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English to German translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics / Zeichensetzung | | English term or phrase: Non-restrictive meaning in German | How would you convey the non-restrictive meaning of: "The lemmings, which performed well in the first race, were all fuzzy animals." in German?
Restrictive clauses, which are essential to the meaning of the sentence, are not set off by a comma. Nonrestrictive clauses, which are not essential to the meaning of the sentence--they merely add further information--are set off by a comma. For example:
Restrictive: The lemmings that performed well in the first race were all fuzzy animals.
Nonrestrictive: The lemmings, which performed well in the first race, were all fuzzy animals.
In the first sentence, the meaning is that some lemmings were not fuzzy. Just the fuzzy ones performed well.
In the second sentence, the meaning is that all the lemmings attending the event were fuzzy and that they all performed well in the race.
I understand that under German punctuation rules the translated German sentence would have a comma after Lemminge (Die Lemminge, die ....) in both cases because:
REGEL: Nebensätze trennt man mit Komma ab oder schließt sie mit paarigem Komma ein.
Beispiele:
Nebensatz
am Anfang: Als wir nach Hause kamen, war es schon spät.
eingeschoben: Das Brot, das sie in den Ofen geschoben hatte, duftete köstlich.
am Ende des Ganzsatzes: Ich weiß nicht, was ich dazu sagen soll.
http://www.neue-rechtschreibung.de/regelwerk_zeichen.htm
So how does one convey a non-restrictive meaning in German? |
| Kim MetzgerKudoZ activityQuestions: 1186 (none open) ( 10 closed without grading) Answers: 15258
Mexico
| | Local time: 03:47
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| | "Die Lemminge, die..." versus "Diejenigen Lemminge, die..." | Explanation:
Hi Kim, you are right, the German "die Lemminge, die..." is ambiguous. However, there is a solution to this dilemma.
First of all, you can distinguish the restrictive sentence in one of the following ways:
Diejenigen Lemminge, die...
Jene der Lemminge, die...
By using this construction, you make it perfectly clear you are only talking about certain lemmings.
Secondly, in the case of the non-restrictive clause, you can add a word making it clear you are talking about all of them:
"Die Lemminge, die *allesamt* gut im ersten Rennen abschnitten..."
"Die Lemminge, die *durchweg* gut im ersten Rennen abschnitten..."
"Die Lemminge, die *ausnahmslos* gut im ersten Rennen abschnitten..."
etc.
By adding such adverbs, you avoid the misunderstanding.
HTH ;-) |
| Selected response from:
  Olaf Reibedanz
Argentina
Local time: 05:47
| Grading comment I liked Gabrielle's "wuschlige Viecher" and will use it in my ProZ.com article, but Olaf's explanation and examples were more detailed and thus most helpful. Thank you all.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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7 mins confidence:   peer agreement (net): +1 | non-restrictive meaning in german s.u.
Explanation:
Non-restrictive: *Die* Lemminge, die im ersten Rennen gut performed haben (danke, Dieter Bohlen), waren alle wuschelige Viecher.
Restrictive: *Alle* Lemminge, die ..., waren wuschelige Viecher.
| Brie Vernier
Germany
Local time: 10:47
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
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| | Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) |
8 mins confidence: s.u.
Explanation:
da mehrere LÄnder in Deutschland die Reform sine die aufgeschoben haben, und ich sie persönlich als totalen Unsinn empfinde,
rate ich hier zu der Kommatasetzung der Nebensätze, wie Du sie beschreibst
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15 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +4 | non-restrictive meaning in german "Die Lemminge, die..." versus "Diejenigen Lemminge, die..."
Explanation:
Hi Kim, you are right, the German "die Lemminge, die..." is ambiguous. However, there is a solution to this dilemma.
First of all, you can distinguish the restrictive sentence in one of the following ways:
Diejenigen Lemminge, die...
Jene der Lemminge, die...
By using this construction, you make it perfectly clear you are only talking about certain lemmings.
Secondly, in the case of the non-restrictive clause, you can add a word making it clear you are talking about all of them:
"Die Lemminge, die *allesamt* gut im ersten Rennen abschnitten..."
"Die Lemminge, die *durchweg* gut im ersten Rennen abschnitten..."
"Die Lemminge, die *ausnahmslos* gut im ersten Rennen abschnitten..."
etc.
By adding such adverbs, you avoid the misunderstanding.
HTH ;-)
| Olaf Reibedanz
Argentina
Local time: 05:47
Native speaker of:  German
PRO pts in category: 4
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| | Grading comment | I liked Gabrielle's "wuschlige Viecher" and will use it in my ProZ.com article, but Olaf's explanation and examples were more detailed and thus most helpful. Thank you all. |
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The translation workplace 
