Dec 23, 2016 15:23
7 yrs ago
English term

that Genghis Khan did

English to German Other History
Neither Europe nor the Ottoman Empire wielded a fraction of the power that Genghis Khan did.

I translated this sentence like: Weder Europa noch das Osmanische Reich übten einen Bruchtteil der Macht aus, die der Dschingis Khan tat.

But i've been told that the second part was grammatically wrong. I would appreciate it if someone could clarify what my mistake is. Also i'm not sure how can one correctly translate "did" in the second part into German.
Change log

Dec 23, 2016 15:23: changed "Kudoz queue" from "In queue" to "Public"

Dec 23, 2016 16:18: Yana Dovgopol changed "Vetting" from "Needs Vetting" to "Vet OK"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Edith Kelly

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Discussion

Rolf Keller Dec 25, 2016:
@VenomApocalypse "Weder Europa noch das Osmanische Reich übten einen Bruchteil der Macht aus, die Dschingis Khan hatte."

Also keinen Bruchteil??
Diese Logik mit dem Bruchteil klemmt noch mehr als die im AT.

Und das "hatte" ist eine falsche Übersetzung des "did": DK hat die Macht nicht nur gehabt, er hat sie laut AT auch ausgeübt.
Hasan Yelok (asker) Dec 24, 2016:
Well thanks for replying everyone. If i translate it like this: Weder Europa noch das Osmanische Reich übten einen Bruchteil der Macht aus, die Dschingis Khan hatte.

Is this a good alternative or is it still wrong ?
Usch Pilz Dec 23, 2016:
typo And in addition to everything that has already been said: Beware of typo. Bruchteil!
Rolf Keller Dec 23, 2016:
The German grammar is ok, but the semantics is not ok. A very simple fault: In the sentence in question "did" is an auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb), but has been translated as if it was an ordinary verb (Vollverb).
BrigitteHilgner Dec 23, 2016:
I agree with Ulrike MacKay Context is necessary to make any comment about the style (i.e. I would probably rephrase most of the sentence, because the translation is too close to the original).
The word "tat" (at the very end of the sentence) is definitely wrong, you cannot phrase the sentence like that. Moreover, using an article in this context (der Dschingis Khan) is wrong"
"... die Dschingis Khan hatte" would be grammatically correct, but Ulrike's suggestion is a better translation.
Ulrike MacKay Dec 23, 2016:
It seems to be... ... more of a stylistic/syntax issue than a grammatical one - the terms "Macht" und "tun" don't go together like that. You cannot "do power" in that sense. When you look at the ENG sentence, it actually reads "... that GK wielded." Thus, the GER sentence should read "... aus, die DK ausübte." Please note, though, this is referring to the syntax point of view only - not the stylistic one. Only meaning to explain where the actual mistake is... ;-)

Proposed translations

+1
4 hrs
Selected

auch nur ansatzweise so viel Macht wie GK

Um den mathematischen Aspekt loszuwerden :)

Weder Europa noch das Osmanische Reich übte auch nur ansatzweise so viel Macht aus wie Dschingis Khan.

Ich glaube nicht, dass es "der" Dschingis Khan heißt, in Wikipedia steht es auch ohne Artikel, obwohl es ja eigentlich eine Art Berufsbezeichnung ist. Oder sehe ich das falsch?

"übte" statt "übten", oder?

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Note added at 4 hrs (2016-12-23 19:46:12 GMT)
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"DK" natürlich *hust*
Peer comment(s):

agree BrigitteHilgner : Ja, wenn man auch den Stil verbessern will, ist das schön. Frohe Weihnachten!
12 hrs
Danke und frohe Weihnachten!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for replying and the explanation."
1 hr

nur einen Bruchteil der Macht von DK

"did" bezieht sich auf das Verb "wield"- ausüben muss nicht wiederholt werden, gemeint ist: ... übten (im Vergleich zu Dschingis Khan) nur einen Bruchteil seiner Macht aus

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Note added at 16 hrs (2016-12-24 07:37:52 GMT)
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... Oder ganz schlicht: hatten im Vergleich yu DK nur wenig Macht

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Note added at 16 hrs (2016-12-24 07:38:19 GMT)
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zu - nicht yu
Peer comment(s):

neutral Rolf Keller : Logikfehler schon im AT. DK hat natürlich 100 % seiner Macht ausgeübt, da bleibt kein Bruchteil übrig.
20 mins
:-)
Something went wrong...
+1
19 hrs

nicht annähernd so viel Macht wie GK

Andersrum wird ein besserer Schuh draus ;-)

Frohe Weihnachten!

Peer comment(s):

agree Ricki Farn : Frohe Weihnachten von der Schläppchen-Fraktion!
1 hr
Something went wrong...
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