Knowing relations between words can help understand their meanings and build a more connected vocabulary network. Here, you can explore parents and offspring and discover the whole family.
- shows how many children or parents the word has
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Sources for Etymology:
- Check "zeuge" on DWDS.de
Biggest German Dictionary, great for etymology, usage frequency and collocations) - "zeuge" on Wiktionary (English version)
(For etymological connections across European languages. Not always accurate) - Etymonline.com - Origins of English words
My favorite source for the origin of English words.
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So i was wondering how you translate the verb „ to witness“ e.g „he witnessed the French Revolution“. I assumed beobachten is wrong (is this because it sounds scientific or official?) so was looking at how linguee translated this and there didn’t seem to be a pattern.
So is there a verb for witnessing historical events?
The two main phrasing in my opinion are:
– erleben
– Zeuge sein + Genitiv
But there are other options. Depends on context.
“beobachten” sounds like watching and analyzing.
Thanks. I had thought about erleben but as its commonly translated as „to experience“ this sounds a bit more involved to me than „to witness“. Like in english if you witness a carcrash that’s dramaticlly different than experiencing a car crash (although you actually wouldn’t really use the word experience in relation to a car crash).
Am in right then that „erleben“ suggests that events somehow would affect someone in someway.
It seems like Zeuge sein might be the best option for retaining a sense of detachment?
Yes, “erleben” implies some effect on oneself.
I think “to witness” spans quite a range, inlcuding “experiences”.
“person x witnessed the French revolution”… this can be the King of Germany, “watching” it from a far, but it can also be a writer in Paris, who maybe didn’t fight, but was nonetheless very close. That’s my perception of “to witness”, but I’m not a native speaker, so I could be wrong.
And yes, “Zeuge sein/werde” sounds like you witness it, but you’re in no way involved.
That’s what you’d use for a car accident for example.
Hmmm id say the king example is off tbh – or at least would need qualification. „The king witnessed the effects of the revolution on the european aristocratcy“ is ok because it’s referring to something directly observed. Witnessing i think implies some kind of direct visual observation….
Thanks by the way , i feel like i understand how to tackle this in german now…
What about stuff like “we’re witnessing the birth of a new monetary system”? I don’t think the focus is on visuals here.
Actually i think the king witnessing events from afar might be ok. I’m unsure. I’d actually be curious what other native speakers would think.
As for witnessing the birth of a new monetary system- its a bit more abstract but it is directly observed. Forget the visual, i was wrong this is always necessary, i think witnessing does have a strong visual connotation though.