"Freiheit ist nicht frei."

Translation: Freedom is not free.

[Patricia766339]

Is this "frei" as in "free" or "for free?" As a German sentence this makes little sense, but in regard to the English phrase the translation seems wrong. "Freiheit ist nicht umsonst" makes more sense to me.

[Methodminus]

Yea, it should be: Freiheit ist nicht kostenlos.

[KMosuzu]

Totally agree! But I hope this sentence is something like Freedom should be free (kostenlos).... ;)

[Myrrha01]

It's more like "freedom has to be paid for" or " "freedom cannot be bestowed — it must be achieved", which is really how things are in this world.

[KMosuzu]

Yes, I hear you. But really, people should not pay for freedom. We should be free. That is what I meant, even the reality is not...unfortunately.

[MortiBiRD]

The german sentence is also strange. Its grammatical, but its seems like nonsense for me, but when its a Person that is called "Freiheit" and this one is not "free" (like hes in prison). Then it wouldnt make sense to translate the name, because hes either called Freiheit or Freedom in both languages.

[supermollusc]

"frei" bedeutet nicht "kostenlos" oder "umsonst", wogegen das Englische "free" kann das bedeuten

[KuronosuKami]

Nicht wirklich. Schonmal "Eintritt frei" gehört? ;)

[wofi2]

Oder Freibier ;-)

[Jussel11]

Aber hier würde man definitiv "umsonst" verwenden. "kostenlos" bezieht sich nur auf Geld, "frei" hat nur selten diese Bedeutung (MortiBiRD schreibt oben, wie man diesen Satz im Deutschen verstünde) und "umsonst" heißt allgemein "für nichts", "ohne Gegenleistung". Das kann sich auf Geld beziehen, muss es aber nicht und passt daher in diesem Satz am besten.

[greg335711]

For a minute there I thought Duo was channeling Laibach:

"Die Wahrheit ist für die Lügner
Und Freiheit die Sklaverei
Das Geld ist für die Armen
Und es ist Lüge reich zu sein"
Laibach: Achtung, WAT (2003)

[IndaImmega]

"Freedom is not free" is (among other possible usages) an American idiom used a lot in the US to acknowledge the role of those who serve in the armed forces. The expression is on the Korean Veterans Memorial in DC.

[dave.pretty]

Would "liberty" be a different word?

[mizinamo]

No.

"Freedom" has Germanic roots (it's a "native" English word), "liberty" has Romance roots (it's originally from Latin via French), but German just has its native word -- it did not borrow a synonym from French during a Norman invasion.

[beagoodone]

The best of the best phrases

[Geeza9]

I thought this was meant in a philosophical way. One man's freedom ends where another one's freedom begins. Freedom is an illusion. You know, that kinda talk.

[David904136]

A mistake such as this hasn't been corrected in a year? Wow. Credibility ebbing away. . .

[dandwhit1234]

Surely it should be "kostenlos" instead of "frei" here

[Jussel11]

"kostenlos" means that you do not have to pay money for something. But this sentence is not about this. It even has an article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_isn%27t_free

[David904136]

"Umsonst" would be my choice.

[RosettaY]

"Freiheit ist nicht frei" does not give any sense and is a very unusual sentence in German. Better would be: "Freiheit ist nicht gratis/Freiheit gibt es nicht für umsonst" in the meaning, one must earn freedom! Reported as a mistake!