"Is that what it boils down to?"
Translation:Läuft es darauf hinaus?
34 Comments
https://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/hinauslaufen+auf.html» hinauslaufen | auf
to result in something. to boil down to sth. [fig.]
to amount to, to add up to, to be equivalent to, to be tantamount to, to come to [amount to]
auf nichts hinauslaufen to amount to nothing
auf das Gleiche hinauslaufen to amount to the same thing
auf ein Verbrechen hinauslaufen to amount to a crime
auf ein Vergehen hinauslaufen to amount to an offense
It's good to learn such idioms... but I wish they wouldn't just chuck them in without warning!
"Boils"??? Really?? isn't "Is that what matters?" a more sensible translation??
my dictionary gives "amounts to." To be fair, the above expression is common enough in the English language. If you're not familiar with it, think of reducing a soup stock or some such liquid substance and once all the liquid has evaporated what you are left with is, some might say, the essence.
70
While I'm familiar with the English idiom I would think "That's what it amounts to." is equally correct.
Here in Ohio that phrase makes perfect sense. You're getting a simplified/summary version; that's what it "boils down to."
My qualm was that there wasn't good guidance for the correct syntax
For other notes on this: "darauf hinauslaufen" means 'to imply', with hinauslaufen being separable. So, literal transation of this is: "does it imply?"
Not really an idiom hinauslaufen auf is a verb meaning to amount to or boil down to. You just have to rembember to use the preposition auf
- 1039
I don't see the point of not giving a literal meaning of a German saying. We should never get an English idiom to explain a German phrase. If the idiom itself is German, give it to us literally and anyone with half a brain will figure out what it means. Parroting makes for poor learning.
I wrote : Ist das worum es geht?
and was corrected to : Ist es das worum es geht?
Can someone explain me why?
At a guess (English speaker), it's maybe because the first one means:
"Is that what it's about?"
That's quite a basic idea or concept, maybe? Whereas the second might be more like:
"Is it that that this is about?"
And so maybe the second is more in the spirit of, "Is that what it boils down to?"
I understand what you mean, but it still makes makes no more sense to me. In that case the English translation should be "is it that what it boils down?"
I don't think the problem is about a different meaning but about some syntax issue.
Yeah. Might be one for a German native speaker to solve.
Another option is the way the algorithm works - i.e. your answer was closest in form to the second answer, which someone has submitted and had accepted, but your answer hasn't been submitted. So, in that scenario, rather than giving you the standard translation, it's tried to point you to one it thinks you mean.
You can also say 'geht es darum?' - that also translates to this. These are the kinds of exercises I can do a hundred times, and a hundred times I'll get them wrong. The German words don't seem to want to stick in my head - I look at them and a half hour later I'll forget. Not easy, this stuff...
It's frustrating, but it'll stick eventually. It's a lifetime skill you're learning, and it'll be worth it.
Los geht's!
Since i am not an english native speaker i do not understand what it means by. "Is what it boils down to?" can please somebody explain
Hi there. This could be explained in another way:
Is this the fundamentally important idea?
In other words, the thing being discussed might be larger or wider-ranging, but this is the important part.
Two examples:
A cup final is heading into the last minute. It's been a tough game, lots has happened in the game and the previous rounds, but it's a draw. The ref gives a penalty: this (the penalty) is what it (the preceding cup games) all boils down to.
Another example:
You make a series of complaints to a partner. They haven't done this, they haven't done that. They realise it's your anniversary and that they forgot to say. This (forgetting the date) is what it (the other complaints) all boils down to.
Protip: next time you encounter a garbage sentence, google the discussion thread for the answer first.
I can't believe that was the LAST question I had to answer in my test, and I had no hearts anymore. Aaaah. Hadn't learned that expression. .-.
And what would you have it translated to?
Admittedly, there are a few variants in English for the same thing
I am not mother english speaker but boil evoke me something with cooking, kitchen etc... So when i shoudl translated i was really confused what i shoudl do with that.
So back tothe first comments it is really IDIOM and i shoudl learn it or leav it as it looks like.
It is an English idiom itself. Others have suggested above that "Is that what it amounts to?" is an alternative, which is valid.
To help you understand the underlying meaning of the "boils down to" version, it is in fact cooking based in reference. A follow up idiom would be about getting to the "meat" of the issue. For instance, when you have minced beef, it'll also have some fat on it. Before you boil it down, it can look like there's a lot of it. But, you boil it down, and get to the actual meat.
In use, you'd be talking about a problem, or an issue. And the person being asked "is that what it boils down to?" may have said a lot of unnecessary information, which makes the actual issue hard to see. Until someone removes all the 'fat' of their problem and gets to the real 'meat'.
I've probably not cleared that up at all (:
This is what I'm going with for my translation: "Is that what comes out of it from there?"
