4 ms·

Can you give us some examples of recommendations that would translate favorably?

weinzierl 7y ago
Sure. The ones that come to my mind are little bit harder to translate though, because they rely on nuances in German grammar, but I'll give it a try. To give a person grade A in their performance evaluation you would write: Er erledigte seine Aufgaben stets zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit. To give grade B you would just change one word slightly: Er erledigte seine Aufgaben stets zu unserer vollen Zufriedenheit. Both translate into English as: He always completed his tasks to our complete satisfaction. The difference is that in the first sentence the word complete (vollsten) is the superlative which makes as little sense in German as it makes in English and is grammatically incorrect. Grade C would be expressed like this: He completed the tasks assigned to him to our complete satisfaction. Here the word always is missing. Another positive example would be: His behaviour towards superiors, colleagues and customers always set an example. Here the order of superiors, then colleagues and then customers is vital. EDIT: I guess the first example could be translated literally like: "He always completed his tasks to our completest satisfaction." I didn't write that above because I think vollsten in German doesn't sound nearly as bad as completest sounds in English, at least to my ESL ear.
- marton78 7y ago
  "most complete" instead of completest sounds fine.
- prewett 7y ago
  I like the examples to illustrate both sides. I think if you had to always be positive in American you would say: A: "He always completed his tasks to our complete satisfaction" ("complete" being the superlative) B: "He always completed his tasks to our satisfaction" ("always" emphasizing the consistency of our satisfaction) C: "His work was satisfactory" F: <something that omits any mention his work> Although B sounds a little awkward to me.
  - userbinator 7y ago
    Alternatively, F: "He makes an effort at completing his tasks."
    - numpad0 7y ago
      “He strives to complete his tasks to our satisfaction”
- krj 7y ago
  full and fullest serve for quite natural substitutes for vollen und vollsten i.e. full satisfaction
- Too 7y ago
  Those are some very subtle hints, would anyone reading these letters really analyze and interpret them in such detail? I do understand the German, even if it's not my first tongue, and i can tell the superlative is obviously stronger in the first version, but couldn't that difference equally be attributed to personal writing style? Compared side by side it's easy but if given just one how would you know? From my experience a CV is usually skimmed through very quickly because you have a huge stack to process, so picking up on these hints would require significant effort and understanding of who wrote it.
  - lvncelot 7y ago
    Most of those phrases and their associated "translations" are common knowledge, so it's really just a hidden rating system with bad reviews embedded in everyday positive language.

Sure. The ones that come to my mind are little bit harder to translate though, because they rely on nuances in German grammar, but I'll give it a try. To give a person grade A in their performance evaluation you would write: Er erledigte seine Aufgaben stets zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit. To give grade B you would just change one word slightly: Er erledigte seine Aufgaben stets zu unserer vollen Zufriedenheit. Both translate into English as: He always completed his tasks to our complete satisfaction. The difference is that in the first sentence the word complete (vollsten) is the superlative which makes as little sense in German as it makes in English and is grammatically incorrect. Grade C would be expressed like this: He completed the tasks assigned to him to our complete satisfaction. Here the word always is missing. Another positive example would be: His behaviour towards superiors, colleagues and customers always set an example. Here the order of superiors, then colleagues and then customers is vital. EDIT: I guess the first example could be translated literally like: "He always completed his tasks to our completest satisfaction." I didn't write that above because I think vollsten in German doesn't sound nearly as bad as completest sounds in English, at least to my ESL ear.

marton78 7y ago
"most complete" instead of completest sounds fine.
prewett 7y ago
I like the examples to illustrate both sides. I think if you had to always be positive in American you would say: A: "He always completed his tasks to our complete satisfaction" ("complete" being the superlative) B: "He always completed his tasks to our satisfaction" ("always" emphasizing the consistency of our satisfaction) C: "His work was satisfactory" F: <something that omits any mention his work> Although B sounds a little awkward to me.
- userbinator 7y ago
  Alternatively, F: "He makes an effort at completing his tasks."
  - numpad0 7y ago
    “He strives to complete his tasks to our satisfaction”
krj 7y ago
full and fullest serve for quite natural substitutes for vollen und vollsten i.e. full satisfaction
Too 7y ago
Those are some very subtle hints, would anyone reading these letters really analyze and interpret them in such detail? I do understand the German, even if it's not my first tongue, and i can tell the superlative is obviously stronger in the first version, but couldn't that difference equally be attributed to personal writing style? Compared side by side it's easy but if given just one how would you know? From my experience a CV is usually skimmed through very quickly because you have a huge stack to process, so picking up on these hints would require significant effort and understanding of who wrote it.
- lvncelot 7y ago
  Most of those phrases and their associated "translations" are common knowledge, so it's really just a hidden rating system with bad reviews embedded in everyday positive language.