in Berlin to a house in an uninhabited area called by Bruno “Out With” because he has no friends there, except his sister Gretel, twelve year old who continually play with dolls. One day, while Bruno is looking out of his window, he notices a group of people all wearing the same clothes. Naive he thought it’s a field with farmers. As he is nothing to do and no one to play with, and as he loves exploring, he goes exploring along the fence outside his new house. There he met Shmuel, a boy the same age as him, who lives behind wire fence and, like the others “farmers,” wears a striped pyjamas. Then the drama starts, This was the horrors of war.
I stop here because I’d like you leave find yourselves the pleasure to read the continuation (I know the word “pleasure” is here misplaced).
All I can add : read rather the book. I found the film adapted from the book disappointing.

Howdy Mustapha,

This post is not the correction of some exercise but an opportunity to discuss this and that around your message.
Feel free to ask any questions.

To begin with, there was a thread opened by Florent/admin in the French section
-> Cinéma "Le Garçon au pyjama rayé" (2008), of course in French.

People can find the whole English film on the Internet (duration 1 hour 30 minutes)
-> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1055457498777894610# till April 29 (it will be removed after this date).
Take advantage of an English voice.


> Howdy Mustapha,
You may have noticed an unusual "howdy".
You probably read that I was fond of American language (vocabulary, spelling, culture, etc.).
"Howdy" is an informal way to say "hello" in the States, an equivalent to "hi" (Fr "salut").

I am very impressed by the quality of your English text: congrats!

mustaphaE a écrit:Hi Gerard, Hi everyone
In order to share the pleasure to read, I’d like to talk about another book. The boy in the striped pyjamas by John BOYNE.

> I'd like
This is correct. However, I'd like to say the same spelling is used for "I would" and "I had"; the spelling "like" (infinitive without to) tells me it means I would like (the rest of the sentence tells me as well) and not I had liked.
> pyjamas
This is the British spelling; in American, they write pajamas.
Note that unlike French, it's always a plural in English.
There are two neighboring words: strip and stripe with stripped and striped as their adjectives. They must not be confused: the former means effeuillé and is pronounced with the short "i" of "bit" while the latter means rayé ans is pronounced with the long "i" of "bite".

The story starts in Berlin during the forties (dark years). A German officer has been assigned by the Führer to manage a concentration camp in Poland. It was the beginning of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. Bruno, his son, nine-year-old, knew nothing of that. He has simply notice that he and his family have left their grand home in Berlin to a house in an uninhabited area called by Bruno “Out With” because he has no friends there, except his sister Gretel, twelve year old who continually play with dolls.

> nine-year-old
That's correct. I just want to point out that "year" is considered as an adjective and adjectives don't take an "s" in the plural.
> He has simply notice
This expression is incorrect. The tense is the past perfect composed of to have followed by the past participle of the verb: noticed.
> he and his family
Note that in French, we would say: "sa famille et lui"
Note that in American, the past tense (preterit) would be used instead of the present perfect.
> have left their grand home in Berlin to a house
"Grand" has got the meaning of "grandiose, magnifique, splendide, formidable...": I suppose you wanted to say "large home".
The preposition "to" is not the one to use with "to leave": they say "to leave for a house...".
> uninhabited
Good to you not to have made a frequent mistake!
> play with dolls.
plays (third person of the singular in the present of indicative).

One day, while Bruno is looking out of his window, he notices a group of people all wearing the same clothes. Naive he thought it’s a field with farmers.

As in French you have to use the same tenses, so "he thought it was" or "he thinks it's".
> Naive
The English spelling has got the accented i ("i diaeresis"): naïve.

As he is nothing to do and no one to play with, and as he loves exploring, he goes exploring along the fence outside his new house. There he met Shmuel, a boy the same age as him, who lives behind wire fence and, like the others “farmers,” wears a striped pyjamas. Then the drama starts, This was the horrors of war.

"He has nothing to do..."
... has... goes... met... lives... You cannot mix up verbs at the present tense and at the past tense.
> a boy the same age as him
Congrats for not having made a frequent mistake: same... as is correct (the French often write same... than) .
> wears a striped pyjamas.
"Pyjamas" is a plural, so you cannot use "a' which is a singular.

I stop here because I’d like you leave find yourselves the pleasure to read the continuation (I know the word “pleasure” is here misplaced).

> I’d like you leave find yourselves the pleasure to read
There are two close verbs: here you have to use "to let" instead of "to leave".
In fact, it's "yourselves" which is misplaced.
The correct sentence is: "I’d like to let you find the pleasure to read the continuation yourself"

All I can add : read rather the book. I found the film adapted from the book disappointing.

"Rather" is misplaced. You must never separate a verb and its direct object.
The correct sentence is: "rather read the book".

Howdy Gerard (How you pronounce this American HI?)

Thank you very much indeed. Your corrections are always welcome. I expect them impatiently. I Should not commit the following mistakes if I payd more attention : notice, play, lleave, he thought its, met. Concerning the word "grand" I wanted to say "huge".
For the rest of your comments is enjoyment to learn.

You're very welcome Mustapha!

I don't know the international code of pronunciation...

"Hi" has a long "i" like in "like" (don't forget a slight "h" -less than in German though-)

In "howdy" (my dictionary says "haUdI"), the 1st syllable is "how" (Fr comment) and in the second syllable, the "i" is a short one like for the "dic" of dictionary.

> I Should not commit the following mistakes if I payd more attention
Don't worry! It's not a problem.

Have a good day! Take care!

Hi Mustapha,

I redden a few words below as they are not correct:

mustaphaE a écrit:Howdy Gerard (How you pronounce this American HI?)

Thank you very much indeed. Your corrections are always welcome. I expect them impatiently. I Should not commit the following mistakes if I payd more attention : ... . Concerning the word "grand" I wanted to say "huge".
For the rest of your comments is enjoyment to learn.

Please would you like to try to guess what I dislike?

See you later.

Hi Gerard

I'll try to guess what you dislike:

For "How you pronounce", the correction is :How do you pronounce. For I "Should", I should have use lowercase "s". Payd is not correct because paid. I have nothing to say about "commit".
For the last sentence I propose : "For the rest of your comments it is an enjoyment to learn".(I don't like this sentence).

Mustapha,

You did well! Congrats!

Except that you made another mistake: "I should have use lowercase "s"."
"I should have" needs a past participle...

> I have nothing to say about "commit".
As for "commit", you can see that I chose another color to mean I didn't like this word much because in my opinion, it was too strong.
The French for to commit is well "commettre" but it is used for crime, offence, sin, sacrilege, error, adultery, perjury... as you can see, they are serious cases.
In your case, the verb to choose (for small errors) is simply "to make".

> For the last sentence I propose : "For the rest of your comments it is an enjoyment to learn".
> (I don't like this sentence).
"Enjoyment" is a bit strong too.
What do you think about : "For the rest of your comments it is a pleasure to learn"?
or "It is a pleasure to learn with the rest of your comments"?

Hi Gerard, I hope you are fine

You mentioned in your first answer about "The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas" that people can find the film on the Internet. I would like to know if you seen it and, if yes, have you seen it after or before reading the book.

Hi Mustapha,

Yes, the film is on the Internet (in the English version) till the 29th of April.
I only began to watch the film but I didn't read the book.

> I would like to know if you seen it and, if yes, have you seen it after or before reading the book.
I would like to know if you saw it and, if yes, did you see it after or before reading the book.

Hi Gerard
With your remarks, all seem simple and easy

Hi Mustapha,

Like in French with tout & tous, all is a singular and you have to write "all seems...".
"All the examples" would be a plural.