h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ich... urm... *sigh*

I work in provision, meaning if the units need any communications equipment they let me know and I issue it.

Ich horre du! (that noooo way sounds right)

Ich habe um Woolworths und WHSmith und uws uws uws...(applied) aber...Sie wllst mir nicht!

Ok, so here is a little correction:

Meine Schwester muss in der Schule (in?) drei Tagen gehen, weil sie sein GCSEs (taken aswell?) hat.

<>

(1)Time before Location. Easy rule in Germany .
(2) in die Schule. Schule is female, so it´s "die". "Der" would be for something male, a spoon (der Loeffel) for example.
(3) Ihren => her. It´s your sister, not your brother
(4) in English you take a test. In Germany we machen Tests (lit. make a test).

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du musst 19 sind

Sind should be sein. Same construction as in English.

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gespilt

to spill - verschuetten/schuetten =>geschuetten

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Heute habe ich (work?) machen(1) - ich (am working over the summer to get some money for uni...????(2)

(1) Heute habe ich gearbeitet. Or even closer to the english version: Heute arbeitete ich.

Allthough this version might imply that you are doing something completely different today.

(2) I am working over the summer to get some money for uni.

I am working => tells us the time in which this is happening. In this case: now. So it translates to: Ich arbeite.

over the summer => defines the period. So we can translate it literally : über den Sommer.

to get would be short for in oder to get. In order to translates always to "umzu". This is for giving a reason, why you are doing something. The rest is just the verb of the sentence in its infinitve-form an can be translated literally. => um etwas zu bekommen.

some money => etwas (some) Geld (money)

for uni => für die Uni (Yes, it is called the same here. The difference here a uni is she )

That makes the whole thing:

Ich arbeite ueber den Sommer um etwas Geld fuer die Uni zu bekommen.

Now, zu bekommen would be really bad German. We would use the verb "verdienen".

Ich arbeite ueber den Sommer um etwas Geld fuer die Uni zu verdienen.

"How are you supposed to know, that "bekommen" would be bad German?" Becase it is bad English as well. In non-colloquial English you would use "earn" which is the literal translation for "verdienen".


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Was arbeitest du am?

What do work?

No reason to put in a "for" or an "on". Smae in German. So it should read:

Was arbeitest du?

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I work in provision, meaning if the units need any communications equipment they let me know and I issue it.

Though one . Let´s start with the basics of any translations from your mother-tongue to another language:

1. Keep it simple. Rephrase or paraphrase until you get most simple, still correct version.
2. Use the long form where ever possible. English has certain grammar which can be abbreviated. Try to avoid that. It makes translating harder, as you have to guess the literall counterpart.
3. Use your vocabulary. Most of the time there will be severalwords meaning the same thing. If you don´t know the literal translation for one, try to find a differet word for it. You might be able to translate tat one.

Used on this sentence this would mean:

I work(1) in provision(2), meaning(3) if the units(5) need any communications equipment they let me know and I issue(4) it.

(1) I work => Ich arbeite. Easy, straight present tense.
(2) in provisions => Whoopie... what´s that in German. The dictonary can´t help me... so what to do? Vocabulary! Another word for provisions is supplies (at least my English Dictionary says so ). Supplies can be found in any dictonary as translating to Vorrat/Lager.
(3) meaning. Again hard to translate. Long form of this would be: "this means" => literall => das bedeutet.
(4) issue => Dictonary => verb: "ausgeben" => if you think of another word or paraphrase "issue" it would become "give it to them" => should be easier an translatable without a dictionary.
(5) units => this one is hard. From the sentence I cannot really see what meaning of unit is supposed to apply. Does it mean unit, like in the military, or unit like a part, or does it mean a whole department? The most probable one would be department ( I guess) which is English for "Abteilung".


=> all put together:

Ich arbeite im Lager, das bedeutet wenn die Abteilungen Kommunikationsausruestung brauchen, lassen sie es mich wissen und ich gebe sie aus.

You can learn everything that you need to know from that sentence, but t is not really "good" German. Better would be:

Ich arbeite im Lager, das bedeutet ich gebe Kommunikationsausruestung an die Abteilungen, wenn diese welches benoetigen.

I work in provision,meaning I issue comm. gear to the units, if they need it.
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Ich horre du! (that noooo way sounds right) No it is not right. Moreover, I am not quite sure what you mean... Is it: I hear you! or I understand!... or whatever ?

