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- "Die Zeiten sind sehr gut."
29 Comments
I wrote "Times are very good." and lost a heart, is it really wrong? I thought you can omit the article.
By "Times are very good" are you referring to how things are going? For example, if you went through hardships before with money, but now "Times are very good"? That's the only time it would make sense I think...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way
-- Dickens
519
I can't very well use this phrase in 2020. Riots, pandemic, no toilet paper, earthquakes, fires......
No, it means "The times are very good" as in "these are good times we live in".
But no-one would ever say "The times are very good" in English. I agree at the closest they might say "These are good times".
If you mean "Zeiten" as in, say, proposed times for a film or a doctor's appointment, then Die is necessary. But if it is correct to use "Die Zeiten" as in "the ages" (i.e., the times we are living in right now), then a better translation would omit the article "The," as in: "Times are very good."
Zeiten = means in German a period of time not only a point in time like a moment. E.g.: "In den alten Zeiten" = "in the old/auld times" or "in solchen Zeiten muss man..." = "these times one have to ..."
How about "The times are very well" ? Is this an idiomatic problem? Somehow it is wrong. But where? (native German - but trying to find out the "thoughts of English language" to speak a better English one day)
- 519
Including the definite article in the English translation is incorrect. It should be "times are very good". The only time you're likely to hear an English speaker say "the times" is if they're talking about a newspaper (like the New York Times).
Wow, everyone is suffering in 2020 and Duo is here having a great time.
Could be referring to a set of times for the duration of something, a set of future points in time, etc. That's the only way i could imagine it not sounding slightly awkward.
