Translation into German
English sentences into accurate German, every word, ending and word order counted.
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Translation into German, 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 German is set and marked
It is on the writing paper with both boards, for 10 marks. AQA sets at least 35 words of English at Foundation and 50 at Higher, split into elements: each whose meaning comes across earns a tick even with a small slip, the ticks give up to 5 marks, and the other 5 are for your knowledge of vocabulary and grammar across the whole translation. Edexcel sets five sentences at Foundation, getting harder and ending in the past, and a short paragraph at Higher: 6 marks for the meaning you carry across and 4 for the accuracy of your German.
Spot the grammar each sentence is testing
Each sentence is built around a point of grammar: a tense, a case after a preposition, word order after a time phrase or weil, a separable verb. 'Yesterday we went to the cinema' tests the perfect with sein and verb-second order: Gestern sind wir ins Kino gegangen. Find the point first, then build the sentence around it.
Put the verb in the right place
The verb is second in a main clause, even after a time phrase (Am Montag fahre ich); a second verb or participle goes to the end (Ich habe Pizza gegessen); after weil or dass the verb goes to the end (weil ich müde bin). Word order carries meaning and accuracy marks alike.
Get the verb right: tense, person and ending
Decide the tense from the English (did, used to, is going to, will, would), then the person, then the form: 'she went' is sie ist gegangen and 'we will play' is wir werden spielen. Choose haben or sein for the perfect: verbs of movement take sein.
Use the right case and gender
The article changes with the case: 'I have a brother' is Ich habe einen Bruder (accusative), 'with my sister' is mit meiner Schwester (dative after mit). Check the gender of each noun, then the case its job or its preposition needs.
Translate every word, with capitals and umlauts
Small words are elements too: 'very', 'also', 'always', 'my', 'some'. Give every noun its capital, every umlaut its dots and every adjective before a noun its ending. Leave nothing out.
Keep to language you know, then check
If a word escapes you, say the same meaning with words you know: a sensible alternative can still carry the element. Then check the verb position in each clause, the endings and the spellings.
Translation into German key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Element
- One of the chunks a translation into German is divided into for marking. Each one whose meaning comes across earns a tick, even with a minor slip.
- Rendering of meaning
- Getting the meaning across in the other language: in AQA's translation it earns up to 5 of the 10 marks.
- Verb second
- The rule that the verb is the second idea in a main clause: Heute spiele ich.
- Case
- The form an article takes for its job in the sentence: der, den, dem.
- haben or sein
- The two helpers of the perfect: sein for movement and change, haben for the rest.
- Major error
- An error that gets in the way of the meaning, such as the present where the English is in the past, or a missing negative.
- Minor error
- A slip that does not affect the meaning, such as an adjective ending slip on a word that is still clear.
Common mistakes in Translation into German
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Keeping English word order, as in Am Montag ich gehe ins Kino.
The verb comes second: Am Montag gehe ich ins Kino.
Using the present tense for a sentence about the past.
Look for the English time words and choose the tense first: 'Yesterday I went' is Gestern bin ich gegangen.
Using haben with a verb of movement, as in Ich habe nach Berlin gefahren.
Movement takes sein: Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren.
Leaving the article in the nominative after a preposition, as in mit der Bus.
Check the case the preposition takes: mit takes the dative, mit dem Bus.
Leaving out a word or a phrase that is hard to translate.
A gap loses the element for certain, while a sensible attempt may still earn it. Use a simpler word with the same meaning if you need to.