der ...er kaum.

English translation: but it (the trial) will hardly do justice to the tragedy

12:05 Oct 25, 2005
German to English translations [Non-PRO]
Social Sciences - Journalism
German term or phrase: der ...er kaum.
Im Juli 2002 verlor Witalij Kalojew seine Familie beim Flugzeugabsturz am Bodensee; im Februar 2004 tötete er den Fluglotsen Peter Nielsen, der damals Dienst hatte. Nun beginnt in Zürich der Prozess - der Tragödie gerecht werden kann er kaum.

Please kindly help analyze grammatically the meaning of "der Tragödie gerecht werden kann er kaum."

Thanks in advance!
Jianming Sun
Local time: 16:53
English translation:but it (the trial) will hardly do justice to the tragedy
Explanation:
That's the meaning. There may be other ways of wording it.
Selected response from:

Trudy Peters
United States
Local time: 04:53
Grading comment
Thank you all for kind help!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +10but it (the trial) will hardly do justice to the tragedy
Trudy Peters
5"er" refers back to "der Prozess"
Esther Wiemeyer
3 -3...but it is impossible to do justice to Witalij
Petra Kliba


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
"er" refers back to "der Prozess"


Explanation:
In "normal" German the sentence should be: "Er (i.e. der Prozess) kann der Tragödie kaum gerecht werden."

so the approximate meaning should be:

it won't be possible to capture all aspects of the tragedy in the trial

Esther Wiemeyer
Local time: 09:53
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
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16 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +10
but it (the trial) will hardly do justice to the tragedy


Explanation:
That's the meaning. There may be other ways of wording it.

Trudy Peters
United States
Local time: 04:53
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 11
Grading comment
Thank you all for kind help!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Emilie
2 mins

agree  LegalTrans D
7 mins

agree  Stephen Roche: By far the best suggestion
16 mins

agree  Ian M-H (X)
29 mins

agree  Armorel Young
33 mins

agree  Petra Kliba: sounds good to me!
34 mins

agree  James Johnson
39 mins

agree  Herbert2
45 mins

agree  Rebecca Garber
59 mins

agree  Stephen Sadie
1 hr
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -3
...but it is impossible to do justice to Witalij


Explanation:
Der Satz sollte auf Deutsch heißen: der Tragödie gerecht werden, kann er kaum.
Der Satz soll heißen: Witalij K. kann man nicht wegen des Mordes veurteilen, denn er hatte "Gründe" dafür d.h. es gibt nicht eine richtige Lösung bei dem Prozeß.

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Note added at 58 mins (2005-10-25 13:03:58 GMT)
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As I noted after Trudy's comment, I didn't get the sense, so please forget my suggestion.

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Note added at 5 hrs 46 mins (2005-10-25 17:51:46 GMT) Post-grading
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As I noted after Trudy's comment, I didn't get the sense, so please forget my suggestion.

Petra Kliba
Croatia
Local time: 09:53
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in CroatianCroatian, Native in ItalianItalian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Trudy Peters: nothing to do with Witalij - see my note above
9 mins
  -> yyes, you're right!

disagree  Ian M-H (X): I don't see "Witalij kann man nicht wegen Mordes veurteilen" in Asker's text - which doesn't even tell us whether the charge is murder.
45 mins

disagree  Francis Lee (X): Er hatte "Gründe" dafür? Ich bewzeifele, ob der Richter das auch so sehen würde; ausserdem bezieht sich "der" auf ... naja, inzwischen weisstja schon.
58 mins
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