Learning German

Mein Hut der hat drei Ecken
Drei Ecken hat mein Hut
Und hat er nicht drei Ecken
So war es nicht mein Hut

I took German in High School and that's one of the only things I really remember. That and whenever I ask what time it is I always say "Wieviel uhr ist es?"

I was always better with pronunciation than writing it. I was really into the class though. I used to speak German in my sleep. I really wigged my parents out with that. Ha!

Sorry, I don't have any input with your translating, I just wanted to share. :whistle:
 
Well, I'm going to be better at reading than pronouncing! Maybe we should combine brains. . . . *eyes your forehead speculatively*
 
Och Leute, redet doch mal Deutsch hier ^^ Und ich bin gut bei sowohl Aussprache, als auch Schreiben, Lesen, Zuhören, Reden.... auf Deutsch., versteht sich....in anderen Sprachen (Englisch z.B.) ist das anders
 
Turns out these fairy tales were written in the early and mid 19th century, which may explain why I'm having so much trouble with vocabulary. Anyone know what "ausglitt" or "umfiel" mean?
 
Warum lest ihr solche alten Texte in der Schule? Wir reden in Englisch über den Klimawandel und so.
 
I come begging for the wisdom of the German-speaking on the Buffy-Boards again. I've got two words that I can't find translations for: "estarben" and "sammetfutter." (That second one just sounds dirty to me.) Here's the contextual sentence fragment:

so erstarben ihm, da er überdies nicht beredt war, die Worte im Munde, also daß er der Märtyrer seines Mantels war und Hunger litt, so schwarz wie des letzteren Sammetfutter.

For "so schwarz wie des letzteren Sammetfutter," I'm getting "as black as the back" of something?
 
:lmao:

I didn't find the translation to your words, the only thing I can tell you is that erstarben is the past tence of the verb "ersterben". FunnyBunny muss Dir helfen!
But I found the text you're translating...
Isn't it the "Kleider machen Leute" von Gottfried Keller? 🙄
 
Yes, indeed, it is. I'm only a few paragraphs in, though.

So what's "estirben"? I can't find that in my dictionaries, either.
 
X
XDruX
Aww, you're welcome! Hope it will help you :) (and that their translation are right 8-) )
ersterben means to pass away.

I thought about that since sterben means to die but I wasn't sure. But got the confirmation.

Edit:

Hey! Found this!

MAybe it will help you 😉

Interesting link

I habe Sammetfutter hier gefunden und das meint: velvet lining

(Is it right FunnyBunny310?)
 
B
Blondie Bear
You get karmafied for finding that link! You're awesome!
Tueuse de Vampires
Tueuse de Vampires
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I'm not seeing how "pass away" fits in this sentence, but it could be my translating skills failing me. Here's the whole sentence and my translation so far (it's still a little rocky cause I haven't adjusted everything for English word order and stuff):

Näherte er sich einem Hause, so betrachteten ihn die Leute mit Verwunderung und Neugierde und erwarteten eher alles andere, als daß er betteln würde; so erstarben ihm, da er überdies nicht beredt war, die Worte im Munde, also daß er der Märtyrer seines Mantels war und Hunger litt, so schwarz wie des letzteren Sammetfutter.

As he neared a house, the people considered him with surprise and curiosity and expecting anything other than that he would beg; so estarben him; moreover, he was not eloquent with words in his mouth, also he was a martyr in his overcoat and suffered hunger, as black as the last Sammetfutter.

The only permutation of "die" that fits my translation is "kill" ("so they killed him"), but that doesn't make sense in context. Have I screwed up something along the way?
 
Es sind die Worte, die ihm im Munde erstarben.

"The words died in his mouth" would it be litteraly...

It is like he wanted to say something, but, as he isn't eloquent, he just stoped and the words "died" in his mouth.
 
Geez, I've got to say, you have to translate strange texts, really old words.
Yes, 'erstarben' means to pass away, and the whole sentence is more or less an idiom
And it also could be the right translation for Sammetfutter.
But like I said, it sound really old, with a lot of rhetorical devices in it. Like for instance Sammetfutter, today you would say 'Samtfutter'
 
Well, my major is Medieval British Literature, hence the learning German. The German teacher was aware that handing me a text in Medieval German would just be evil, so these two texts are 19th century. Here's his exact words:

Here are two fantasy tales from the early and later 19th century, respectively by a German and a Swiss German, that should be of interest to you and will amount to about 50 pages total. The first one is by Wilhelm Hauff and is entitled "Zwerg Nase." The second one is realistic social fantasy by Gottfried Keller, "Kleider machen Leute" about a tailor who is mistaken for a count and briefly lives the life of the latter.
Click to expand...

Hence the older words and some of the difficulty I'm having; many modern German dictionaries--even online ones--don't have some of these words in them anymore.
 
Yes, and I have the same problem. Some of these words I know (I call myself educated, after all), but not all. I sometimes have the same problem with English, it took me some days to figure out what 'gravitas' means, for example. And I have 4 sets of English/German dictionaries.
That's why I was wondering about the texts you translate, because these are just words you won't find in everyday life
 
The patheticness that is me needs more help. I've run aground on "bequemen," which I'm finding two different translations for, neither of which makes sense in context: "deign" and "consent."

Here's the sentence (or part of it, cause the whole sentence is enormous):
Als er bekümmert und geschwächt eine Anhöhe hinaufging, stieß er auf einen neuen und bequemen Reisewagen

I have:
As he went up a hill, troubled and weak, he encountered a new and [bequemen] carriage
 
yup, comfy. And it's 'bequem'. you always have to keep in mind that in contrast with the English language, German has 4 cases. So in this case it's accusativ, that's why it's 'bequemen', which can also be a verb. Always think about that 😉
 
That does make much more sense. My German dictionary has this entry:
bequem: adj comfortable . . . b~en (sich) vr deign

Hence my confusion; bequemen appeared to mean "deign."
 
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