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Having difficulty understanding a sentence from German to English
Thread poster: Omri Ofek Luzon
Omri Ofek Luzon
Omri Ofek Luzon  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 00:59
Member (2019)
English to Hebrew
+ ...
Sep 20, 2019

Hi Everybody,

Hope I am asking this in the right forum, if not - please direct me.
I've been trying to understand the following sentence in a German text, maybe you can assist me. How would you translate it? What do you understand from it?

"Das sind die Tiere, welche die Kunst fertiggebracht haben, dauernd auf dem Trocknen zu leben, also aus dem körper und lebensfremden Stoff Luft einen körpereigenen zu bilden."

Thanks!
 
Michelle Marshall
Michelle Marshall
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:59
Swedish to English
KudoZ Sep 20, 2019

Hi Omri,

If you put this - or some of the terms - as a question in KudoZ, I'm sure someone will be able to help you.

Good luck!

Michele Fauble
Barbara Carrara
neilmac
Matthias Brombach
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 23:59
Spanish to English
+ ...
Roughly Sep 20, 2019

Although my high school German is extremely rusty, and it is not one of my working languages, with a little help from Google, I take it to mean something along these lines:

"These are (the) animals that have managed the feat of living permanently in drought, (by) making air from their own bodies and foreign substances"

It would help if we knew a bit more about the animals in question.






[Edited at 2019-09-20 15:06 GMT]
 
Omri Ofek Luzon
Omri Ofek Luzon  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 00:59
Member (2019)
English to Hebrew
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
amphibians Sep 20, 2019

It would help if we knew a bit more about the animals in question.



[Edited at 2019-09-20 15:06 GMT] [/quote]

It relates to amphibians.
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 23:59
Spanish to English
+ ...
Amphibians Sep 20, 2019

AFAIK, amphibians like frogs and toads don't survive drought by "making air from their own bodies and foreign substances", so that part of the sentence can't be right. They usually store moisture in their bodies by different methods, but I'm not an expert. YYour best bet is to wait for someone whose German is better than mine to respond.
 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 23:59
German to English
living permanently on dry land ... converting air into a basis for life (instead of being lethal) Sep 20, 2019

Omri Ofek Luzon wrote:

Hi Everybody,

Hope I am asking this in the right forum, if not - please direct me.
I've been trying to understand the following sentence in a German text, maybe you can assist me. How would you translate it? What do you understand from it?

"Das sind die Tiere, welche die Kunst fertiggebracht haben, dauernd auf dem Trocknen zu leben, also aus dem körper und lebensfremden Stoff Luft einen körpereigenen zu bilden."

Thanks!


What it means is that they (the amphibians) were the first animals to perfect the art of living permanently on land (instead of in the water), by converting air into something that could be used by the body to support its life, instead of being something foreign to the body and to life in general (= lethal to marine organisms).

I don't have the patience to translate it well at the moment, but here is a very rough translation:
"These are the animals that perfected the art of living permanently on land, that is, turning the substance of air - which had been alien to the body and to life - into something that is a part of the body."

neilmac
A_Lilie
A. & S. Witte
 
Omri Ofek Luzon
Omri Ofek Luzon  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 00:59
Member (2019)
English to Hebrew
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Sep 25, 2019

That was most helpful
 


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Having difficulty understanding a sentence from German to English







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