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Grammar: Reported speech (indirekte Rede) reference
Trådens avsändare: Elizabeth Kelly
Elizabeth Kelly
Elizabeth Kelly
Irland
Local time: 23:57
Engelska till Tyska
+ ...
Oct 4, 2012

I am stuck translating a 10-page document written entirely in reported speech. While I understand the concpt of "indeirekte Rede" in German, some of these sentences are just too messy. I was wondering if anyone had ever come accross a site or link explaining exactly how to transfer English "reported speech" to German "indirekte Rede". For example: 1) This would guarantee that both departments had been involved and were talking to each other.
or 2) The participants had also requested, in th... See more
I am stuck translating a 10-page document written entirely in reported speech. While I understand the concpt of "indeirekte Rede" in German, some of these sentences are just too messy. I was wondering if anyone had ever come accross a site or link explaining exactly how to transfer English "reported speech" to German "indirekte Rede". For example: 1) This would guarantee that both departments had been involved and were talking to each other.
or 2) The participants had also requested, in the interests of clarity, to be given a complete schedule.

Help please! Deadline is tomorrow morning and I am starting to loose my sanity ▲ Collapse
 
Joakim Braun
Joakim Braun  Identity Verified
Sverige
Local time: 00:57
Tyska till Svenska
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Nouns Oct 4, 2012

You could rewrite it with nouns. Not elegant or subtle, but it does the job.

1) Dadurch wäre die Einbeziehung beider Abteilungen sowie eine gegenseitige Kontaktaufnahme gewährleistet.

Something like that.

(Or perhaps "Dadurch sei", if this really is a report of what some person says.)

[Bearbeitet am 2012-10-04 15:03 GMT]
 
David Wright
David Wright  Identity Verified
Österrike
Local time: 00:57
Tyska till Engelska
+ ...
Is the document minutes of a discussion? Oct 4, 2012

In which case, German tends to use the present tense (I know because I have to do quite a lot of explaining that we don't use the present in English,a s far as I can tell).
 
Elizabeth Kelly
Elizabeth Kelly
Irland
Local time: 23:57
Engelska till Tyska
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Yes, Oct 4, 2012

David, it's minutes of a plenary meeting. That's why I actually have to leave it as "reported speech". In German, there is a difference between the private (informal) speech and the public (formal) speech. In the private speech, you leave the tense as is, but in formal documents (such as minutes and reports) you have to use the "Konjunktiv". It's usually not a problem but when the sentences contain conditional clauses etc., my head starts spinning ... See more
David, it's minutes of a plenary meeting. That's why I actually have to leave it as "reported speech". In German, there is a difference between the private (informal) speech and the public (formal) speech. In the private speech, you leave the tense as is, but in formal documents (such as minutes and reports) you have to use the "Konjunktiv". It's usually not a problem but when the sentences contain conditional clauses etc., my head starts spinning

[Edited at 2012-10-04 17:13 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
ibz
ibz  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:57
Engelska till Tyska
+ ...
I'll try ... Oct 4, 2012

1) Dies würde den Einbezug beider Abteilungen und die Kommunikation zwischen ihnen gewährleisten.

2) Aus Gründen der Klarheit hätten die Teilnehmer zudem einen vollständigen Zeitplan verlangt.

Substantivierung ist eine gute, wenn auch wenig elegante Möglichkeit (wie Joakim schon sagte). Als Regel gilt: Konjunktiv I verwenden und wenn dieser die gleiche Form hat wie der Indikativ die Würde-Form verwenden.

Viel Spass!
Irene
 


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Grammar: Reported speech (indirekte Rede) reference






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