Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Dec 30, 2002 06:31
21 yrs ago
4 viewers *
German term
der wievielte
Non-PRO
German to English
Other
"Der wievielte war er nach der zweiten Etappe?"
"Der wievielte ist es heute?"
Is there an eng. equivalent to "Wievielte" in question form to the declaratory: "He was in second place..." "Today is the 14th"
"Der wievielte ist es heute?"
Is there an eng. equivalent to "Wievielte" in question form to the declaratory: "He was in second place..." "Today is the 14th"
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +1 | how-manieth |
Alexander Schleber (X)
|
| 4 +10 | unfortunately not |
William Stein
|
| 5 +2 | Yes, but ... |
Chris Rowson (X)
|
| 5 +2 | (zilch) |
Robert M Maier
|
| 5 | ranked |
Anu Mukharji-Gorski
|
| 3 | Langenscheidt |
Cilian O'Tuama
|
Proposed translations
+1
1 hr
Selected
how-manieth
There are some poeple who evidently use this form (see Google URL), even though the word cannot be found in Webster's or any other dictionary available to me. Since there seems to be no other way of expressing this, maybe one should use it after all.
First Presbyterian Pulpit
... They hear again (for who knows the how-manieth time) what the scriptures have all-along
said about the Messiah, then Jesus says, "You are witnesses of these ...
www.presbyterianwarren.com/resemble.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
WirelessAdvisor.com Forums - Alltel vs. Verizon in AZ
... have chnaged and I had my final moment with them when I went to their store a few
weeks ago and was treated so rudely, for the I don't know how manieth time. ...
www.wirelessadvisor.com/waforums/ messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=2127 - 101k - Cached - Similar pages
Classics-L: Re: It is me versus I am it
... I'm having fun over on the Lingtyplist where the current subject is -- ordinal
interrogatives. They exist. The how-manieth posting? Greek: po/stos. ...
omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu:8080/hyper-lists/ classics-l/01-03-01/0552.html - 6k - Cached - Similar pages
First Presbyterian Pulpit
... They hear again (for who knows the how-manieth time) what the scriptures have all-along
said about the Messiah, then Jesus says, "You are witnesses of these ...
www.presbyterianwarren.com/resemble.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
WirelessAdvisor.com Forums - Alltel vs. Verizon in AZ
... have chnaged and I had my final moment with them when I went to their store a few
weeks ago and was treated so rudely, for the I don't know how manieth time. ...
www.wirelessadvisor.com/waforums/ messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=2127 - 101k - Cached - Similar pages
Classics-L: Re: It is me versus I am it
... I'm having fun over on the Lingtyplist where the current subject is -- ordinal
interrogatives. They exist. The how-manieth posting? Greek: po/stos. ...
omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu:8080/hyper-lists/ classics-l/01-03-01/0552.html - 6k - Cached - Similar pages
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Hello Alexander,
thanks for your response and particularly for your references.
Knowing that there isn't an equivalent, I never even thought of checking Google.
I whole-heartedly agree that "how-manieth" should be used since it is useful
and the meaning is self evident.
Csaba Szilagyi"
+10
14 mins
William Stein
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Native in English
Costa Rica
Translations that read like originals
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK) 
Works in: French to English, German to English, Spanish to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
1734
unfortunately not
Too bad you can't say "The whichth?" or the "The howmanieth?"
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
writeaway
: there is no fixed term for this in English
15 mins
|
| agree |
Elvira Stoianov
17 mins
|
| agree |
Susan Geiblinger
29 mins
|
| agree |
Ellen Zittinger
: what position, what time, what place and so on
56 mins
|
| agree |
Raluca Ion (X)
1 hr
|
| agree |
jerrie
1 hr
|
| agree |
schnuppe
: ....you can say" how manieth"...but I wouldn't
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Ron Stelter
5 hrs
|
| agree |
Сергей Лузан
14 hrs
|
| agree |
Fumiko Murray
2680 days
|
+2
48 mins
Yes, but ...
