Grammar: Reported speech (indirekte Rede) reference Thread poster: Elizabeth Kelly
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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 
Sweden
Local time: 04:32
German to Swedish
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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
Austria
Local time: 04:32
German to English
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| 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
Ireland
Local time: 03:32
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER
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
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ibz
Local time: 04:32
Member (2007)
English to German
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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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