Questions tagged [translation]
Übersetzung - Questions on issues while translating from or to German. Use with care as these questions are very likely to be closed as a translation request, which would be off topic. Don't use this tag on phrase requests or proverb analogies.
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What is a good translation for "I wish!" ?
Often times, a situation comes up and I want to use the expression "I wish!" For instance, somebody asks me: "Is that brand new car yours?" or "Was that you who I saw winning $1000?"
However, I don't ...
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What is the German equivalent of foo, bar, baz?
The English words foo, bar and baz are often used as placeholder nonsense names in programming. In French, "toto, titi, tata, tutu" are common.
Which words are used for this purpose in German code?
...
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How would you say, "I speak a little bit German"?
I put this into Google Translate, and it came up with,
Ich spreche ein wenig Deutsch.
Is this correct? I doubt so. When I look up wenig I find that it's an adjective, not an adverb, and obviously ...
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What is the German equivalent of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."?
What is the German equivalent of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."?
That is: A phrase used for font selection that contains all the letters of the alphabet.
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What is the German word for “mind”?
Is there a word in German to refer to the mind? Gehirn is brain, but that’s the meat inside the head, not the mind. In Spanish it is mente. Is there a German equivalent?
I have consulted my ...
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“Food” in German
When I was looking for the German equivalent of food in my dictionary, I’ve noticed that both Lebensmittel and Nahrung have the same meaning and so does Essen, which I had learned before.
While I ...
user508
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How do synchronous interpreters handle long German split verb sentences?
One of the points where German differs from other languages are the split verb sentences where the two parts of a verb form can be placed quite some distance apart, for example:
Ich habe nach ...
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Difference between "Es sind" and "Es gibt" for asserting existence of something
In English we say There are... and I know that I've seen es gibt used in German. I've also seen es sind. Are these phrases identical?
There are many flowers in the garden =
Es gibt viele Blumen im ...
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How to translate Fernweh to English? [closed]
Is there a good English translation for Fernweh? dict.leo.org suggests wanderlust and itchy feet, but they are both more about travelling around rather than going away.
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German equivalents to the prefix "re"?
I was working with a translator and asked her to translate "Resend code", she gave me the translation of
Code erneut senden
I thought that was really long. I typed in "resend" into google translate ...
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What is the German word for "attack" that police/military personal use to command German Shepherd dogs?
I'm writing a novel and I need to know a one word command for what a police office or military commander would use when telling their German Shepherd to attack a dangerous prisoner who is attempting ...
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What does "krass" mean?
During conversations with native German speakers, I have heard the word "krass" used in different contexts. But I still don't know how to translate it.
Any ideas?
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What can "passt schon" mean?
I've heard the phrase "passt schon" used to mean:
Never mind: „Ich denke... nee, passt schon.“
No problem: „Entschuldigung!“ „Passt schon.“
OK: „Wie geht's?“ „Passt schon.“
What can it mean in ...
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What is the German equivalent of the English "aka"?
In English, the abbreviation aka means "also known as".
A literal German translation might be "auch bekannt wie". Is this, in fact, the correct German equivalent? And is the abbreviation ABW (or the ...
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Can I use ‘fahren’ when the mode of transport is not decided?
Suppose I am in London, and I am going to Paris. If I am just mentioning to someone the fact that I’ll soon go to Paris, can I use fahren as a generic translation of to travel?
I might go by ...
user18778
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What is the equivalent of "boyfriend" in German?
In English when a man is in a relationship with another man, he can say he's his boyfriend. In German, saying "Freund" when both are of the same sex is usually understood to mean the equivalent of "...
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Was ist eine angemessene Übersetzung für "shitstorm"?
Was ist eine angemessene Übersetzung für "shitstorm"? Gibt es dafür ein deutsches Wort?
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Do you have to say "ungetoastetes Toast" to mean soft bread?
This is a light-hearted question. I've had two teenage exchange students, one from Berlin and one from Mönchengladbach, and they both insist that the German word "toast" means both a slice of bread ...
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What would be the way to say "just saying" in German? (Not the literal translation)
The context would be when making a suggestion. For example, if I am with a group of friends and everyone is hungry I could say:
"There is a restaurant nearby. Just saying."
If me and some friends ...
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How to tell the difference between "ice" and "ice cream" when the word "Eis" is used?
"Ice" and "ice cream" both translate to "Eis" in German. Is the only way to differentiate between them by context?
For instance, if you want to translate the sentences
"Does this store sell ice?"
...
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Der Fahrende Ritter: what is the joke?
I'm currently reading Harry Potter und der Gefangene von Askaban to improve my German. In the English version, Harry gets on a Wizarding bus called "The Knight Bus" after running away from home. This ...
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How would you translate "to judge someone" to German?
In English, "to judge someone" often implies a negative opinion, as in "Don't judge me!".
Is there a German equivalent for this? How would you translate the example?
My dictionary gives "jmdn. ...
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Words starting with 'Landes-': How to tell whether it's regional or national?
Most words starting with Landes- that I have encountered are about regions or states. For example: Landesbank, Landesbehörde, Landesbeamte,...
But here is Landesindex: Switzerland's national consumer ...
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How bad does it sound in German *not* to separate separable verbs?
More to get a feeling of the severity of this error, how bad does it sound when someone makes the mistake of not separating a separable verb?
For example:
"Ich bereite mich auf eine Prüfung vor.&...
