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- Topic: German >
- "Der Wein steht unten."
28 Comments
You made me laugh :D
Yes, this is quite a literal translation that seems odd in English but is fine in German. "The wine is at the bottom" is also accepted.
So what does this actually mean in English? The wine is downstairs? The wine is below? There's wine in the bottom of the bottle?
Stehen, liegen, and sitzen are the verbs used with position. They don't have exact English equivalents (stand, lay, and sit are not used exactly the same).
It means that wine is upright on the bottom. The could be the bottom shelf or bottom floor or bottom of the truck. That part is left unstated, probably because it is implied in whatever context this sentence would be used.
"The wine is downstairs" was accepted, so that seems to be at least one of the meanings.
The English is not only odd, it makes no sense. This is one of those cases where DL should NOT give the literal translation. Rather, as mentioned in other posts about idioms, it should give a natural English sense, with an explanation as to the literal meaning to help understand the idiom. But giving only the literal, nonsensical translation does not help us learn how to use the German phrase.
But isn't the whole point of effective translation to make the sentence sound as comfortable and "right" as possible to the ear of a speaker of the language into which you're translating the sentence without violating the sense of the original? "Es geht mir gut" as "It goes well to me" might sound right as rain to a native German. But it's a terrible translation for a non-German.
Well, felt the same way for a long time, but I'm coming around to the notion that a direct translation might in the source language might sometimes be helpful for remembering the construction in the target language. Obviously "stands at the bottom" is a completely wrong in English for German speakers, but in German for English speakers it's potentially helpful.
I took it to mean (and was marked correct for): "The wine is underneath"
The first vision that came to mind was somebody looking in a cabinet for a bottle of wine and being told that the wine is underneath where they are looking; would "der Wein steht unten" be used in that case?
What does this actually mean? The literal English translation doesn't help at all!
315
The literal translation truly is abysmal. One thing it could actually (and also commonly) mean would be "The wine is on the bottom shelf," either in a cabinet or in the refrigerator.
Isn't unten supposed to refer to the back? If not, which word implies that the wine is in the back?
- 398
Small lament. Nonsensical sentences make learning languages just like learning algebra or trigonometry. I don't have the faintest idea without context. ( I thank you for your patience.)
I suggest every one pick up books written in middle English and then come back and try again.
Since the words are given, my guess was simply "The wine at the bottom". But did not take it.
