Ariana Grande - Break Free

[Paleb]

Heyho, ja ich weiss, ist ein bisschen ein Mädchenlied, aber hats mir etwas angetan. Wer das lied kennt, weiss vllt, dass sie im Refrain singt "this is the part where i say that I AM STRONGER THAN I HAVE BEEN BEFORE...." also present perfect und before. Man kann ja sagen I have been stronger before, aber ich bin schonmal stärker gewesen, heisst das glaube ich? (richtig?)

Aber so: heisst das ich bin stärker, als ich SCHONMAL gewesen bin? also man sollte natürlich englisch nie wort für wort übersetzen, aber kann man das so sinngemäß übersetzen? Ich habe nämlich eine lyric-übersetzung durchgelesen und da stand "Ich bin stärker, als ich vorher gewesen bin." natürlich weiss man nie, wie gut diese Quellen sind, aber das fände ich falsch? Weiss da jemand mehr?

before mit present perfect heisst etwas mit shconmal und nicht VORHER oder?

MFG

[tiorthan]

Doch das heißt "vorher". "Comparative + than + Present Perfect + before" ist sogar recht häufig im Englischen. Das "before" bezieht sich auf die Gegenwart es bedeutet sinngemäß einfach "vor dem Jetzt".

[Silence]

Mmm, ich weiß nicht genau die Grammatik, aber ich wurde stattdessen sagen: I am stronger than I was before, oder: I am stronger than I have ever been before

Ich denke sie hat den anderen gesagt, weil es hat die richtige Nummer Silbe. Es hören lustig das Weg zu mir.

Und mit schonmal und vorher...beide von ihnen funktioniert. Du kannst in meinen ersten Satz vorher benutzen: Ich bin stärker, als ich war vorher. Schonmal funktioniert mit den anderen Satz: Ich bin stärker, als ich schonmal war.

Ich hoffe, dass das war hilfreich :3

[tiorthan]

Mmm, ich kenne die Grammatik nicht genau, aber ich wurde stattdessen sagen: I am stronger than I was before, oder: I am stronger than I have ever been before

Ich glaube[sub]1[/sub] sie hat den anderen Satz[sub]2[/sub] gesagt, weil es die richtige Anzahl[sub]3[/sub] Silben hat. Auf diese Art klingt es für mich komisch/seltsam.[sub]4[/sub]

Und zu schonmal und vorher...beides funktioniert. Du kannst in meinem ersten Satz vorher benutzen: Ich bin stärker, als ich vorher war. Schonmal funktioniert mit den anderen Satz: Ich bin stärker, als ich schonmal war.[sub]5[/sub]

Ich hoffe, dass das war hilfreich :3

1 - A direct translation from English "I think" I suppose. "Ich denke" is not wrong but when you can exchange "I think" for "I believe" in English, the German phrase "Ich glaube" is preferrable. This might change in the years to come.

2 - Since German has grammatical gender noun-like phrases like "der Andere" that are placeholders for a real subject, tend to be used only in situations where the real subject has been mentioned before.

3 - We use "Nummer" for numbers that identify an object in a group like room numbers or ticket numbers or telephone numbers. When we refer to the count of something then "Anzahl" is used. And when we refer to the number in a mathematical way we use "Zahl" e.g. "the number 13 is often associated with bad luck" = "Die Zahl 13 wird oft mit Unglück in Verbindung gebracht."

4 - Direct translations between English and German are usually wrong in some way. Lets start with "way". We use "Weg" when we mean "path". It can be an actual path to walk on or a metaphorical path like "Lösungsweg" = "approach to a problem".
When "way" means a manner of a mode we use "Art" in German. However, you cannot just replace English words because in German we actually use the word differently depending on its grammatical role in the clause. As an adverbial it is usually used with the preposition "auf".
Now "funny"? I suppose that's what you had in mind when you chose "lustig"? "Funny" can mean "something fun" or "something peculiar/odd". Usually what it can mean is restricted by the context it is used in in English, which is why Germans sometimes use it inappropriately. dict.leo.org gives me the following translations for "funny":

komisch - means "something comical" or "something peculiar/odd". As you can see, it's similar but not equal to funny. "This sounds funny" could be expressed as "Das klingt komisch". This can also be used for "I feel funny" = "Ich fühle mich komisch". You're safe to use that because where feelings are concerned Germans are not "comical" (well they might be but you'd use "lustig" in that case).

lustig - means "something amusing". It can be used to mean "something peculiarly amusing". It can also be used to mean "cheerful" e.g. "Er ist lustig" can mean "He is a fun person" or "He is cheerful." (or sometimes that he is slightly drunk)
witzig - means comic(al), jocular, witty (the kind of witty that makes people laugh), it's also often used sarcastically especially as "sehr witzig".
drollig - usually used like the related english "droll" in an endearing way. We usually use it for living things.
possierlich - in my experience this is only used for animals meaning "comical" or "cute".
seltsam - means odd, peculiar, strange
spaßig - proving fun
unwohl - this is only used to describe feelings, usually health. "I feel funny" = "Mir ist unwohl" or "Ich fühle mich unwohl." (although the latter is usually said as "Ich fühle mich nicht wohl.") When used for non-health related feelings it is the more like uncomfortable than funny.

And lastly "sound". In the meaning you wanted to use it here you'd have two different expressions in German:
klingen - If something sounds funny you can say "es klingt komisch/seltsam/lustig etc.". Quite easy and the reason why I chose this for the correction.
anhören - That's a bit more complicated because it can have two meanings. 1 - listen to something (Musik anhören = listen to music), 2 - how something sounds. However the latter is always used reflexive as "sich anhören". e.g "It sounds funny to me" = "Es hört sich für mich komisch/seltsam/lustig an"

5 - Actually, "schonmal" doesn't work at all, because German is weird. "I am stronger than I have ever been before" would have to be translated as "Ich bin stärker als ich (es) jemals (zuvor) war."


You're right, it sounds a bit funny but "... than I have been before" without the "ever" is occasionally used to mean that an improvement has peaked in the present but it does not necessarly indicate an all-time high. I'm not sure that it would work in all dialects though.

[Silence]

Can you just follow me everywhere and fix my German? Please?

How would you use schonmal, if it doesn't work as a literal translation for ever? Could you use it as once, ie. I did that once, Ich habe dass schonmal gemacht?

And yeah, I meant that it sounds funny/awkward, but if you're in the moment having a conversation it's not a big deal.

[tiorthan]

How would you use schonmal, if it doesn't work as a literal translation for ever? Could you use it as once, ie. I did that once, Ich habe dass schonmal gemacht?

It does work as a literal translation for "ever" but not always. Literal translation is a difficult thing among languages because it's rare that words that are used often have only one meaning, and you always translate meaning and never words.

I did that once - I habe das schon mal gemacht.
"schon mal" or "schon einmal" literally means "already one time", which "once" can be used to express as well. It can be taken to mean "at one time in the past" because the "schon" part implies past.

I did that before - Ich habe das schon mal gemacht.
this works too, because even though the literal meaning contains "one time" we do not really mean "just one time".

The problem in your case above, and the reason why "schon mal" does not work is "ever". Ever modifies the meaning of the phrase "ever before" in a way that is not included in "schon mal". Although that's not entirely true, there are dialects (and a significant number I might add) where "als ich schon mal war" works the same as "als ich jemals war". Still, using "jemals" is the best choice for the phrase. It's universally understood.