Timeline for Is the ordinal number "zuerst" only acceptable in colloquial speech and writing?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
6 events
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| Jul 6, 2017 at 12:33 | comment | added | Annatar | The simple ", dann" is good German and actually preferred over "und dann" in the sentence you gave. | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 14:49 | comment | added | К. Келлогг Смиф | Thoran: I gave as an example of the difference between Yandex and Google translations in the use of "dann" is that, while Yandex translates the entire English sentence, Google absolutely refuses to translate any further beyond the end of my ellipsis. By that refusal the algorithm is indicating that the simple "dann" there isn't good German, and that the required (I'm guessing in Google's ellipsis algorithm) the conjunction "und" is required by Google when additional text follows immediately after an ellipsis. And thanks again for your analysis :-)) | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 6:55 | comment | added | Thoran | I did judge Yandex and Google only on both translations you've given (personally, I don't use either of both). Given those examples, the translation Yandex offers is far worse than that of Google - but as you tend to have more experience with both of them, your judgement may be more appropriate. | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 2:39 | comment | added | К. Келлогг Смиф | And Thoran, further, I must say to you "veilen Dank" for your excellent answer to my question. "zuerst" is, of course, an adverb, meaning "firstly", i.e., indicating "there's more to come". Since in pronunciation the emphasis of the word falls on "erst", I'm not sure, but I tend to believe that "zu" is therefore a separable prefix, especially since that prefix does suggest "more to follow". And so thank you again for taking me enjoyably through your great analysis :-)) | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 2:23 | comment | added | К. Келлогг Смиф | I agree that the Yandex translator seems to do an execrable job with many of its German<-->English translations. But unlike Google, Yandex translations are closer to being calques with respect to word order; i.e. I believe closer to native German-speakers thinking when speaking. Google tends to translate to correct NorthAmerican English, as translators are trained to do. That being said, however, between the American and Russian translators Yandex does a far, far, better job than Google with its German pronunciations; they are 'lifelike' in cadence, intonation, and correct syllabic emphasis. | |
| Jul 4, 2017 at 21:09 | history | answered | Thoran | CC BY-SA 3.0 |