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Ich habe um Woolworths und WHSmith und uws uws uws...(applied)(1) aber...Sie wllst mir nicht(2)! wah

(1)Applied => "bewerben". You apply for a job => Du bewirbst dich um einen Job. You apply at a company => Du bewirbst Dich bei einer Firma.

So the sentence should read:

Ich habe mich bei Woolworths usw.beworben... aber...

(2) The "Sie" here is plural and relates to the company names given. So the correct form of the verb must be plural as well. For "want" which is "wollen" in German it is simply "wollen".

=> Sie wollen mich nicht.

Easy, eh?

Hope you can understand my writing here... Anyway I am just realising, that it is actually easier for me to teach somebody English, than it is to teach German. I have a much better understanding of English Grammar than I have of German. Must be because I had to learn English and not just grow into it....

Anyways... you guys are actually really good. A bit of missing vocabulary and the usual grammar mistakes (why the §$@!*# is spoon male?)... nothing really worrying...



Chili

Hey Chili! I was worried you had wondered off somewhere! oh well.

Es ist einfacher, Ihre eigene Sprache zu erlernen, weil es immer dort ist. Aber zu erklären warum Sachen sind wie sie sind ist zwar hart.

Danke fur ihr helfen. Das ist sehr nuhzlig.
Was hast du heute gemacht?
Ich habe mein Zimmer *tidied* und Essen gemacht! Ich habe *pancakes* gecockt! *spelling*?

It's easy to learn your own language beause its around you. But to explain why things are how they are is hard.

Thank you for you help. It's very handy.
What have you done today?
I've tidied my room and made food. I made pancakes!

By 'units' I do mean military units! So what would that be?

Okay... let me try and say some German... *thinkthinkthink*

I can't think of anything to say! I really don't have much German knowledge - I forgot it all!

Ich werde zuerst eure Posts korrigieren und anschliessend antworten, OK?

I will first correct your posts and then answer, ok?


Es ist einfacher(1),(2) Ihre(3) eigene Sprache zu erlernen, weil es immer dort ist(4).
It's easy to learn your own language beause its around you.

(1) Correct!
(2) no need to put in a "," - please don´t ask me why. I´ll try and look up the rules for interpunctuation.
(3) "Ihre" is the word for "you" if used in a formal way. Like you would address your boss or a customer. I don´t knowif you put it there intentionally, but I reckon there is need to. On German-boards everybody is referred to as "Du", the informal way of translating "you". So in this case it would be "Deine".
(4) Understandable but a bit wobbly. "Around" translates to "herum". Oh and a language is female in German => die Sprache. So better would probably be: "weil sie immer um Dich herum ist."
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Danke fur ihr helfen(1). Das ist sehr nuhzlig(2).

(1) Thanks for your help. So "Thanks" is "Danke", "for" is "fuer", "your" is "Deine" and "help" is "Hilfe". That makes it "Danke für Deine Hilfe". "Your" is used as Genitiv and refers to me. That´s why it translates to "Deine" It could also be meant as "Sie" if you want to be formal.
(2) Just a little spelling problem => "nuhzlig is spelled "nuetzlich"

*tidied*

to tidy - aufraeumen. tidied is past tense, which is "aufgeraeumt".

*pancakes*

Pfannkuchen

gecockt (somehow this looks very naughty )
gekocht
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By 'units' I do mean military units! So what would that be?

Well there is several possible translation. The thing I haven´t got a clue about military structure, so the best and easiest way would be "Einheiten".
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Ok, soviel dazu. Was habe ich gestern gemacht? Nicht viel, gearbeitet hauptsächlich. Am Nachmittag habe ich meine Vespa weiter repariert und abends war ich Sushi essen. War sehr lecker.

Jetzt sitze ich wieder in der Arbeit .

Oh, ich bin übrigens nicht abgehauen - ich war nur ein paar Tage unterwegs und habe eine Rollertour durch Bayern gemacht. Deshalb habe ich mich erst so spät hier gemeldet.

Ok, that´s enough of that. What did I do yesterday? Nothing much, worked most of the day. In the afternoon, I went on repairing my vespa and I had some Sushi for dinner. It was delicious.

Now I am back at work

Oh, by the way I did not wander of - I was just away for a couple of days, doing a scooter-tourthrough bavaria. Thats why it tooke some time till I come on here.

cheers

Chili

Durch Bavaria? Wow! Wie war das?
Ich habe meine *results*!
1 A*
6 As
and 2 Bs!

