17 Comments
Well, the word-for-word translation is 'You both stand yourselves very close'...don't know if that's so useful though. 'Ihr beide' means 'you two'. '(sich) nahestehen' means to be close, it's a reflexive verb so here it requires 'euch' (yourselves, or better, to each other). Does that help? :/
22
Not in this case. "Both" usually implies that the two people/things are operating together, as one. "Both of you are very close" only works in reference to something else - you are both very close to something else, e.g.: "Both of you are very close to the door."
In German or English? English - yes. German - I think it's common. You can also say for example 'Die anderen beiden' (the other two) etc.
Does anybody know if it's also possible to say it like we do in English - Ihr zwei, die anderen zwei etc?
"Does anybody know if it's also possible to say it like we do in English - Ihr zwei, die anderen zwei etc?"
Ja, das kann man auf deutsch auch ganz gut sagen:
"Ihr zwei seid euch wohl nicht einig"
"Wir zwei waren schon gestern dort"
"Ihr zwei geht nach Norden, ihr beide geht nach Westen, wir zwei gehen nach Süden, und ihr anderen drei geht nach Osten!"
Agreed, it doesn't make sense in this context, but in others it would. For instance, in English, if you grow up with a close-in-age sibling, you hear "you both" A LOT.
You both need to get your shoes on. You both need to get your teeth brushed. You both need to get down here now!
But yes, in this sentence "You two" is the correct translation. I think because you say "you both" when the message is the same to both people, where here it's about their duality, their shared relationship.
You'd say "you two decide between yourselves," or "you two need to share that".
Make sense?
I'm sorry! I can't have read your comment with much attention.. I'll edit, since I think there's still some useful information for the non-English speakers.
- 22
In this context, you wouldn't say "you both" in English--you'd say it just as it appears in Duolingo. In other contexts, "you both" might be better--"You both could come." In some contexts, "You two" could carry a distancing, disparaging tone.
The conceptual meaning of this: is it as the literal translation, in relation to physical closeness; or is it how the translation seems, and an emotional closeness?
I think a valid translation of this is " You two are standing close together.", but it wasn't accepted.
- 869
It accepted, "You two stand very close to each other." It may have accepted yours if you had said "very close together", but it sounds like the German implies emotional closeness rather than physical.
