Eine andere Sprache zu sprechen, ist eine beeindruckende Fähigkeit zu haben.
I want to say:
Speaking another language is an impressive skill to have.
I’m not sure if speaking another language translates to eine andere Sprache zu sprechen.
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1Yes, that part is fine.– chirluCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 1:25
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1The main problem with the sentence is the use of the generic verb sein (ist). German speakers tend to avoid sein (when used as a full verb) and replace it by more specific verbs, e.g. spatial metaphors such as stehen or liegen. In this particular case, it's even wrong because in German you can't 'be' a zu construction. Either replace sein by bedeutet (still clumsy) or just drop "zu haben".– user2183Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 8:02
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2 Answers
This sounds a little too literally translated from English and a little clunky. I would rather say in German:
Es ist eine beeindruckende Fähigkeit eine andere Sprache zu sprechen.
The literal translation of to have sounds very not German.
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3"This sounds a little too literally translated from English and a little clunky". I think, you can be direct and say that it is wrong!– IrisCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 8:17
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@Iris I don't think it's grammatically wrong, but it's a sentence that I've never heard put this way in German, it just sounds wrong.– SamCommented Jan 27, 2016 at 10:13
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speaking another language would directly translate to das Sprechen einer anderen Sprache, but eine andere Sprache zu sprechen (to speak another language) sounds much better in nearly every case.
Sam's answer is quite correct about the rather literal translation of to have, but:
Es ist eine beeindruckende Fähigkeit, eine andere Sprache zu sprechen.
mind the comma.
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2A comment to my answer and editing my answer to add the comma would be the "stackexachangy" way to improve an almost identical answer...– SamCommented Jan 27, 2016 at 10:15