dessen

English translation: what

10:55 May 18, 2005

German to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics

German term or phrase: dessen

Wir vergessen oft, dass die Sprache nur en geringer Teil dessen ist, was wir brauchen, um die Menschen aus anderen Ländern zu verstehen.

Can somebody help to explain grammatically "dessen"?

Thank you very much in advance!

Jianming Sun KudoZ activity Questions: 2132 (none open) (13 closed without grading) Answers: 1174
Local time: 03:09

English translation:what

Explanation:
"... is only a small part of what we need to ..."

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Note added at 18 mins (2005-05-18 11:13:31 GMT)
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\"... is only a small part of what is needed to ...\"

Selected response from:

IanW (X)
Local time: 21:09

Grading comment

Thank you all for help!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +10

what

IanW (X)

4 +2

of what / of that which

Gabrielle Lyons

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

of what / of that which

Explanation:
According to strict grammar, "language is only a small part of that which we need to understand people from other countries"
But I think most English speakers would say or write "of what we need"

Gabrielle Lyons
Local time: 20:09
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 10

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +10

what

IanW (X)
Local time: 21:09
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Grading comment

Thank you all for help!

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