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How would you translate the expression "mind you" in German, a phrase introducing something that should be taken into consideration. For example: "He's very well dressed, but mind you, he's got plenty of money to buy clothes".

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In this example I would probably just use "allerdings", or say ".., aber er hat ja auch genug Geld..."

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  • Too bad I can't give this more than +1 ... Excellent translation!
    – Mac
    May 21, 2012 at 9:16
  • In this specific example, "er kann sich's (ja) auch leisten" is possible, too.
    – user6191
    Jul 10, 2014 at 4:03
  • Ein Hoch auf Modelpartikel!
    – Raphael
    Jul 10, 2014 at 9:47
  • Sorry, but I don't think these are the best solutions. "Wohlgemerkt" or "noch dazu..." are much closer to the meaning of "mind you". Don't forget it is an imperative explicitly drawing the listeners or readers attention to a certain aspect. You have to mirror this in German which you can't do sufficiently with "allerdings" (restricting the initial statement) or "ja auch".
    – Martin Schwehla
    Jan 29, 2015 at 16:45
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A somewhat literal but not too uncommon German expression would be "bedenke", the imperative of "bedenken":

Er ist gut angezogen, aber bedenke, er verfügt auch über genügend Geld, sich Kleidung zu kaufen.

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    Hmm, not sure about this one: seems to me, the imperative of "bedenken" is rather stilted in most contexts. A more common construction would be "..., man muss/sollte aber bedenken, dass er auch über genügend Geld verfügt, sich Kleidung zu kaufen." It still sounds rather official to me, as opposed to the casual feel of "mind you".
    – Mac
    May 21, 2012 at 9:21
  • The "casual" solution in German would be to just leave the intermission out of the sentence altogether: "Er ist gut angezogen, aber er hat auch genügend Geld, sich Kleidung zu kaufen".
    – Joachim Sauer
    May 21, 2012 at 11:04
  • Ich würde "denk dran" statt "bedenke" verwenden, insbesondere umgangssprachlich.
    – Robert
    May 6, 2014 at 19:11
  • "Bedenke" doesn't fit at all. Try translating back.
    – user6191
    Jul 10, 2014 at 4:08
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The intent of a more literal translation like "bedenke" (du sollst denken) would be like raising your hand to point something out.

Therefore, the following translations should fit:

  • ...bedenke, er hat viel Geld um Kleidung zu kaufen.
  • ...da er ja viel Geld hat um Kleidung zu kaufen.
  • ...freilich hat er viel Geld um Kleidung zu kaufen.
  • ...zugegeben, er hat viel Geld um Kleidung zu kaufen.
  • ...wohlgemerkt, er hat viel Geld um Kleidung zu kaufen.
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  • +1 für freilich.
    – Carsten S
    May 5, 2014 at 22:12
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"He's very well dressed, but mind you, he's got plenty of money to buy clothes".

'wobei' ist, zumindest in mündlicher Rede, recht üblich:

Er ist sehr gut gekleidet, wobei er es sich auch leicht leisten kann.

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In German you can simply use aber or schließlich, but it sounds weird. Usually I wouldn't translate it at all.

"He's very well dressed, but mind you, he's got plenty of money to buy clothes".

Er ist immer sehr gut angezogen, er kann es sich auch leisten.

Er ist immer sehr gut angezogen, aber er kann sich das auch leisten.

Er ist immer sehr gut angezogen, schließlich kann er es sich leisten.

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The term I would use is "Gib Acht," or pay attention. That is a fairly literal translation of "mind you."

Another, English term would be "remember." As in, "He is well dressed, but remember that he has a lot of money. The German verbs would be "merken," or bedenken, in the imperative, "merk," or "bedenk."

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    Sorry, but I don't agree. "Mind you" as an idiomatic phrase in English has very little to do with "pay attention", has it? You'd be right, when it's a construction like, "Mind you don't step into that" - but that's a different construction with an elided "that", I think.
    – Mac
    May 21, 2012 at 14:40
  • I agree with Tom, In my mind "mind you" is a short for "please take this into your mind for a minute".
    – mathreadler
    Jun 22, 2016 at 10:04
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In my mind "mind you" is short for "would you please bear in mind that...".

German word "beachten" (swedish "beakta") means to bear something in mind or take something into consideration. Please bear this in mind. The polite version would be

beachten Sie, dass er genug Geld dafür hat.

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