Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

sich überlegen

English translation:

figure out

Added to glossary by Orla Shanaghy
Jun 26, 2007 11:28
17 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term

sich überlegen

German to English Science Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Context: student exercises in documentation for a training course in systems engineering. The source sentence is an instruction to the students: "Überlegen Sie sich die notwendigen Systembausteine, um X zu erzielen." I don't think "Think about ..." or "Consider..." is right here. It's referring more to the result than the process, e.g. "Come up with / create / think up..." - but these all seem too informal to actually use. Anyone any ideas?
TIA
Orla
Change log

Jun 27, 2007 09:04: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Other" to "Science"

Discussion

Ken Cox Jun 26, 2007:
As a side comment, instructions of this sort are often written much more informally ('friendly tone') in English than in German, but of course you need to be consistent with the general tone of the document and your translation.
BrigitteHilgner Jun 26, 2007:
You may not like it, but my first choice choice would be "think about". Jim's suggestion is my second choice.
Jim Tucker (X) Jun 26, 2007:
Nicole has made me think you might not actually want a formal solution at all. Just how in/formal is "überlegen Sie sich" anyway? - I mean, do we have an objective notion of whether it is in regular use somewhere in test/text preparation?

Proposed translations

+4
5 mins
Selected

figure out

Is what I would say here.
Peer comment(s):

agree Francis Lee (X) : Nail on the head!
1 min
Thanks, Frank!
agree Sandra SAYN (X)
4 mins
Thanks, Sandra!
agree Jim Tucker (X) : // Ah I see thanks. Asker should probably not be looking for something more classical then. //Still seems to me that "sich überlegen" is more formal than "figure out" by at least two notches.
8 mins
It was the highly informal German term "Überlegen Sie sich" that made me choose this particular term. Thanks, Jim!/Thanks, Jim! Please have a great Tuesday!/I agree, look at all the great suggestions coming in!
agree Ken Cox : For a nice, friendly tone...
48 mins
Thank you, Ken!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Nicole, this hit it on the head! Thanks also to everyone else for the great suggestions."
6 mins

contemplate

or give some thought
Something went wrong...
8 mins

plan, compile

may work for your text
Something went wrong...
+2
8 mins

carefully consider

yet another

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2007-06-26 11:40:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"think about" - a generic approach

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 mins (2007-06-26 11:43:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

put your heads together
Peer comment(s):

agree Rebecca Garber : For a slightly less formal tone than Jim Tucker's.
3 hrs
agree erika rubinstein : think about
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
15 mins

devise

I was stuck for a while, but then this occured to me.
- Your task is to devise ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 mins (2007-06-26 11:44:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

And your own "Come up with" is fine IMO.
Peer comment(s):

agree Jim Tucker (X) : yes agree devise is probably the best - "come up with" might not be formal enough.
2 mins
Something went wrong...
27 mins

find

establish, obtain
Something went wrong...
+6
9 mins

determine

originally used for math problems ( Determine a value of x such that), but applicable here.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-06-26 12:33:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"design" for the more practical technology
Peer comment(s):

agree Courtney Sliwinski : This sounds more formal, and I think suits your purposes.
11 mins
agree Maudarg (X) : Agree with Courtney
19 mins
agree BrigitteHilgner : Good suggestion, I think.
31 mins
agree Ken Cox : Entirely consistent with my experience, if the asker wants to maintain a relatively formal tone.
43 mins
agree Rebecca Garber : Determine the components you need to solve the problem. step 1.
3 hrs
agree Nadine Kahn
21 hrs
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search