"Sie ist über mir."
Translation:She is above me.
61 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
On a serious note, can this mean that she is on top of me? I thought that would be "Sie ist auf mir", implying that there is bodily contact (She is on top of me). "She is above me", to me, is more likely to mean that she is on the next floor up, or flying over me (we are not touching).
Can a native speaker please confirm this?
On a serious note, can this mean that she is on top of me?
No. I wouldn't use über if the two things are in contact.
We might be in bunk beds, where I am in the bottom bunk and she is in the bottom bunk, above me.
But not when she is lying on me -- that would be auf mir, as you correctly thought.
If you use the adverb oben "on top", though (Sie ist oben "she is on top; she is at the top"), she might be either auf or über you.
Hey mizinamo, Duo accepts the English translation of 'She is over me'... May I ask, how would one say "she is over me" with respect to a prior relationship? How would this differ in respect to if instead 'she' was my boss, and above me hierarchically? My best!
EDIT: I notice you've expressed it is an acceptable translation for a superior, just below this... my apologies!
Does this mean that she is literally above me, or in the sense more superior, I think it can mean both but just wondering?
18
"She is my superior" is how this is expressed in English, but the answer was not accepted.
I reported, but I fear that this particular translation will not be considered when my report is reviewed.
That sounds like an acceptable translation to me.
It's just not one of those listed as acceptable translations on the Duolingo exercise.
Report it if you'd like.
Depends on what you mean, in english those can have different meanings. "She is over me" in terms of you ended a relationshop and she does not think/care about you anymore (To be "over" someone). Or "She is over top of me" like literally above/over TOP of you. So I personally think "She is over me" should not be a correct translation, but maybe "she is over top of me"
I wanted to know this too. Maybe some native German speak could clarify this for us...
Obviously 'She is over me' and 'she is above me' don't have the same meaning
So tell me how one would say, "She is over me," in German. It is a perfectly normal sentence in English, so I guess it must translate to something else in German.
I disagree. I'm from the American Northeast, and to me, "She is over me" means either that she is bored of me, or that she has successfully stopped feeling bad about our breakup.
How so? Clearly, as has been stated authoritatively, both are acceptable translations.
Can you not see my reply to penguinchicken which I posted four days ago? Or is it not clear enough?
"She is over me" is a correct translation, just not one that's currently accepted in this sentence. This sentence is from the Pearson course ( https://www.duolingo.com/comment/24066422 ) and the Pearson editors did not add that correct translation to their alternatives, perhaps because they did not think of it. You can report it as "My translation should be accepted".
"She is over me" has at least two possible meanings in English. She no longer loves me and She is my boss. Context is important. Not sure how you would express these auf Deutsch
The German sentence could mean either that she is your boss or that she is physically higher up than you (e.g. on the bunk bed above yours).
Coping with a situation might use sie ist über mich hinweg or sie ist über meinen Verlust hinweg (she is “beyond” me/my loss).
I’m not sure of an idiom for “she no longer loves me”.
She is (physically) over or above me. She has recovered from our split and has moved on with her life. She is above or over me in a hierarchy (work, education etc). She is morally superior to me in some way.
Can über be used in all these senses?
Can über be used in all these senses?
No.
It doesn't refer to "recovered from a split relationship" or being morally superior, just being physically or hierarchically above someone.
(Hence the joke: In meinem letzten Job hatte ich 150 Menschen unter mir. - Oh, waren Sie Geschäftsführer? - Nein, Friedhofsgärtner. "In my last job, I had 150 people below me. - Oh, were you a manager? - No, I was gardener in a cemetery.")
When talking about a location, über is only "above" or "over".
"on" could be a translation in a metaphorical usage, as in eine Vorlesung über die Steinzeit "a lecture on the Stone Age". (But that's über with accusative, which is not how it's used in this sentence.)
- 948
"Auf mich" would be onto because it's accusative (movement/direction) "Auf mir" would be on because it's dative (position)
- 336
I think in some other sentences "über" also means "across." But here it would be incorrect to say, "She/it is across from me"?
That's right: that would be incorrect.
über can be "across" when it indicates motion, e.g. across a road, but there is no motion here.
I truly havent understood when über takes dative and accusative, can someone please explain?
- 1541
If there's no movement or if there's movement within a certain place, use the dative case: sie is über MIR.
Duolingo suggests Active Accusative and Dormant Dative. So, if action (movement) is involved (eg into, onto), use the Accusative, but if there is no movement (eg sleeping in or on something) use the dormant Dative.
why was "she is on me" not correct? what would be the german translation if it was correct
Being "on someone" (auf jemandem) is not the same as being "over/above someone" (über jemandem).
For example, a lamp that is "on the table" is standing on the table, touching the table; a lamp that is "over the table" is hanging above it from the ceiling and does not touch the table.
It's good to have a roof over your head, but it would not be good to have a roof on your head.
I thought Sie can mean You
Yes, it can.
Why not "You are above me"?
Because then the verb form would be different -- Sie sind über mir. and not Sie ist über mir.
I tried "She is superior to me" as that is what I took the sentence to mean, as in work-related hierarchies. It was marked incorrect.
This also means that she is on the flat above?
It could mean that she is (temporarily / at this moment) in the flat above.
If she lives there, you'd say Sie wohnt über mir.
I thought "Über" would always trigger accusative :(
It doesn't.
It's one of German's "two-way" prepositions that take either dative or accusative.
Like the others, in the core location sense, it uses dative for a location and accusative for the destination of motion.
In metaphorical uses (such as when it means "about, concerning" rather than "above, over"), it takes the accusative case.
Kannst du uber mir stehen? Is this sentece correct
No. There is no German word uber.
Kannst du über mir stehen? would be correct for "Can you stand above me?" I'm not sure when you would use it, though.