Wheee!!! Das ist so gut fuer mich da Ich sehr *surprised* bin und weisse die *results* sind *fixed*!

Round Bavaria? Wow! How was it?
I have my results!

Wheee!!! That is so good for me that I am very surprised and know the results were fixed!

Bavaria => Bayern

results => Ergebnisse - in this case, you writing about school or uni?, "Noten" might be mre fitting

surprised => ueberrascht

fixed => to repair something, to make something, it is fixed => it is repaired OR it does not move => reparieren, machen, steht fest

Das ist so gut fuer mich da Ich sehr *surprised* bin und weisse die *results* sind *fixed*!

>> Das ist so gut fuer mich, dass ich sehr ueberrascht bin und weiss das die Noten fest stehen.

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Die Tour war sehr schoen. Viele kleine Huegel und Berge, tolle Landschaft... Sehr entspannend Allerdings auch etwas anstrengend, da so ein Roller nach einiger Zeit ganz schön unbequem wird. Ausserdem habe ich einen Sonnenbrand auf den Unterarmen bekommen, da ich nur im T-shirt gefahren bin. Sonst waere es einfach zu heiss gewesen.

Wofuer hast Du die Noten bekommen? Studierst Du? Und wo kommst Du eigentlich her?

Fragen ueber Fragen....


The tour was beautiful. Lots of small hills and mountains, nice scenery... Very relaxing Allthough it was also quite exhausting, as a scooter gets really uncomfy after a while. I got a sunb urn on my lower arms as well, because I was only wearing a t-shirt. It woukld just have been too hot otherwise...

For what did you get the results? Are you studying? And where abouts are you from?

Questions and mor questions..

Es ist nicht "a sunburn". Es ist "sunburn"...I got sunburn..wie I got drunk.

Die Noten sind fuer Schule, Sie sind meine GCSEs. Ich bin im England in die Nehe von Birmingham. Ich gehe in die Schule in Bedford und ich wohne im Internat.
***
The results are for School, they are my GCSEs. Ich am in England near Birmingham. I go to school in Bedford and I board.

Also that fixed...what would it be if the exam results were...rigged, cheated, you know someone deliberately made them that regardless of whatever they actually were. That's what I meant when I sad fixed.

Echt? Ok, wieder was gelernt. In Deutschland ist ein Sonnenbrand...

Die Noten sind fuer *die* Schule. Und Nehe schreibt man Naehe... Aber das wars auch schon... In Birmingham war ich einmal, ist aber glaube ich auch schon 10 Jahre her. Ich glaube ich werde alt...

Ist es bei euch auch so heiss?


Really? Ok, didn´t know that. In Germany it is *a* sunburn...

The results are for "die Schule" and Nehe is spellt Naehe... But that´s about it... I´ve been to Birmingham once, but that must have been like 10 years ago. I think I am getting old...

Chili

Es ist nicht so heiss heute. Jetzte (sp?) Woche war es 40 C! Aber in London war es heisse. Die "underground" war HEISS! *boiling*
Weisst du was "The Wombles" is? Ich horre die theme und ich liebe die alte einige.

It's not so hot now. Last week it was 40C! But in London it was hot. The underground was HOT! BOILING!
Do you know what the Wombles is? I'm listening to the theme and I love the old one (I meant version).

"Jetzte" -> Letzte = last and "jetzt" = now ... unless you are practicing German dialects

"war es heisse" -> heiss (or heisser = hotter)

"Ich horre die theme und ich liebe die alte einige." -> It is "ich höre" ... admittedly, the pronounciation with an English accent is "ich horre", so from that point of view it is correct The correct pronounciation is with a long 'ö' somewhat similar to ... ummm .... "whore" or "bore" ... though it's more like "ich hore".

"die alte einige" -> translates into "the old some/ones" as in plural. You could say "die alte [Version]"


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Es tut mir leid, daß ich mich erst jetzt hier wieder melde, aber RL hat mich erwischt.
Die heißen Tage sind hier vorbei... im Moment regnet es.
Wombles... jaaaaa... ich meine, davon schon einmal gehört zu haben... ist aber Ewigkeiten her.

