Schönen 3. Advent!!
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verfassen
fassen means something like to grab. The change-ver shifted that toward a more long lasting grabbing. A bit like to frame. The use is pretty specific though because verfassen only works for capturing thoughts essentially making it a fancy or formal or pompous alternative for to write. You can verfassen a manifest, a report, a book and e-mail, you name it.
Also interesting is the noun die Verfassung. It means constitution in sense of politics but it’s also used for the physical constitution in sense of the condition or momentary state of a person or a thing. The constitution is kind of the set up of a state, the condition is the (momentary) setup of a person, if you were wondering about a connection.
der Verfasser – the author (less literary sounding alternative to “der Autor”)
- Ich verfasse einen Beschwerdebrief an die Vogue.
- I draw up/write a letter of complaint to Vogue magazine.
- Ich bin heute nicht in der Verfassung, trainieren zu gehen.
- Today, I’m in no condition to go and work out.
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or if you want to try out some examples.
How awesome is the German language that they have a single word for “letter of complaint”… It reminds of the time in Berlin when an U-Bahn station was closed. The digital sign had a word that wouldn’t fit and had to scroll it. It involved “Möglichkeiten” and roughly translated “alternative transportation possibilities”.
I don’t think I’d say “in the condition” in English….I’d probably say “I’m not in a (fit) state to go and work out” (actually, I was saying to myself this morning ;-) )
How about “I’m in no condition to go and work out.”? (I’d like to keep “condition” in there even if it’s not the most idiomatic translation…. definitely needs to be grammatical though)
“Condition” is perfectly fine for sure, and I’d use it interchangeably with “state” in this kind of context. “Constitution” is a little more permanent, at least as I’ve always understood it – you can have a healthy or sickly (or weak or strong) constitution, that sort of thing. It’s more about your long-term, general health. “Condition” or “state” are more about the immediate reality – you can also use “shape” with this meaning, at least in America.
I’m in no condition to work out is perfectly fine English where I live (US). You might say it if you had a bad hangover or the flu.
I would say “I’m not in fit condition to go to work”, though. And like you, have said it!
I would say I am in no condition to go work out.
Ah, great… I read this one too late.
for me, ‘I’m in no condition to go and work out’ would indicate some sort of physical barrier (hangover? sprained ankle?). ‘I’m in no fit state to go and work out’ would be more a mental or emotional excuse (….ahhh, reason–that’s it, reason) not to go and work out.
Oh, I as actually thinking hangover so “in no condition” is fine. You could use “Verfassung” for either, emotional and physical state. If you want to be precise you can be but only with adjective endings … ewwww
– in geistiger/körperlicher
Ich würd mal behaupten, “verfassen” hat mit “fassen” im Sinne von “fest-, zusammenhalten” zu tun, man vergleiche mit “Fass”, wo Reifen die Dauben zusammenhalten. Im übertragenen Sinne werden da Gedanken/Ideen zusammengehalten.
The word fashion comes to mind, in other meanings than the clothing industry! We can fashion a letter, or fashion furniture, and we can like the fashion (mode, type) of the furniture although you don’t see that use often. Old fashioned is a way of being (old mode). It may just be the similarity of sound to fassen, but the idea of fashioning a letter, idea, constitution etc. is somewhat similar.
So I just checked it on Etymonline and “fashion” is apparently related to “fact”, and comes from the Latin word “facere” which is “to make”. So no connection to “fassen”. Nice idea though, you never know what connections there are and I often go by sound, too.
Just to make sure, “verfassen” really only works for writing so it wouldn’t work for an “idea”. Well, it would but it sounds like “writing down the idea”
Sind die Redewendungen ‘Ich bin in der Verfassung…’ und ‘Ich bin in der Lage…’ austauschbar?
Kann man sagen:
Heute bin ich nicht in der Verfassung /in der Lage ins kino zu gehen.
Du kannst “Lage” für “Verfassung” nehmen, aber nicht immer umgekehrt. Die “Verfassung” ist immer dein internes Setting, die Lage ist auch extern. Kann zum Beispiel heißen, dass du kein Geld hast ins Kino zu gehen. Da passt “Verfassung” nicht. Auch im Sinne von “generally capable” ist “Verfassung” das falsche Wort. Die ist (bei Menschen) immer temporär.
Danke sehr für die Erklärung. Zwei Beispiele:
Heute bin ich in der Verfassung gewesen, die neuen Wörter zu lernen.
Morgen bin ich frei und in der Lage, sich auszuschlafen.