Questions about German-English Translation

Re: Questions about German-English Translation

aktually no



No, Dorothea von Steinfeld or Dorothea of Steinfeld is right.




yes , or to "take her scare"

Re: Questions about German-English Translation

Re: Questions about German-English Translation


Yes.

The puppy, which they finally found, weighed half a kilo, being named as Dorothea of Steinfeld. "Dora", as she was called later, conquered mother's heart.

What I think is that Dorothea von Steinfeld is a name (name + surname). Am I wrong?

Yes and coeval It´s in all probably the location of her .

Dogs in Germany are called by their breeders.
The breed, 'Dora' is from, is called "von Steinfels".

Re: Questions about German-English Translation

Either would be acceptable.


This translation requires a bit of crafting. Strictly speaking, "oder tat sie nur so?" doesn't make much sense translated literally as "or did she only do [that]?" That's because the German "Mutter schien sich ... zu freuen" is a reflexive verb, so that she is literally doing something (i.e. appearing to herself). In English, however, "Mutter schien sich ... zu freuen" would be translated as "mother appears to enjoy." In other words, she is something in English, whereas she does something in German. So translating "tat" as "had done" or "did do" misses this change from "doing" to "being." A better translation would be: "Mother appeared to enjoy the beautiful view -- or was it only an appearance?"


I'm not sure how one would translate "Angst nehmen." I would suspect that a better translation would be: "Whether a small dog perhaps might scare her?" (this actually sounds like a sentence fragment: would a German start a sentence with "ob?").

The next sentence needs some work. "Die Hündin, die sie schließlich fanden, wog ein halbes Kilo und trug den Namen Dorothea von Steinfeld," if translated literally, sounds awkward with the "and clause" at the end. In English, it would sound better to rearrange the clauses in the sentence, such as: "They finally found the puppy, which weighed a half-kilo and was named Dorothea von Steinfeld."


Depending on its usage, "wie" can be translated as "how," "as," or "that." In the sentence "Ich sehe, wie sie blass wurde," it seems that "wie" functions as "that" (I see that she was becoming pale), although it could also be translated as "how" (I see how she was becoming pale). More context would be helpful in determining which is the better translation.


I have no clue what Walter is talking about when he says that German dogs are known by their breeders. If there's something going on with German dogs and their names, I'm not aware of it.

In general, German proper names with a "von" prefix are not translated in English: if Dorothea's last name is "von Steinfeld," then she would be called "von Steinfeld" (not "of Steinfeld") in English. It's the same thing with the French prefixes "de" and "du" or the Italian prefixes "della" or "di."

I don't agree with the translation of 'ob ein kleiner Hund ihr die Angst vielleicht nehmen könnte?'

I would translate it as something like 'Could a little dog maybe take away her fear?' This does not sound really polished but I hope it gives you an idea what is meant here.

Dogs are called 'officially' "Hasso vom Hohlen Stein", "Dorothea von Walibo", and that is written in the breeding register.

It doesn't matter, how they are called by the family. (I remember, we had a Scottish terrier, when I was small, which won a couple of prizes under the name of "Theobald von Hohenberg"; we called the dog "Purzel")

Hi there, Walter. I tried to find an explanation about the dog name thing. I can't - too tired... You did a good job!

Purzel Theobald! I like it!

Thanks, Urs (and 'good night' > "sleep very well in your klapprig Bettgestell" :wink: )


Dogs can have really nice names: Ica di Casa Mary, Ursus von Batu ...

(To give you an idea about those names, have a look here: Zwinger vom Schlossgässchen and click on the certificates.)