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What's the word Germans give to walls that aren't well soundproofed?
For example, I want to explain how I can hear what my neighbours are saying. So I would say my flat is ____________ ?
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German analogue for “on the fly”
What is the best way to translate the phrase on the fly? For example in:
I’ll try to capture the data on the fly.
The only translation that I was able to find was spontan, but I’m not sure if ...
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How do German speakers translate sounds that animals make?
I have always been interested in the ways that animal sounds are "translated" in foreign languages. Presumably, the sounds are the same to our ears.
In English:
Dog: woof
Cat: meow
Cow: moo
Duck: ...
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German translation of "case sensitive"
As a translation of case sensitive dict.cc offered
Groß- / Kleinschreibung-unterscheidend
schreibungsabhängig, and
Groß- / Kleinschreibung (beachten)!
None of these are as elegant as the English ...
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"Mir war nicht danach."
I happen to know that
Mir war nicht danach.
... translates to
I didn't feel like it.
... but I would have never been able to figure it out on my own.
Is it short for something?
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How do I say "quirky" in German without sounding derogatory?
I've looked up a few translations of the word "quirky" as they all seem to have a bit of a negative connotation attached to them (e.g., skurril, verschroben, eigenartig, and sonderbar).
How can I ...
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How can I translate the adverb "doch" in sentences?
What is the difference between "Dann mach doch das Fenster zu" and "Dann mach das Fenster zu"?
Further examples:
Ich fahre doch nur 90.
Sieh doch im Korb nach.
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Is this translation of Donald Trump's tweet by ‘Der Spiegel’ correct?
I came across an article in Der Spiegel, in which a translation of Donald Trump's tweet was made. Here is the sentence from the article that provides some context:
Mit einem Stern vor Banknoten, ...
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What does "Ich brauch mal Storno" mean?
Ich war heute bei Kaufland und habe
blah blah... ich brauch mal Storno
gehört.
Bedeutet das so etwas wie "Kaffeepause" oder mehr in Richtung "Pinkelpause"? Oder ist die Bedeutung eine ganz ...
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What or who is a "Scholli"?
I hear people say:
"Mein lieber Scholli, das war knapp!"
What does "Scholli" mean in this context? Is using this idiom in any way offensive or insulting?
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How would you translate "mind you" in German
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 ...
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What is the best way to say “gentle reminder” in German?
I need to use this phrase in formal correspondence with a business customer but don’t seem to be able to find enough verifiable sources on the internet with an appropriate German equivalent.
...
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Is there any difference between “aber” und “sondern” (as “Konnektoren”)?
I’m trying to study and understand how to use aber und sondern (as “Konnektoren”).
In my language (Italian) there is no difference in translation; both mean something like but.
I can say for example:
...
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Are "friends" and "Freunde" false-friends?
I guess that "Freund" is better translated with "close friend" and "friend" is more our German "Bekannter".
Especially in context with twitter and other social networks one seems to get a lot more ...
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Monk recommends: knock down women on sight
I read today:
Ein weiser Möch sagte einst: "Wenn deine Augen eine Frau erblicken, schlage sie nieder"
Am I misunderstanding something?
Because it is kind of hard to consider knocking down woman as ...
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Wie kann man 気持ちいい am besten auf Deutsch ausdrücken?
Wie kann man das Japanische 気持ちいい kimochi ii am besten auf Deutsch ausdrücken in den folgenden Situationen:
ein kimochi ii Pullover
eine kimochi ii Massage
kimochi ii Wetter
generell kimochi ii, ...
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How to express "fizzle out" in German
I'm am struggling with the right way to express, "to fizzle out", in German. Let me give some example sentences:
We were very good friends at first, but over the years, our friendship fizzled out.
...
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How to say "respectively" in German when listing (enumerating) things
In English and many other languages I could say something like this:
Tom and Jack play football and baseball respectively.
That means that Tom plays football and Jack plays baseball.
How can I ...
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German equivalent to "out of scope"?
I am currently translating an English specification for a software that needs to be implemented. In this specification, a few features that could be thought as "natural enhancements" need to be ...
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What is "das Schulabschlusszeugnis" in this context?
I am trying to understand the meaning of the following:
Das originalsprachige Schulabschlusszeugnis, das den Hochschulzugang eröffnet
My initial "translation" for this phrase intended only ...
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Translation of "I can't eat spicy food"
How would you say "I can't eat spicy food"?
Ich kann kein scharfes Essen essen.
It sounds strange to put two "Essen"s together. Or is it okay? What would be other ways?
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What do you call a "Questions & Answers site" (Q&A) in German?
I am looking for a German term to describe StackExchange - the English term seems to be "Questions & Answers site" (Q&A) which has no equivalent in German (that I'm aware of). The literal ...
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Ist "rauf voten" und "runter voten" eine akzeptable Übersetzung für "upvote" und "downvote"?
Was ist eine angemessene deutsche Übersetzung von upvote und downvote?
Das deutsche Verb voten findet man in Duden Online.
Zur englischen Orthografie siehe EL&U.
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How to translate the word "download" to German?
In German there is runterladen or herunterladen for the term to download.
Is there a common translation for the noun of download that could be used for translating i.g.
the amount of downloads ...
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How can I say ‘poop’ in German for a cat (animal) in a funny but not rude way?
I wrote a cat book in English and am translating it into German right now (native German) but I can’t find a real good word for poop.
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