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I am looking for the best ways to express "to get something going" in German. It seems like here are some intuitive expressions, but there seem to be limitations to them that I don't quite understand. Let me provide some examples. In English, these are all common phrases:

  1. I need to get myself going (I've been lazy all day, there are things to do)!

  2. Let's get this party going!

  3. Let's keep the conversations/discussions going between us.

Now, it seems that "in Gang setzen/bringen/halten" sort of (?) works for examples 1 and 3 (correct me if I'm wrong), so that I could write

  1. Ich muss mich in Gang bringen.

  2. …

  3. Wir müssen die Unterhaltungen im Gang halten.

Which leads me to believe that it should work for 2 as well, but it seems not to. This is turn leads me to believe that "in Gang bringen" is not best translated as to get something going, but means something a bit different. I have heard "zum Laufen bringen" which seems to work better for 2, but not as much for 1 and 3.

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  • 2
    For 1 aufraffen is the verb to use, while for 3 it is something like Lass' uns in Kontakt bleiben.
    – guidot ♦
    May 16, 2018 at 15:49
  • 2
    FWIW: to keep something going is not the same as to get something going.
    – Rudy Velthuis
    May 16, 2018 at 16:17
  • 1
    Consider the word loslegen.
    – Rudy Velthuis
    May 16, 2018 at 16:37
  • 4
    in die Gänge kommen could be right, but is rather colloquial. Just like in die Pötte kommen or similar is heard around here, but probably local. In Gang kommen is the more usual form but not exactly fitting in the first or second sentence (in 2, in Gang bringen could work). But as I said, consider loslegen or sich aufraffen.
    – Rudy Velthuis
    May 16, 2018 at 16:47
  • 1
    Etwas ins rollen bringen!
    – Daniel
    May 17, 2018 at 22:53

2 Answers 2

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  1. I need to get myself going (I've been lazy all day, there are things to do)!
  • Ich muss mich endlich aufraffen / aufrappeln!
  • Ich muss meinen inneren Schweinehund überwinden!
  1. Let's get this party going!

Lasst uns die Party starten! / Starten wir die Party, Leute!

  1. Let's keep the conversations/discussions going between us.

Wir sollten im Gespräch bleiben.

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  1. I need to get myself going (I've been lazy all day, there are things to do)!

can also be translated by a rather slangy

Ich muss jetzt mal langsam aus dem Quark kommen kommen.

Quite common, but sloppy:

Zeit für mich, endlich den Arsch hochzukriegen.

I think, 'in die Gänge kommen' is the best version.

  1. Let's get this party going!

Dann bringen wir mal die Party ein bisschen in Schwung!

Dann wollen wir mal (jetzt) ein bisschen Schwung / Dampf / Pep / Drive / Schub in die Party bringen!

Dann wollen wir diese (müde) Party mal auf Touren bringen.

Dann lass uns die Party mal ein bisschen anschieben.

  1. Let's keep the conversations / discussions going between us.

Lass uns in Kontakt bleiben.

Es wäre schön, wenn wir unseren Dialog aufrechterhalten / noch weiterführen könnten.

Wir sollten unser Gespräch / unseren Kontakt nicht einschlafen lassen.

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