# I'm busy practicing piano



## aka22caliluv

how do you say:

"i'm busy practicing piano"

in french???


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## emma42

Welcome to the forum, aka22caliluv.  What would be your try?


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## aka22caliluv

thanks....ummm...what do you mean my try?


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## emma42

Your try at translating the sentence!  We usually ask people to have a go first  themselves.


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## Moon Palace

aka22caliluv said:


> thanks....ummm...what do you mean my try?


Welcome to the forum aka22caliluv 
The usual way of working here is to try to translate the sentence with which you are having trouble, so that it is helpful to us to see where your problems are; and on top of it it usually shows people usually get the meaning in the end, which is good for self-confidence. 
So, I am sure you can try to translate your sentence, and don't fear making mistakes we all do, first of all myself right here. 
Then we will be only too glad to help.


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## aka22caliluv

ahh....ok i get it. sry....first time here.......
um....
_je suis en excercise piano???_


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## Moon Palace

Nearly so, in fact it means 
'je suis occupée, je m'entraîne au piano'
My turn to ask you something: wouldn't you rather say 'I'm busy practising *the *piano'? (this is only for personal use...)
And a piece of advice for future posts: try not to use textspeak as all foreros are not used to it, and it will then allow more of them to help you.
Good luck!


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## aka22caliluv

Oh...i'm sorry. It's kind of a habit. And yes, I probably would perfer using "i am practicing the piano." thanks so much!!!


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## emma42

Well done for trying, aka22caliluv!  Yes, please don't use textspeak (it's against the rules, in fact).  Also, use capital letters where needed.

Hello, Moonpalace.  Yes, the definite article can be used, but it's not absolutely necessary.  "Practising piano" is correct as well.  Puis-je vous demander si la phrase suivante va bien?
*
"Je m'occupe à m'exercer au piano".*


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## aka22caliluv

Thank you both so much! And thank you for the posting suggestions. I'll make sure I don't use text-speak.


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## emma42

Thanks a lot, aka22caliluv.  I only wish all new members were as nice as you when they are reminded not 2 use txtspk!


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## itka

emma42 said:


> Well done for trying, aka22caliluv!  Yes, please don't use textspeak (it's against the rules, in fact).  Also, use capital letters where needed.
> 
> Hello, Moonpalace.  Yes, the definite article can be used, but it's not absolutely necessary.  "Practising piano" is correct as well.  Puis-je vous demander si la phrase suivante va bien?
> *
> "Je m'occupe à m'exercer au piano".*



It sounds weird and I think it doesn't carry the meaning of the english one. I would say : Je suis occupée par mes exercices de piano.


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## LV4-26

Hello, aka22caliluv

I would say it depends on the context.

The most natural way of saying that is, I think
_Je travaille le piano.
_That's what you'd say if you've just started learning and have no particular plans to become a virtuoso.

If it's a usual practice, you would perhaps want to use a different approach and say
_Je travaille *mon* piano
_The value of the possessive here is hard to explain but you could think of it as being the same _mon_ as in _do my homework_, for instance.

Note that it's fairly colloquial but that's the way it's often said. When I took piano lessons, my mother always asked "_Est-ce que tu as travaillé ton piano ?_"

As for the "busy" part, you can either treat it separately in an independent clause, in the way Moon Palace suggested, or simply ignore it. ==>
Can you come to my place now?
_I can't. I'm busy practicing the piano
Je ne peux pas. Je travaille mon piano._


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## aka22caliluv

emma42 said:


> Thanks a lot, aka22caliluv. I only wish all new members were as nice as you when they are reminded not 2 use txtspk!


 
You're welcome. I'd say I'm open to new things.


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## aka22caliluv

LV4-26 said:


> Hello, aka22caliluv
> 
> I would say it depends on the context.
> 
> The most natural way of saying that is, I think
> _Je travaille le piano._
> That's what you'd say if you've just started learning and have no particular plans to become a virtuoso.
> 
> If it's a usual practice, you would perhaps want to use a different approach and say
> _Je travaille *mon* piano_
> The value of the possessive here is hard to explain but you could think of it as being the same _mon_ as in _do my homework_, for instance.
> 
> Note that it's fairly colloquial but that's the way it's often said. When I took piano lessons, my mother always asked "_Est-ce que tu as travaillé ton piano ?_"
> 
> As for the "busy" part, you can either treat it separately in an independent clause, in the way Moon Palace suggested, or simply ignore it. ==>
> Can you come to my place now?
> _I can't. I'm busy practicing the piano_
> _Je ne peux pas. Je travaille mon piano._


 
Thank you mucho grande for your help! I feel I understand it more now that you explained it. (By the way, _mucho grande_ simply means "a lot". It's Souther California talk.)


