- Forum >
- Topic: German >
- "Zumindest seht ihr nicht bla…
47 Comments
845
Can't you look blue from the cold in Germany? We do use that expression in the Netherlands.
As I was walking along the shore one fine winter's day, I was surprised to see a group of people emerge from the water, fully clothed, struggling to make it to land. "Our boat capsized, and we had to swim through a quarter mile of cold water!" one of the group exclaimed. "Well," I replied, "at least you all don't look blue."
1494
No, though "Du" and "Ihr" (informal plural) are sometimes capitalized in correspondence (e-mail, or a letter). This is the informal plural (du+du=ihr). It's not usually capitalized. The formal plural, Sie, is capitalized, along with Ihnen (dative form), and other related forms, including the possessive pronoun "Ihr", which might be what you're thinking of? For instance: Formal plural: Was denken Sie? Was ist Ihre Meinung? (Sie & Ihre are capitalized) Informal plural: Was denkt ihr? Was ist eure Meinung? (ihr & eure are not capitalized, though they might be in a letter or e-mail?)
185
The (new) male voice sounds like he'd say "sieht" in the normal paced audio - I got the sentence wrong because of that. In the slowed down version it sounds more like "seht" and the female voice sounds correct. Maybe a native speaker can check the audio out? (And now as I think about it, maybe I should have paid more attention to the sentence and the pronoun instead of just the audio :D)
1494
"aussehen"= "to look" in the sense of to appear
So, "You look tired"= "Du siehst müde aus."
"That looks terrible"= "Das sieht furchtbar aus."
It's also used figuratively, to convey prospects, in the same sense as English:
"It doesn't look good." (say, describing a sick person's chance of recovery) = "Es sieht nicht gut aus."
In other words, it's not an action verb at all, but a linking verb! (remember those?) :]
191
Although this direct translation should be accepted, it shouldn't be the main suggested translation. Blau = drunk, blue = depressed, two very different meanings. In English, blue complexion could also be very cold, ill or pale. Does this translate to German?
This translation was made with Google translate. See: http://translate.google.ro/?hl=rotab=wT#en/de/At%20least%20you%20do%20not%20look%20blue.
The answer taken from Google translate was: Mindestens du siehst nicht blau.
1494
If you want to say "you don't look blue", then the verb is "aussehen". To look, in the sense of "to appear, to have the appearance" = "aussehen". "sehen" is simply to see.