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One of the proposed translations of "Berufe" is "rockets". Is it correct?
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It's actually "rackets." That means sort of the same thing as profession, but more slang. At least in English.
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Very slangy I'd be careful where I used it. it also means "noisy confusion" but i think more usual: "fraudulent scheme", or "an occupation based on deception."
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From my Midwestern American upbringing, I can't say that I'd ever associate "racket" with "job". Is it British or Australian English?
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Perhaps a more eastern American term I guess. It implies an illegal trade, business or enterprise. Racketeering is a directly related term.
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What I am familiar with is "What's your racket?" which is generally used to mean "What do you do for a living" . It's colloquial and probably dates me. I wouldn't use it for anything else except for the literal criminal meaning.
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Berufe Job/Profession. Here in America there is a difference between Job and Profession. Does Beruf have the same thing? Was ist dein Beruf? What is your job/profession.
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Apparently, it's both and the context would help in real life situations. Oh, and 'occupation' is also a translation. :-}
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"unser" -> singular; "unsere" -> singular feminine nominative/accusative, plural http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unser
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For the sake of clarity, I usually use (der) Job for job, (die) Arbeit for work, and (der) Beruf for profession (requiring more training/education/expertise).
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It is too loose. In this instance it may be because "Berufe" is a noun while "employed" is a verb; being able to recognize nouns versus verbs can be important (e.g. you should capitalize the first letter of German nouns). In any case, DUO checks to see that you know exactly what is what (although that gets a bit difficult when things get idiomatic.) As my piano teacher used to say "First you show me that you can play this music exactly as written...and then, if you have a good reason to, you may play it differently."
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I agree with all that you've expressed above. We're not here to do loose translations and the exercises are not as random as they may sometimes seem. There is a method to it. I particularly appreciated the quote from your piano teacher. It expresses it all so well. Thanks.
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Finally, I can thank you. I've used your "piano teacher" example, mostly paraphrased, very often but couldn't recall who it was from. Many thanks and a few lingots.
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Being employed does not necessarily entail that they have a "Beruf".
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A person can be employed doing anything -- delivering leaflets or raking leaves. Neither of those would qualify as a 'Beruf', which requires a certain degree of training and commitment. A teenager might have a summer job (i.e., be employed), but not an occupation.
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I think you are confusing a career and an occupation. A summer job is an occupation but not a career
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"Employed" can mean simply occupied with some activity. I think this usage may date the person. I don't know anyone who uses the word this way, but there is the expression "gainfully employed," which means you have a job that pays. The expression acknowledges that one could be employed with some unpaid activity such as household chores.
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Is this is a common way to ask of one's profession: "Was haben Sie für einen Beruf? Also, is Beruf more for "occupation" than just "job"? I now know of der Job, die Arbeit, and der Beruf.
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Thanks. I don't understand why Germans say it like that, though... "What are you of occupation?" or something. I'm sure it'll make sense eventually; usually does. xD
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I don't know if it will help you, but I think of 'Was sind Sie von Beruf?' as 'What are you by profession?'... and 'Was machen Sie beruflich?' as 'What do you do professionally?'
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I've Googled it and it actually comes from "alter" and "eldra." But you may be close.
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It's what you choose as an occupation, like your job. Translator, teacher, lawyer, etc.
no, i mean in german, he marked the translation "profession" as wrong one
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perhaps it is because profession more often than not involves advanced learning and implies that there is a doctorate or a Phd. degree that has been obtained, whereas in the exercise they are asking a more general question about what the parents do to earn a living.
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Should one use an object in plural in English? Our parents have job was marked incorrect whereas in another exercise The seventy men eat chicken was the only correct answer (not chickens). Why?
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It depends on the context. If we can count the number of chickens that were eaten, we add an -s. If we are considering someone's taste in food we do not add an -s. Chicken can be a count-noun and a non-count noun.
I get that Beruf can be either job or profession, but then why would "Our parents are professionals" be wrong?
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So, if I wanted to tweak that a bit to something that sounds more useful: ¨Beide unsere Eltern haben Berufe.¨ Both our parents have professions. Does that work?
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I think it should be fine to answer both our parents have work. It works and should be correct! !
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Considering some of the other Duo sentences it almost might have been "Unsere Enten haben Berufe."
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My understanding is that "Beruf" is an occupation, profession, or career while "Arbeit" is just work or a job. Although just like in English "What is your job?" and "What is your profession?" are somewhat interchangeable.
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How would on say in German, "I have a career, but I do not currently have a job."
