Oct 15, 2009 19:52
14 yrs ago
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German term
Not a translator
der seine Quellen nicht preisgab
Non-PRO
German to English
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General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
A non-PRO question...
Here's the full context:
"Denn C. war absolut nicht der Type, der seine Quellen nicht preisgab."
This was translated as "Because C. was not at all the type to reveal his sources."
But shouldn't it be "...to not reveal his sources"?
That second translation would certainly make a lot more sense in the larger context of the paragraph, which says it's difficult to understand why C. would have concealed an influence.
Thanks in advance.
Here's the full context:
"Denn C. war absolut nicht der Type, der seine Quellen nicht preisgab."
This was translated as "Because C. was not at all the type to reveal his sources."
But shouldn't it be "...to not reveal his sources"?
That second translation would certainly make a lot more sense in the larger context of the paragraph, which says it's difficult to understand why C. would have concealed an influence.
Thanks in advance.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +10 | to not reveal his sources |
Steffen Walter
|
Proposed translations
+10
3 mins
Steffen Walter
Germany
Germany
Native in German
Germany
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Native in: German (Variant: Germany) 
Works in: English to German, German to English, French to German, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
60
Selected
to not reveal his sources
You are absolutely right because of the double negation "... nicht ... nicht..." contained in your sentence.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kim Metzger
1 min
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| agree |
ArnoTranslat (X)
1 min
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| agree |
roneill
11 mins
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| agree |
Bernhard Sulzer
: and yes, peculiar use of the German double-negative.
18 mins
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| agree |
Helen Shiner
: Yes, works in EN, too, as long as second 'not' humorously stressed. To render it without the double negative would take some of the irony away. But perhaps 'not to reveal his sources' would be slightly more natural and would help the emphasis, too.
3 hrs
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Yes, I would agree with the changed word order.
|
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| agree |
Rolf Keiser
: that's it.
11 hrs
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| agree |
mill2
: with Helen
17 hrs
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| agree |
babli
: agree
18 hrs
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| agree |
Ulrike Kraemer
18 hrs
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| agree |
Rebecca Garber
19 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I appreciate it! I'm using Helen's word order as well, since I think it really was meant ironically (and I may even italicize "at all" to drive the point home ;-))."
Discussion
You are right. And that would mean that he is the type to reveal (not to conceal) his sources. Odd (is the use of the German double negative). And it should be der "Typ".
Could I just say instead, "Because C. was not at all the type to conceal his sources" to make it clearer? Two negatives in one sentence can be confusing in any language!