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- "There is a lot of fear."
"There is a lot of fear."
Translation:Die Angst ist groß.
16 Comments
That would be the literal translation. And it is not wrong in the classical sense. But it does not really express what I think is meant here. It sounds like: You know that concept of anxiety? A lot of that exists.
It does not point to a specific place or time. Which is normally the case with "es gibt" if you do not specify it otherwise. So you end up with a really general statement about existence. But here the English sentence is used a bit idiomatic. I picture somebody coming into a new town and smelling the air, which reeks of fear.
In that case, German uses "groß" for describing the fear. "viel" is not a very good fit with "Angst". So the sentence above sounds most idiomatic in my ears. Everything with "es gibt" does not really work. "Angst" is possessed in German. But "es gibt" is like giving a place or timespace indirectly the possession of something (if you mention or imply one). But a place does not fear, the people do. Maybe take it as an idiomatic phrase.
I hope I could be of help.
It's times lile this where I wish duolingo gave a little context in brackets. I have absolutely no idea what "there is a lot of fear" is supposed to mean without context.
Is this sentence saying there is much fear in the world? Is "Die Angst ist groß" another way of saying "The fear is great (here)" as in I've entered a room in an asylum in which everyone is screaming.
Just another idiomatic note. If I hear "the fear is big/great." I automatically think, "which one?" or "the fear of what?" And that's still my reaction when those words are in German. From comments I think that isn't quite the thought expressed by the German. I might say "fear hung in the air" or something equally poetic. Hope that's interesting.
I'm a native English speaker. Ich komme aus Australien.
"Da ist viel Angst" or even "Es gibt dort viel Angst" is indeed a literal translation. But this is not idiomatic in German and nearly nobody would say it. "Die Angst ist groß" (literally "the fear is big") sound much more natural in German. Simply different kind of thinking you will get accustomed to in a while.