Want another translation, German this time, please!

JustLooking

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Tepelus said:
I want to have this sentence translated.

"Come sit next to me."

And thank you!
Click to expand...

I’m emerging from my long-term lurking mode to make this stunning, helpful post on how to translate your sentence:


It depends!!


To try to be a bit more constructive:

Are you talking to just one person? Is it a child/someone you know well/are on very friendly terms with? Then “Setz dich zu mir!” would do, although that might sound a bit bossy. (You need the exclamation mark for the imperative, by the way.) “Willst du dich neben mich setzen?” is more of an invitation, more along the lines of “Would you like to sit next to me?”

If you’re talking to more than one person you’re on friendly terms with, then the equivalent would be “Setzt euch zu mir!” or “Wollt ihr euch neben mich setzen?”

If you’re talking to an older person/someone you’ve recently met/don’t know so well/are on quite formal terms with, whether singular or plural, then I would suggest “Möchten Sie sich zu mir setzen?” Or if it were someone who seemed a bit reluctant to join you, then you could say, “Wollen Sie sich nicht zu mir setzen?”

I’m afraid Melisande’s suggestion doesn’t work because “setzt Dich” is incorrect (uses second person plural form of the verb with second person singular; also dich should not be capitalized); plus the preposition “neben” should take accusative (“mich”) and not dative (“mir”) (there being a change of position involved).

For eqb’s suggestion I’ve not heard “Setz dich bei mir” used, but that might simply be a regional thing. I still wouldn’t capitalize “dich” though.

I’m sure there are plenty of other versions, as so much depends on the context.

And after that little lot, I shall go back to lurking again!
 
Tepelus

Tepelus

And so...
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Mother telling her son to come sit next to her, well, a step-son, but they have a close bond. In this part of the story we learn that the two speak German to each other, she taught him, his first language is Romanian, hers German. She's asking him in a sweet, non-demanding way. I hope that helps clarify things a bit more.
 
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