Any German-speaking folks out there...?

[rj_anderson]

I know there's at least one of you on my flist, so I thought I would beg for some assistance. My husband's family are all German, and his uncle, who lives in Germany, died last week. We want to send a sympathy card to his widow, but since my husband's German is purely verbal (he left Germany at six and only learned to read and write in English) and I have no German at all, I don't know how to write what I want to say.

In English, the message I'd like to write in the card is "We are so sorry for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you." Any reasonable approximation of those sentiments (I know that exact translation is seldom possible) would be greatly appreciated.

And before anybody suggests using Babelfish for the German translation, I should mention that I tried that once with a thank-you card to my husband's parents, and the reaction was not exactly positive. Apparently my original "You are so kind and generous -- thank you! We love you!" came out as something horribly officious and impersonal, like the sentiments you'd get on a form letter from your local bank thanking you and several million other customers "for your valued patronage". Needless to say I won't be doing that again...

Comments

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

If your husband can say that in German, you can write it; German is always, always, always spelled exactly like it sounds (by German rules, of course, but it should be within figuring out.)

That wasn't exactly helpful -- my German was long ago, and I can't remember how to say what you need -- but if somebody dictated it to me, I could probably get it. Which is still useless to you. My apologies.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Exactly like it sounds, except for the fact that "w" is really pronounced "v" in some cases, and that "v" sometimes sounds like "f"... my husband told me the same thing about German being spelled "just like it sounds", but that's assuming you're already thinking in terms of the German alphabet and not the English one. :)

[sibylle]

"Wir trauern von Herzen mit dir um deinen Verlust. Unsere Gedanken und Gebete sind bei dir." approximates to "We grieve deeply with you at your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you". (though a bit less formal than my english translation of the first sentence.

I assumed that you're fairly close to her, otherwise you'd have to go to the formal personal pronoun forms etc. (the du vs. Sie) problem. Hope this sounds okay - maybe check with your husband and see what he thinks?

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Oh, THANK you! That's wonderful. I so appreciate it!

German

[ravensnape.livejournal.com]

If I was working tomorrow I'd ask the instructor myself, but since I'm not, allow me to make a suggestion. Is there someone at the local high school you could contact? If they have German classes, I'm sure they would do that simple favor as it is for a sympathy card. If they can't I will be at school on Monday and would be glad to get the translation for you.

Re: German

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the offer, very sweet of you -- but sibylle came through for me, hurray! So you don't need to go to the trouble.

[auree.livejournal.com]

That sounds pretty good to me, but I just consulted my friend from Germany, so I will post his translation, too...as soon as he replies. I'm only a beginner at German myself.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Babelfish and German are not a good combination. Trust me, I know from bitter experience...

From a real German

[auree.livejournal.com]

OK, I got his reply, of course you will need to put out the accents English doesn't have, like the two dots on 'u'

Wir empfinden tiefe Trauer fur diesen unendlichen Verlust.
In unseren Gedanken und Gebeten sind wir bei Euch!

It's slightly different, but he said that its meaning is closer to something one would actually say. I hope it helps...

Re: From a real German

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Thanks again! Very sweet of you!

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Stylistically, sibylle's version may be closer to what you would say in English :)