HINTS FOR TRANSLATION. 1. — (a) The men, hearing that noise, ran away. (b) the child, having never yet seen such a monster, was afraid. Die Leute liefen davon, als sie jenen Lärm hörten. Das Kind, welches noch nie solch ein Ungeheuer gesehen hatte, fürchtete sich. A participial clause is translated into German by a dependent sentence with either a Conjunction (a) or a Relative (b). 2. The Saxons, having conquered the greater part of Britain, founded seven Kingdoms. Nachdem die Sachsen den gröBeren Theil von Britannien erobert hatten, gründeten sie sieben Königreiche. When a participial clause (having conquered etc.) separates the Subject (Saxons) from its finite verb (founded), this participial clause, having been turned into a dependent clause with a Conjunction, is often put before the principal sentence, the Subject (die Sachsen) entering into the former and being repeated by a pronoun (ie) in the latter. 3. (a) He grew very strong by carrying a heavier burden every day. (b) They could not agree about dividing their prize. (c) They had entered the river without knowing it. Er wurde sehr stark dadurch, daß er jeden Tag eine schwerere Last trug. Sie konnten sich nicht darüber einigen, wie sie ihre Beute theilen sollten. Sie waren in den Fluß gelangt, ohne es zu wissen (ohne, daß sie es wußten). If a verbal noun (carrying, dividing) is preceded by a preposition, the verbal noun is translated by a dependent sentence or an Infinitive. When the whole clause represents an Adverb of cause [as in (a)] or of manner [as in (b)], it must be rendered by a dependent sentence having its preposition preceded by "da". 4. They quarrelled about Sie zankten sich über die Theidividing the spoils. lung der Beute. Sometimes however the verbal noun (present participle) can be rendered by a noun in German. Cäsar überschritt den Rubicon, and If two principal clauses beat...) having the same Subject (Cæsar) form one sentence, and if in the second inversion takes place, the subject must be repeated by a pronoun (er) unless the same words which cause inversion in the second principal clause also cause inversion in the first. 6. — (a) They got hard knocks and hard work in plenty, which was on the what they looked for. (b) Upon which ... whole Sie bekamen tüchtige Stöße und In English the Relative is frequently employed when the previous preposition may be considered as complete: in German the Demonstrative is employed in such cases; mostly with the addition of "und". 7. Give him what is left. Gebt ihm was noch übrig ist. In German the particle "noch, still", ought be added wherever the sense will allow it, even where it is considered superfluous in English. 8. (a) Her robes, embroidered with gold, fell in ample folds upon the ground. Ihr mit Gold gesticktes Gewand fiel in weiten Falten auf die Erde. (b) Such people, only attentive to what passes among the stars, forget that they are still denizens of this world. Solche Leute, die nur (indem sie nur) auf das ihre Aufmerksamkeit richten, was sich unter den Sternen zuträgt, vergessen, daß sie noch Bürger dieser Welt sind. attributive clauses fre In English attributes or quently follow the word which they qualify; in German this is very rare: they must, if possible (as with Adjectives) be put before such word, or be changed into a depengenerally relative clause. dent In English (as in Latin) the construction of the Accusative or Nominative with an Infinitive is frequently used after verbs of "saying", "thinking" etc.; in German this construction is rendered by a dependent clause with "daß". 10. Obgleich sich Alfred Anfangs in so schlechtem Lichte zeigte, so machte er sich doch bald zum Liebling Aller. In English, sentences frequently begin with several Adverbs, adverbial clauses, or Conjunctions, not dependent on each other nor joined by a Conjunction expressing coordination; this must be avoided in German, not more than one of such Adverbs etc. being allowed to precede the finite verb, or Subject. There are many words in English which being in the Singular, must be translated into German by a word in the plural, and vice versa. It is of great importance that the Student should direct his attention to such cases. 12. Man bot ihm einen hohen Preis an. In English the Passive is frequently used when in German the Active ought to be employed. 13. (b) He would frequently carry him to the puppet-show. (c) He would go, although I told him of the dangers which were awaiting him. Die Jahreszeit erlaubte ihnen In English the parts of the so-called auxiliary verb "will" sometimes add nothing beyond indicating the tense to the meaning of the verb which they accompany (a), sometimes they signify "to be accustomed" "to use" (b), sometimes "to insist" (c). 14. We now admire the coin only for the stamp it once bore. In English the relative put where it must be given 15. (a) They cut off his head. Wir bewundern die Münze jezt nur wegen des Stempels, den sie einst trug. pronoun is frequently not in German. Sie schlugen ihm den Kopf ab. Wohl gar um dem Baier sein (b) I suppose, to protect the country of the Bavarian. The English possessive pronoun (a) and the possessive case (b) are often rendered in German by the Dative case in the former instance (a) of the corresponding personal pronoun. 16. It is with the pure hope Er kommt mit der reinen Hoffof giving his parents pleasure nung seinen Eltern Freude zu machen. that he comes. In English sentences frequently begin with "It is" or "It was" and continue with "that", "who". etc.: in German the two clauses ought to be changed into one principal sentence, leaving out the words indicated above. Printed by F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig. |