Man kann übrigens die Spracheinstellungen für die Tastatur ändern (wenn Du Windows benutzt), so daß Du auch die Umlaute (öäü) tippen kannst. Einfach unter "Systemsteuerung" -> "Tastatur" nachsehen. Da kann man zwischen verschiedenen Layouts wählen.

I'm sorry that I return here only now (= this late), but RL got me.
Herer the hot days are over ... ATM it's raining
Wombles... yeah ... I think I've heard about that [once] ... but that's ages ago.
You can, by the way [= übrigens], change the language settings for the keyboard (if you're using Windows) so that you can type the Umlaute. Just take a look at "System settings" -> "keyboard". There you can choose between different layouts [for the keyboard].


Tube

Ich habe der Tastatur geändernt, und heute kann ich nicht die richtige kez findet...ahh sehe! nicht kez! key! Und es ist § nicht £! Wo ist die Schlaffes S?

Es hat heir auch geregnet. Keine Spass! Es ist so bedeckt!

Die Wombles hat am Wimbledon Common gewohnt und neues Dinge mit *rubbish* gemacht.

I changed the keyboard and now I can't find the right keys! Where is the Beta S?

It's rained here too. No fun! It's sooo cloudy!

The wombles lived on Wimbledon Common and made new things from old rubbish

The Germany Keyboard is in the QWERTZ layout, i.e., Y and Z keys are exchanged on the U.S. English layout. Ess-zett key on the right of 0 key; U umlaut key on the right of P key; and O umlaut and A umlaut keys on the right of L key.


"Schlaffes S" -> "schrafes s" , it's the "sharp s", not the "limp s"

"Die Wombles hat am ... neues Dinge mit *rubbish* gemacht." -> "...haben am ... as you are using the plural. "... neue Dinge aus Abfall/Müll gemacht/gebaut" or you could say "Dinge mit Müll gemacht" which would be "made new things with rubbish" i.e. more like an abstract meaning ... new things to be done with rubbish.


Hmm, nein ich erinnere mich nicht. Das kann aber daran liegen, daß ich als Kind nicht viel ferngesehen habe. Aber ich erinnere mich an die Sesamstraße, aber das ist ja amerikanisch.

No, I don't remember that. That may be due to the fact that I didn't watch much TV as a child. But I remember Sesame Street, but then again that's American.

ß oooh!!! ßßßßßßßßß!!! Enschuldigung

Wie arbeitet "Das kann aber daran liegen, daß ich als Kind nicht viel ferngesehen habe"? Ich verstehe nicht die *structure*

Sesemestraße war wunderbar! Wormie, Grouch's haustiere war suß.

Ich werde in ein Minute ins Bett gehen, weil ich habe Kopfschmerzen.

How does the sentence *see above* work? I don't understand the structure.
Seseme street was wonderful! Wormie, Grouch's pet was sweet.
I will go to bed in a minute because I have a headache.

"Das kann aber daran liegen, daß ich als Kind nicht viel ferngesehen habe" ->
"etwas liegt daran, daß" = something is due to the fact that
"etwas kann daran liegen, daß" = something might be due to the fact that
"ich als Kind" = "as a child I ..." / "when I was a child I ..."
fernsehen = to watch TV
ferngesehen haben = to have watched TV
der Fernseher = the TV set
der/die Zuschauer/in = the viewer


"Das" [the one at the beginning of the sentence] refers to the foregoing sentnece/though, i.e. that I don't know the Wombles. Thus the bit up to the comma is
"That [I don't know them] might be due to the fact that"
and after the comma
"I didn't watch a lot of TV as a child"



Ich hoffe, der Satz hat nichts mit Deinen Kopfschmerzen zu tun ...
I hope the sentence has nothing to do with your headache ...

Ich habe ein Buche geleist. Ich MUß ins Bett gehen! Argh!
Ich habe Sudafed und Ibuprofen *taken* und mein Kopf ist ein bischen (sp?) besser.
Manchmal glaube ich, das ich dumm bin!

Wie sagt man "I would like a remark for my oral module because it is normally my strongest subject but it got me an A and I think I should have had an A*" auf Deutsch?

"ich möchte ein *remark" für meine "oral module", weil es ist normalle meine *strongest subject* aber es hat mir ein A gebringt und ich glaube, da ich ein A *star should have had*."

" geleist." -> gelesen
taken -> "genommen" as in "nehmen, nahm, genommen" = take, took, taken
"bischen" -> bißchen


Witha a language ability like that you can't be "dumm" ...