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Meetic

How to translate "-ing" gerund verbs to German

eg. "I began study-ing German two years ago"

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sarabyrd
No, don't use it at all, very bad German.
I would say there is something like a gerund in german actually, but I don't know how it is called.

The above could be translated as follows: Während ich Zeitung lesend die Straße entlangging, lief ich gegen einen Laternenpfahl.
Another example: Singend gehe ich die Straße entlang.

A very common phrase is "sehenden Auges", which is used in sentences like "Sehenden Auges wurde nichts getan, um die Katastrophe abzuwenden".
I think a possible translation would be "Knowing what would happen nothing was done to avoid the catastrophe."

Sehr altmodish seiend most people would not use that construction. Novalis, Schiller, Lessing - sure. But nowadays it really only survives in certain antiquated phrases.
Eugene_ac
Yes, you are probably right. Nowadays it is neither used in spoken language nor in letters, perhaps in some novels. But, yes, sounds a bit old fashioned.

Good for showing off, i guess, though.
miwild
Gerundium

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerundium

Gerundivum

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerundivum
Bipa
My head is starting to hurt after reading this thread. So I'm off to read "The Awful German Language" again.
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