Translation into English
German sentences into natural English, keeping every tense, person and negative.
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Translation into English, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know how the translation into English is set
It is Section B of the reading paper with both boards, worth 10 marks: at least 35 words of German at Foundation and 50 at Higher with AQA (five short sentences at Foundation and a short passage at Higher with Edexcel). The marks go on carrying the whole meaning across, so write it in clear, natural English.
Translate the meaning, not word by word
German and English put words together differently. Ich bin fünfzehn Jahre alt is I am fifteen; Ich spiele gern Tennis is I like playing tennis; Ich habe Hunger is I am hungry. Read the whole sentence, understand it, then write what an English speaker would say.
Rebuild the English word order
German puts the verb second and the participle or infinitive at the end: Am Samstag habe ich mit meinem Bruder Fußball gespielt is On Saturday I played football with my brother. Find the subject and the whole verb first, then put them in English order.
Keep every tense and person
Wir sind gefahren is we went or we have been, ich werde fahren is I will go, ich würde fahren is I would go, and früher habe ich ... gespielt is I used to play. Sie can be she, they or the polite you: the verb ending tells you which.
Account for every word, including the small ones
Small words carry meaning: sehr, auch, immer, schon, noch, jeden Tag. Missing nicht or kein reverses a sentence. Tick off each German word as you translate it, so nothing is left out.
Learn the phrases that cannot be translated literally
Some phrases work as whole units: es gibt is there is, Lust haben is to feel like, zu Hause is at home, es tut mir leid is I am sorry. At Higher, seit drei Jahren with the present is for three years: Ich wohne seit drei Jahren hier is I have lived here for three years.
Read your English back as a whole
When you finish, read your translation as if you had never seen the German. Fix anything that is not natural English and check that every sentence keeps its tense.
Translation into English key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Translation
- Putting the meaning of a text into another language. At GCSE it means an appropriate and sufficient rendering of the meaning, not a word-for-word copy.
- Rendering
- How you express the meaning in the other language. A good rendering keeps every detail and reads naturally.
- Word order
- German puts the verb second and the participle at the end; English keeps subject, verb and object together.
- Idiom
- A phrase whose meaning is not the sum of its words, such as Lust haben (to feel like) or es tut mir leid (I am sorry).
- False friend
- A German word that looks like an English one but means something else, such as bekommen (to get) or das Gift (poison).
- Time frame
- When the action happens. Keep it the same in English: ich habe gespielt is I played, ich werde spielen is I will play.
- Sie, sie and sie
- You (polite), she and they: the verb ending and the capital tell you which.
Common mistakes in Translation into English
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Translating word by word, so Ich spiele gern Tennis becomes I play gladly tennis.
Understand the whole sentence first, then write natural English: I like playing tennis.
Keeping German word order, as in On Saturday have I football played.
Put the subject and the whole verb together in English: On Saturday I played football.
Changing the tense, writing we go for wir sind gegangen.
Check each verb: sind gegangen is went, werden gehen is will go, würden gehen is would go.
Leaving out small words like sehr, auch, immer or a negative.
Every word is part of the meaning. Tick off each German word as you translate it.
Leaving a gap for an unfamiliar word.
Translate everything around it, then make a sensible guess from the context. A plausible word keeps the meaning of the sentence; a gap loses it.