Is the translation correct?

Question

I think that one of the challenges when you try to learn a new language is "how to make longer sentences?". I think that in German there are more ways to do it than in English and the ways are more different too, but I have no idea. I tried to translate some longer sentences to German:

"We are getting out of the plane and I see three not happy officers" → "Wir stiegen aus dem Flugzeug und ich sehe drei nicht glücklich Offiziere";

"I think they don't like me writing" → "Ich glaube sie mögen ich schreibe nicht". I'd like to know if this one is right, because I really ain't sure;

"The three officers asked us for our documents with no respect, as if we were garbage for them" → "Die drei offiziere fragten uns um unserem Dokumente ohne Respekt, wie wenn wir Müll wären für sie".

I am not sure if the translations are correct, mainly because they look too literal and because of Google Translate. Google Translate is good for a lot of things, but it has a lot of errors and I think it is not good to learn using it. I used Google Translate for "ausstiegen", "asked" (because in some languages its translation is more than one word), "with no respect", "officer" and "as if we were".

Are those translations right? Do they look robotic? I used the right words? Thanks for whom answers, and I am sorry for the size of the question.

If you want to write longer sentences in German you should first consult some grammar book or other source about how subclauses work in German. Google Translate may be OK when you need to translate a text but it is not a tool for learning. Making a literal translation and then asking "Is this correct?" is also not a good way of learning. — RHa, May 11 '20 at 21:26
@RHa, I know but I don't have a grammar book or money to buy one. If there is one good and free book, I will use it. Thanks for the word "subclauses", I will take a look on it. Thanks. — , May 11 '20 at 21:30
The wikibook about German grammar could be a good start and is for free. You should also check our resource collection for links to free online dictionaries and courses etc. — Arsak, May 12 '20 at 11:06

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered May 11 '20 at 21:37

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"We are getting out of the plane and I see three not happy officers"

I would say this sentence in German like this: "Wir steigen aus dem Flugzeug, und ich sehe drei unzufriedene Offiziere". So change "nicht glückliche" to "unzufriedene" (means the same), that sounds better. But your translation is correct.

"I think they don't like me writing"

Yours translate here is wrong. In German it‘s: "Ich glaube, sie mögen es nicht, wenn ich schreibe".

"The three officers asked us for our documents with no respect, as if we were garbage for them"

In German: "Die drei Offiziere fragten uns, ohne Respekt, um unsere Dokumente, als ob wir für sie Dreck wären". The last part ("als ob wir für sie Dreck wären"), is a phrase to illustrate, that someone was treated badly ("jemanden schlecht behandelt").

answered May 11 '20 at 21:37

SwissCodeMen

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Thanks. The problem for me is that some languages would use "I/ich" and others "me/mich". My native one would use "I/ich", so I make a confusion. Thanks! – May 11 '20 at 21:41
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Reminder: Please „avoid trying to answer questions which...(...) are not about German language as defined in the help center.“ because translation requests are off topic here as per community decision on Meta. – Stephie May 11 '20 at 21:48
@Stephie, I didn't know that. I won't do it again. Should I delete my question? – May 11 '20 at 21:54
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@Schilive the comment was mostly for the answerer. You won’t be able to delete a question once it has an upvoted answer. Technically you could perhaps retract the upvote (if it’s from you) and the accept, but I see no urgency to do all that. Just remember the limitations next time and everything should be fine. – Stephie May 11 '20 at 21:59

Is the translation correct?

1 Answers1