Chan
Help with some sentence translation please? (1) Could someone please help me with the translation of the following sentences: (This is quite a long post, so answer whatever you can) a) "Durch jenes kaum messbare, nie nachweisbare Zuviel an flinker Höflichkeit ist eine gereizte Verlegenheit entstanden, die der Tourist – der Landessprache mächtig – ..." Please breakdown the words for me. Also why is it "der Landessprache" when the case should be "die"? b) "Von Natur bin ich mehr dem Nachdenken und dem Nichtstun zugeneigt als der Arbeit, doch hin und wieder zwingen mich anhaltende finanzielle Schwierigkeiten - denn Nachdenken bringt sowenig ein wie Nichtstun -, eine so genannte Stelle anzunehmen." Also, what does "doch hin" mean over here? c) "... und wurde mit sieben anderen Leidensgenossen in Wunsiedels Fabrik geschickt" Don't see how "geschickt" - skillful fits in here d) "in der hellen, fröhlich ausgemalten Kantine", what does "ausgemalten" mean here?
Jul 25, 2014 1:03 PM
Answers · 2
I'm sorry, post was too long, lol d) "in the bright/light, cheerfully painted canteen" I looked up the text you got this sentence part from and from that I'd say he's talking about the wall's color and how much he dislikes light colors. In this case "malen" means "to paint" and "ausmalen" is actually when you have a picture and paint the different areas. Like what children do with paintable mandalas for children. All in all it's kind of a metaphor when he says that the kanteen was "painted cheerfully", so he's referring to the light colors and their upbeat atmosphere they spread. Kind of a sad character, isn't he?
July 25, 2014
I'll try to stay as close as possible to the text (so translation and not mediation) a) "Because of that barely measurable, never certifiable too much of quick courtesy a touchy awkwardness arised, which the tourist - knowing the country's language - ..." The "der Landessprache" is in dative. That is, because this elliptic inserted part would be fully "Er ist der Landessprache mächtig" (etwas. mächtig sein [mit Dativ] - to know smth/to be able to do smth) but because it's, as said, only inserted and therefor used for a short information about the tourist it is shortened so the flow of reading doesn't stop. I hope my direct translation helps you with the words, otherwise ask please. b) "I'm inherently more inclined toward thought and leisure/doing nothing than work/labor, but somethimes/from time to time my financial problems force me - because thought brings as litte as doing nothing - to accept/take a (so called) job." You can't just cut out "doch hin" here. It's "doch", which is here an adversative conjunction, so it emphasis an opposition (so you can translate it as "but" or so). The other part is a fixed saying: "hin und wieder" - it can be translated the best as "from time to time" I think (otherwise you can use interchangeably eg "sometimes") c) "... and he was sent with seven other fellow sufferers into Wunsiedels factory." I think you got "geschickt" wrong here. It's not an adjective, so like "skillful", but it's the past participle of "schicken" -> "Ich schicke, ich schickte, ich habe geschickt". And you probably know that the passive in German is mostly built by "Form von 'werden' + Partizip".
July 25, 2014
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