Cracking ‘Eben’: The Challenge of Translating a Unique German Term
Have you ever felt like a detective trying to crack the code of a mysterious word?
I sure did while talking to my friend and colleague, Lisa, when she casually used the German word ‘eben‘ during our conversation.
Lisa explained that it’s a word often used in German to emphasise a point or confirm something.
At that moment, I had no idea how to translate it into English! It was like facing a linguistic puzzle.
So, I delved into the world of ‘eben‘ to see what secrets it held.
Let’s take a look together!
“Eben” can be translated in different ways depending on the context in which it is used.
For example, if someone says: Das ist eben so in German, it could be translated as That’s just the way it is or That’s how it goes.
Here are a few more examples:
- Eben das wollte ich sagen. That’s exactly/precisely what I wanted to say.
- Das ist nicht eben billig.That’s not exactly cheap.
- Ich habe es eben erst erfahren. I’ve just found out.
- Er ist eben abgereist. He’s just left.
I like that little word “eben”.
Do you have a favourite little German word that you find difficult to translate into English?
0 Comments