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Is there a translation into German for something like:

Could you answer the phone for me?

Can we use

Könnten Sie das Telefon anstatt mir beantworten?

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  • The word statt requires the Genitiv. So, a better translation would be “Könnten Sie statt meiner den Anruf entgegennehmen?“ More colloquially, you could say “Gehst du mal für mich ran?“ or “Gehst du mal für mich ans Telefon?“
    – Björn Friedrich
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 7:49
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    Könnten Sie statt meiner... as a better translation? Only if your target audience is from the 90s... the 1890s ;)
    – hiergiltdiestfu
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 8:32
  • If your criterium, @hiergiltdiestfu, is how something sounds, you can go on using statt mir. I consider correct phrases as better than incorrect ones, and therefore I prefer statt meiner over statt mir. The rule is that after statt the Dativ is only allowed when the Genitiv is indistinguishable. I can very well distinguish meiner from mir!
    – Björn Friedrich
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 10:44
  • @BjörnFriedrich I'm not picking on any single word, I'm picking on how the whole translation sounds. I would never phrase it like that since it sounds really ancient and highbrow, really. Not sure if that holds for Austria, too, but as a native German, I wouldn't even use that in a professional environment. I personally would always opt for a phrasing based on für mich.
    – hiergiltdiestfu
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 11:36
  • I gave two examples with für mich in my comment.
    – Björn Friedrich
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 17:23

4 Answers 4

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In everyday language you would to the same as in English:

Könnten Sie das Telefon für mich abnehmen.

Also note that currently the word "anstatt" is officially used with the genitive but nearly all native speakers will use it with the dative instead - just like you did.

The "official" German grammar differs from the reality in this case.

By the way:

"Beantworten" is used for single questions or for any kind of messages that you receive completely and you then write/send/... an answer completely.

Therefore the verb "beantworten" is not used here but one of the following ones:

das Telefon abnehmen

das Telefon abheben

den Anruf annehmen

den Anruf entgegennehmen

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As noted in other answers, you would usually say

Könnten Sie bitte das Telefon für mich abnehmen.

If you want to sound more formal without using the totally stilted an meiner statt, you can also say (or rather, write):

Könnten Sie bitte das Telefon an meiner Stelle abnehmen.

or

Könnten Sie bitte das Telefon stellvertetend für mich abnehmen.

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3

Könnten Sie (bitte) das Telefon anstatt mir beantworten?

is okay, but sloppy speech. Entirely correct it has to read

Könnten Sie (bitte) das Telefon an meiner statt beantworten?

But nobody actually says that. To weasel out of that awkward phrase, people usually say:

Könnten Sie (bitte) an mein Telefon gehen?

Könnten Sie (bitte) meine Anrufe entgegennehmen?

Könnten Sie (bitte) meine Anrufe beantworten?

To elaborate this a bit more, the problem about this phrase is anstatt/statt. This preposition goes with Genitiv, but it has a conjuction cognate.

Anstatt/Statt Kuchens hättest du lieber Obst essen sollen. (preposition, Kuchen is in genitive because anstatt/statt requires it.)

Anstatt/Statt Kuchen zu essen hättest du lieber Obst essen sollen. (Conjunction, Kuchen is in accusative because essen requires an accusative object)

There aren't too many prepositions that come with Genitiv, and people always mix them up, using Dativ instead. Anstatt/Statt having another use as a conjunction makes it even easier to get it wrong.

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  • 5
    Ich finde nicht, dass man zum Satz "Könnten Sie bitte das Telefon anstatt mir beantworten" sagen kann, er sei "okay". Er ist im Kontext verständlich, von mir aus. Aber er hat so viele grammatische, stilistische und pragmatische Probleme, dass er wirklich kein gutes Vorbild ist, auch nicht für nachlässige mündliche Kommunikation.
    – Christian Geiselmann
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 7:14
  • Wenn du meiner statt mir einsetzt, ist der Satz grammatisch korrekt und auch verständlich. Besser sind die Beispiele, die ich aufgeschrieben habe.
    – Janka
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 8:32
  • > "But nobody actually says that." <- all you need to know about the variations on anstatt.
    – hiergiltdiestfu
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 11:38
  • Nobody says "an meiner statt." My Austrian godmother used to say that.
    – Tom Au
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 3:15
  • But nobody actually says that. As written.
    – Janka
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 8:17
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Könntest du bitte an meiner Stelle ans Telefon gehen?

Könnten Sie bitte an meiner Stelle ans Telefon gehen?

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1
  • Your answer is a little bit short. It is right and good, but you should add some explanation.
    – IQV
    Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 7:14

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