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How would you translate "What do you like about your home country"?

Was mögen Sie über deinem Heimatland?
Was hatten Sie von Ihrem Heimatland gefallen?

If you have something better, please put that in. Please explain why or why not one is better or worse.

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1

You get good translations if you correct your errors.

I beginn with the first sentence:

Was mögen Sie über deinem Heimatland?

first error:

The preposition »über« doesn't fit to the verb »mögen«. In German you don't combine mögen with über but with an:

This is better, but still not good:

Was mögen Sie an deinem Heimatland?

second error:

Du not mix »du« and »Sie« within a sentence when talking to the same person.

Either you use »du«, then you get this:

Was magst du an deinem Heimatland?

Or you use »Sie«:

Was mögen Sie an Ihrem Heimatland?

Both versions are ok.

Let's step to your second sentence

Was hatten Sie von Ihrem Heimatland gefallen?

third error:

Again the wrong preposition. »Von« does not fit to »gefallen«. Again it must be »an«:

Little bit better, but still wrong:

Was hatten Sie an Ihrem Heimatland gefallen?

fourth error:

The person you are talking to is in the wrong case. It must not be nominative (»Sie«) but accusative (»Ihnen«). The sentences subject (which stands in nominative) is the interrogative word »was«. »Sie/Ihnen« is not the subject but an object (here an accusative object).

Another step better, but still wrong:

Was hatten Ihnen an Ihrem Heimatland gefallen?

Fifth error:
Now the auxiliary verb must be corrected. »Hatten« is wrong, it must be »hat«:

Grammatically correct, but still not a correct translation of your sentence:

Was hat Ihnen an Ihrem Heimatland gefallen?

sixth error:
I think this version is among all possible correct sentences the one that is closest to what you did write. But it is in past tense ("What did you like about your home country?"). It should be in presence tense:

Now it is good:

Was gefällt Ihnen an Ihrem Heimatland?

But when talking to a friend or a child you should replace »Sie« by »du«:

Was gefällt dir an deinem Heimatland?

Fazit

This are good and correct translations:

Was magst du an deinem Heimatland? (when talking to a friend or a child)
Was mögen Sie an Ihrem Heimatland? (when talking to an adult stranger)

Was gefällt dir an deinem Heimatland? (when talking to a friend or a child)
Was gefällt Ihnen an Ihrem Heimatland? (when talking to an adult stranger)

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3
  • Wow, that's what I was looking for, thank you. – Ironshot30 Jul 5 '15 at 18:09
  • That second sentence came from Google translate btw – Ironshot30 Jul 5 '15 at 18:09
  • @Ironshot30: Now you can see what bullshit comes out of translation machines. Use it only to translate text from a foreign language into your native language. Then you have good chance to guess what it should have been really. But never use it to translate texts into a language you don't speak. – Hubert Schölnast Jul 6 '15 at 7:54
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The German translation of

What do you like about your home country?

is

Was mögen Sie an Ihrem Heimatland?

It asks for positive aspects of your country.

And the English translation of

Was halten Sie von Ihrem Heimatland?

is

What do you think of your home country?

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  • Thank you, what I am trying to say is: What do you like about your country? Is there a better way to say this? – Ironshot30 Jul 5 '15 at 15:14
  • Also can you explain the first one why it implies that I love my country when I am asking a question to others if they like their country? – Ironshot30 Jul 5 '15 at 15:15
  • #1: No, it’s good like this. – ihmels Jul 5 '15 at 15:20
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    Actually, "Was mögen Sie an Ihrem Heimatland?" does not neccessarily imply that you like your country. It would be perfectly acceptable to reply "Nichts!". You are simply asking for positive aspects while your second suggestion asks for all kinds of properties, both positive and negative. – Stephie Jul 5 '15 at 16:03
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    @O.R.Mapper, Stephie: You’re right. I improved my answer. Thank you. – ihmels Jul 5 '15 at 16:08

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