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  2. German to English

zehn vor fünf

English translation: ten to five

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:zehn vor fünf
English translation:ten to five
Entered by: Sven Petersson

11:02 Jul 17, 2001
German to English translations [Non-PRO]
German term or phrase: zehn vor fünf
Der Zug verläßt den Bahnhof
um zehn vor fünf

the train leaves the station
16.50?
the train leaves the station
ten minutes to five?
Anglist
the train leaves the station at ten to five
Explanation:
Skip the "minutes"!
Selected response from:

Sven Petersson
Sweden
Local time: 10:15
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement. KudoZ.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
na +5the train leaves the station at ten to five
Sven Petersson
na +3ten to five
Mary Worby
na +1there are a lot of ways to skin a cat
Beth Kantus
naten to five
Silke Namuth (X)
naat ten to five p.m.
ambittles
naten to five, four fifty
carolmca
na16.50 (the train leaves the station at -)
Robin Ward
na -1ten minutes to five!
Marcus Malabad


  

Answers


2 mins peer agreement (net): +3
ten to five


Explanation:
or ten minutes to five.

At least in British English. I've a feeling American is different but can't remember how!

HTH

Mary

Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:15
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 2770

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  ambittles
agree  lkoch99: US English might also use 'ten before five' or 'ten of five'
6 mins
agree  Angela Dunskus-Gulick: Perfectly OK in US-English
11 mins
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2 mins
ten to five


Explanation:
yes,16.50 is correct


    Muttersprachlerin
Silke Namuth (X)
Germany
Local time: 10:15
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in pair: 19
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3 mins peer agreement (net): -1
ten minutes to five!


Explanation:
ten minutes to five! whether it's five am or pm depends on the context.

Marcus Malabad
Canada
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in TagalogTagalog
PRO pts in pair: 1798

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Sven Petersson: The "minutes" are understood, not stated!
2 mins
  -> it still doesn't make it wrong
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4 mins peer agreement (net): +5
the train leaves the station at ten to five


Explanation:
Skip the "minutes"!


    Native English speaker.
Sven Petersson
Sweden
Local time: 10:15
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 1641
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement. KudoZ.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  ambittles
  -> Thank you!
agree  Kim Metzger: Yes.
2 mins
  -> Thank you!
agree  niemco (X): exactly...
2 hrs
  -> Thank you!
agree  Alexander Schleber (X): ten to five is the simplest way. Who gets the points?
16 hrs
agree  Robin Ward: Well, I could do with a few points!
17 hrs
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2 hrs peer agreement (net): +1
there are a lot of ways to skin a cat


Explanation:
the train departs at ...
ten to five
ten of five
ten minutes to five
ten before five p.m.
ten minutes before five (o'clock) p.m.
four fifty p.m.

All of the suggestions are acceptable. Personally, the last three sound better to me if the p.m. designator is included, which given the context, might be helpful!

Good luck!



Beth Kantus
United States
Local time: 04:15
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 924

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  lkoch99: not five o'clock p.m. though - that would be redundant :)
1 hr
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3 hrs
at ten to five p.m.


Explanation:
The train leaves the station at ten to five p.m.

ambittles
Local time: 09:15
PRO pts in pair: 26
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13 hrs
ten to five, four fifty


Explanation:
I think it depends on the situation, if it is on a colloquial level then ten to five is better, but if it is an announcement in the station for example then they would say four fifty.

carolmca
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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17 hrs
16.50 (the train leaves the station at -)


Explanation:
Believe it or not, in the UK I've actually heard the 24-hour clock used now and again in station announcements, so "the train leaves at 16.50" might, depending on your context, be perfectly acceptable.
Otherwise just simply "ten to five", no further embellishments or explanations needed.


    Native English train-spotter
Robin Ward
Germany
Local time: 10:15
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 416
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