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## emma42

Thank you itka and LV4.  I like that use of "travailler".


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## MrNullePart

A mon avis, on devrait dire: Je m'occupe de mes études au piano.  Le verb "travailler" veut dire "to work" comme un job.  Alors, ce mot ne marche pas dans ce contexte.


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## Canard

Si un Français l'a suggéré, ça signifie au moins que ce n'est pas hors de propos. 

Je sais avoir entendu (et utilisé) "travailler sur une chanson / un poème", alors cette restriction n'est pas aussi nette et précise que tu le dis. Un autre exemple : "il préfère travailler à la peinture à huiles"... aucun sens de "gagner sa vie" ici non plus


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## Moon Palace

MrNullePart said:


> A mon avis, on devrait dire: Je m'occupe de mes études au piano.  Le verb "travailler" veut dire "to work" comme un job.  Alors, ce mot ne marche pas dans ce contexte.


Welcome to the forum, Mr Nulle Part 
I am sorry, but I beg to disagree here. 
'travailler' in French has a huge polysemy, and depending *on the context* it can mean very different things, among which LV24-26's suggestion:

In recipes
'travailler la pâte' (see here) 

'il travaille son style' (meaning he exercises himself to improve his style)

'il faut travailler sur soi' (meaning one has to work on oneself to enhance oneself)

and so many others which you will find here


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## Albert 50

I had three daughters who all took piano lessons for several years.  I still remember saying  (millions of times....)   "Mais non,  tu peux pas sortir.  Il faut travailler ton piano..."

Their mother who was Anglophone said "No you can't go out yet.  You still have to practice your piano..."

"I'm busy practicing piano"  =   "Je suis occupé.   Je dois travailler mon piano".

Albert


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## FAC13

And just to finish off, because everybody has been using "praticing" and "practising" without comment: -

In BE the noun is "practice" and the verb is "to practise". It is incorrect here to say "practicing"; I understand the situation is not the same in AE.

It's quite easy to remember if you think of similar nouns/verbs, for example "advice/advise" - you would (I hope) never say "I adviced my friend to..."


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## emma42

What a great way of remembering which is which, FAC13 - thanks!


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## smaxmal

MrNullePart said:


> A mon avis, on devrait dire: Je m'occupe de mes études au piano.  Le verb "travailler" veut dire "to work" comme un job.  Alors, ce mot ne marche pas dans ce contexte.




Please, if you are not native french speaker, don't!


In fact there is no better word to translate busy practicing piano than 

'je travaille MON piano'.


In a speaking manner you can also translate by 

'je suis en train de faire du piano'


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## MrNullePart

smaxmal said:


> Please, if you are not native french speaker, don't!
> 
> 
> In fact there is no better word to translate busy practicing piano than
> 
> 'je travaille MON piano'.
> 
> 
> In a speaking manner you can also translate by
> 
> 'je suis en train de faire du piano'


 
J’ai du mal à comprendre ce que vous voulez dire. Mais, vous vous trompez. La phrase «Je travaille mon piano» ne marche pas en France. Pas du tout. On peut dire aussi «Je suis en train de faire mes édudes au piano» au lieu de «Je m'occupe de mes mes études au piano».  

p.s.-- C'est vrais que je suis né aux USA mais j'étais élevé en France.  J'ai la double nationalité.


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## mally pense

Sorry to dwell on the English side of this seemingly complex subject, but to me it would seem much more natural to say "I'm practising _my_ piano" or "I'm doing my piano practise" rather than "I'm practising piano" or "I'm practising the piano". If fact, I can't imagine myself saying either of these latter two forms, though this is no guarantee that I don't _in practice (sic)_.


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## tilt

MrNullePart said:


> J’ai du mal à comprendre ce que vous voulez dire. Mais, vous vous trompez. La phrase «Je travaille mon piano» ne marche pas en France. Pas du tout. On peut dire aussi «Je suis en train de faire mes édudes au piano» au lieu de «Je m'occupe de mes mes études au piano».


I'm sorry, MrNullePart, but I must disagree with you and support Smaxmal's suggestion.
*Je travaille mon piano* is definitely the best translation, and it works perfectly well. _*Je suis en train de faire mes études au piano* _is correct too, but sounds so much convoluted!

