"Ich nehme keinerlei Medikamente."
Translation:I do not take any medications.
49 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
660
I think yours is a better translation of the English given. If Duo wants us to translate to keinerlei, then the English needs more emphasis, such as : I take absolutely no medications or I dont take medications at all.
- 812
Or what about "I take no medicines of any kind" or "I don't take any kind of medicines"?
- 1030
keinerlei (not .. at all) = kein (no) + erlei (kinds of)
zweierlei = zwei (two) + erlei (kinds of)
- 486
Why is "I don't take medications at all" marked wrong? Duo suggested instead "I don't take any medications at all" but it means essentially the same.
While correct, it sounds very out of place here. "I do not take any medication" would be the most used/heard answer. "I do not take any medicines" sounds (if you'll forgive me) like a non-native speaker. "I do not take any medicine" would sound less strange. Medication and medicine are two of those weird English words that can be spelled in the singular, but represent plural. If someone said "I do not take any drugs", the assumed meaning would immediately be that they are talking about pot, cocaine, hash...etc.... They would want to throw in "prescription" into the sentence. "I do not take any prescription drugs".
Whether you say medicine/medicines or medication depends on where you live. Medication is not used commonly in the UK or Australia. There medicine or medicines is more usual and either can be used as the plural. Similarly, while "drugs" usually refers to illegal substances, among younger people in Australia at least, it's not uncommon for someone say they want drugs if they're not well - as in "I've got a headache. I need drugs." meaning an over the counter painkiller or a prescription medicine. It comes down to context and most people would not add "prescription" because it would be obvious they weren't referring to illegal drugs and therefore "prescription" is unnecessary.
Also note on the drug/drugs plural regionalism front, in the US one would say "A drug bust" or "a drug raid" whereas in the UK it would be "a drugs bust". Similar to the regional differences between sport/sports, maths/math
- 577
In the US, "medications" as the plural is pretty common. For example, if you go to the doctor for an annual physical, s/he will routinely ask you whether you are taking any medications.
"Medicines" is much more unusual. I wouldn't go so far as to say it would make someone sound like a non-native speaker, but it is much more unusual.
Danke. "Are you on any medications" is regularly used at doctor's offices and I don't know why I didn't think of it.
Slipped my mind.
- 1581
As a side note for any non-native English speakers out there, it has become very popular in the US in recent years to shorten medicines/medications to just "meds" in speech. As in: "Are you taking your meds?" or "It's time for your meds."
I am a paramedic in Pennsylvania. I ask my patients "what medicines do you take?" I also may ask "do you take any medication " or "do you have a list of your medications". Regarding a specific ailment I may ask "are you taking any medicine for that?"
- 568
From the upper mid-west US, "medications" is basically not a word. "Medication" refers to pharmaceuticals in general, whether they be many pills or one pill.
"Drugs" could work here under the context of pharmaceuticals, not illicit substances, but I, personally, veer away from that usage.
According to the dictionary, 'Medikamente' can be drugs, medicines, medications and pharmaceuticals.
- 577
In English, "I'm not taking any medications" only means you aren't taking any now. "I never take medicine" means not now, not ever.
It is a specific shape/type of medicine, the meaning here is about not taking any medicines in general.
Which syllable is stressed in "Medikamente"?
Is it (Me-di-kah-MEN-te)
or (Me-di-KAH-men-te)
The main stress is on -men-: das Medikament, die Medikamente.
Secondary stress is on the first syllable.
- 1109
Not really: medication could take the form of something you drink, or something you inject, not just pills.
- 1779
I like your translation. I suggested "I do not take any medications at all" a year ago and I got a notification a few days ago saying it is accepted now! It takes a while sometimes because of all the ones they have to sort through but you still should try and suggest. Did I mention I finished the German tree a few days ago? Yay me! :-D
No, it sounds very weird. You could say "Ich nehme Medikamente nicht." (maybe when you're echoing a phrasing in a question, for example) or "Ich nehme nicht Medikamente, sondern (etwas anderes)." (i.e. this would only work if it's contrastive). But "Ich nehme keine Medikamente." is by far the most natural phrasing.
It means take but in a plural form , for example : Wir nehmen , we take.
- 865
Why is 'I do not take any sort of medicines' wrong (while ........kind of medicines' is given as the correct answer. In my experience, 'sort of' and 'kind of' would have the same meaning.
i don't see why not but im a bit confused when do you use keinerlei and what for?
if anyone has answers, danke!
It is like kein/keine/kein, with extra semantic emphasis, like "not at all".
Agree with those below - keinerlei means 'absolutely no'. Sadly yet more indication of bad German / English grammatical structures.