You can say "the how manyth?" but this is jokey, and also rather awkward. Of your examples, the first has to be something like "What place was he in after the second stage?".
The second would often be "What day is it today?", but this has the disadvantage of being ambiguous - maybe it asks the day of the week, rather than the date. The jokey "It´s the howmanyth today?" is sometimes used here to avoid this, when the asker fails to think of another solution, like "What´s the date today?"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-12-30 08:41:23 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Some people say \"What´s the dateth?\" - \"Es ist der wievielte?\". Not me, though.
The second would often be "What day is it today?", but this has the disadvantage of being ambiguous - maybe it asks the day of the week, rather than the date. The jokey "It´s the howmanyth today?" is sometimes used here to avoid this, when the asker fails to think of another solution, like "What´s the date today?"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-12-30 08:41:23 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Some people say \"What´s the dateth?\" - \"Es ist der wievielte?\". Not me, though.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
allemande
11 hrs
|
| agree |
Сергей Лузан
: "What place was he in after the second stage?" sounds quite reasonable.
14 hrs
|
+2
2 hrs
(zilch)
I discussed this question rather extensively in a linguistics course (all the non-native speakers came out with "the howmanieth" as part of their regular English usage)... no there is nothing in the standard system of English.
There are even more ways to ask for an ordinal in German, like when talking about marriages:
"Zum wievielten Mal ist sie verheiratet?"
"In Spanien lebte sie mit ihrem wievielten Mann?"
(I'm always thinking of Zsa Zsa Gabor here)
Ordinal question words are not really common; they're *not* there in English, French, or Portuguese, but they are in German, Czech ('kolikaty?'), and Latin ('quotus? quotumus?').
I think someone is going to write a paper about ordinal questions...
There are even more ways to ask for an ordinal in German, like when talking about marriages:
"Zum wievielten Mal ist sie verheiratet?"
"In Spanien lebte sie mit ihrem wievielten Mann?"
(I'm always thinking of Zsa Zsa Gabor here)
Ordinal question words are not really common; they're *not* there in English, French, or Portuguese, but they are in German, Czech ('kolikaty?'), and Latin ('quotus? quotumus?').
I think someone is going to write a paper about ordinal questions...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Csaba Ban
: ordinal question words also exist in Hungarian and Turkish, and all (if I am correct) Slavic languages
1 hr
|
|
Oh yes Hungarian I forgot, that's where Zsa Zsa Gabor entered the picture... :)
|
|
| neutral |
Chris Rowson (X)
: I have heard English and American people using "how manyth". I don´t normally use it myself, but I might have done occasionally.
6 hrs
|
| agree |
Fumiko Murray
: In Japanese and Chinese ordinal question is a vatal part of the language. I understand there also is the form in Finishe.
2680 days
|
8 hrs
Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Germany
Native in English
Germany
Quality Translations since 1986
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, English, German, and 6 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
7294
Langenscheidt
wievielt I. interr. Adverb: zu wievielt wart ihr? how many of you were there?;
II. Adjektiv: der (die, das) wievielte ...? which ...?; das wievielte Stück ißt du jetzt? how many pieces have you eaten already?; den Wievielten haben wir heute? what's the date today?; zum wievielten Male? how many times?; als wievielter ist er ins Ziel gekommen? what place did he come?; am wievielten August hat er Geburtstag? when in August is his birthday?
© 2001 Langenscheidt
II. Adjektiv: der (die, das) wievielte ...? which ...?; das wievielte Stück ißt du jetzt? how many pieces have you eaten already?; den Wievielten haben wir heute? what's the date today?; zum wievielten Male? how many times?; als wievielter ist er ins Ziel gekommen? what place did he come?; am wievielten August hat er Geburtstag? when in August is his birthday?
© 2001 Langenscheidt
13 hrs
ranked
not quite 1:1 to "wievielte", but this is how I´d put it:
How was he ranked at the end of the second stage?
What's the date today?
How was he ranked at the end of the second stage?
What's the date today?
Something went wrong...