*Travailler  *fits as it refers to something which isn't done for pleasure only. It's the perfect symmetrical of *practising *in such a context.

I'd like to add that Smaxmal's latter suggestion (*je suis en train de faire du piano*) is not as good as the former one, because it means *I'm playing piano*, dropping the practising aspect of the original sentence.


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## Moon Palace

MrNullePart said:


> J’ai du mal à comprendre ce que vous voulez dire. Mais, vous vous trompez. La phrase «Je travaille mon piano» ne marche pas en France. Pas du tout.
> p.s.-- C'est vrais que je suis né aux USA mais j'étais élevé en France.  J'ai la double nationalité.



If only nationality was the answer to the command of a language, I'd change mine on the spot 
This extract from the TLF, for full definition look here
(and the author of the example also had the right nationality, you may be right finally)

*α)* Chercher à acquérir la connaissance ou la maîtrise de quelque chose par l'étude, l'exercice. Synon. fam. _bosser_1, _bûcher_2,_ chiader, potasser._ _Travailler ses maths, son anglais._ _Il faut avoir un carnet pour aller au Louvre et travailler l'histoire de la peinture plus sérieusement que je ne l'ai fait jusqu'alors_ (Gide, _Journal_, 1893, p. 35).     _J'emploie cette carte pour t'écrire un petit mot. Travaille ton oral sans inquiétude. J'ai rêvé que tu passerais. Je veux que tu passes_ (Rivière, _Corresp._ [avec Alain-Fournier], 1907, p. 145). 
   − [P. méton. du compl. d'obj. dir.]     *Travailler un instrument. Sais-tu si Léo a un peu de temps pour travailler son piano? Il ne doit pas négliger un don qui est extraordinaire (Colette, Sido, 1929, p. 142). *


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## broglet

The correct English for the verb is 'practise' (practice being the noun, as in license/licence) and it seems more natural to me to say 'I'm busy practising _the_ piano'


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## mally pense

> The correct English for the verb is 'practise' (practice being the noun, as in license/licence) and it seems more natural to me to say 'I'm busy practising _the_ piano'


 
I've corrected my spelling (thanks!), though clearly there's a difference in usage as to the choice of words.


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## pyan

broglet said:


> The correct English for the verb is 'practise' (practice being the noun, as in license/licence) and it seems more natural to me to say 'I'm busy practising _the_ piano'


This is correct in British English and "practice" is the correct verb in American English.  This was clearly explained in FAC13's post three days ago.


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## kiwi-di

mally pense said:


> Sorry to dwell on the English side of this seemingly complex subject, but to me it would seem much more natural to say "I'm practising _my_ piano" or "I'm doing my piano practice" rather than "I'm practising piano" or "I'm practising the piano". If fact, I can't imagine myself saying either of these latter two forms, though this is no guarantee that I don't _in practice (sic)_.


As someone who spent a fair bit of time (unsuccessfully) learning the piano in her time, _doing my piano practice _wasthe only expression to use, because if I ever said I was _practising the piano_, the retort from the rest of the family was that they wished I'd hurry up and learn to do it properly.


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## mllemckee

I am a French teacher (FLE) and in our textbook they give the term _répéter_, meaning "to practice", but "_J'ai répété le piano_" is incorrect; "J'ai travaillé mon piano" sounds much better.  So my question is: when and how would you use _répéter_?  Merci.


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## Albert 50

I think that I would use "Tu dois travailler ton piano"  as a translation for  
"You need to practice piano".  We  gave piano lessons to our three daughters over a period of years and I've used that expression thousands of times....

"Répéter son piano"  is, I think,  a synonym of "travailler son piano"  but it isn't used much where I live.   Usually  "répéter"  means "to rehearse"  and that meaning   "leaks"  into the phrase  "répéter son piano"...  In my mind it conjures up a picture of a piano student rehearsing "un morceau" for a concert...   But other areas may use it differently.

Cordialement
Albert


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## ptite_nala

Hi everybody !
This is a very busy subject !
I'm french and I've been learning the piano for 12 years so I can definitely tell you that the correct sentence is "Je travaille mon piano".
I would use "répéter" for a special event, such as a concert (like Albert said) or a theatre play, or any oral examination... and maybe use it more as an intransitiv verb:
"tu as répété ?" "oui, pendant 2 heures"
hope that will help !
cheers ! (as they say in New Zealand where I'm studying at the present time !)


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## mllemckee

Merci beaucoup!    Your replies were very helpful.


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