Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

nichts Entscheidendes

English translation:

nothing decisive

Added to glossary by Erik Macki
Apr 26, 2005 23:32
19 yrs ago
German term

nichts Entscheidendes

German to English Art/Literary Linguistics
nichts Entscheidendes

Aus der Ferne betrachtet ist die Lage wesentlich deutlicher. Außerhalb Berlins weiß man, dass die Deutschen den Alliierten nichts Entscheidendes mehr entgegensetzen können. Das bemerkt auch der Schriftsteller Erich Kästner, der sich am 26. April 1945 im österreichischen Mayrhofen aufhält. In sein Tagebuch notiert er:

How to explain "nichts Entscheidendes" grammatically?
I posted this question on the German to Chinese pair yesterday, but have not got any answers yet. Is it very difficult to explain? :-)

TIA!!!

Discussion

Non-ProZ.com Apr 27, 2005:
Thank you silfila for helping me understand further! :-)
silfilla Apr 27, 2005:
Nee how ma, Jianming: What is it precisely that you don't understand? *Nichts Wichtigem* = *nichts, was wichtig ist*. It's dative because the question is: *Woran fehlt es?* The answer to that is always dative. *nichts Wichtiges* never refers to a person.
Non-ProZ.com Apr 27, 2005:
I still cannot completely understand...:-)
Non-ProZ.com Apr 27, 2005:
You all are very helpful (hilfreich) :-) But Mr. Macki,
I still not complete understand your "Finanziell fehlt es an nichts Wichtigem. (dative)". Why it s dative. Can you describe it by using Karin's method? :-) Doest "nichts Wichtigem" mean "nobody important"? Thank you in advance and thank you all very much! I met so many good teachers here!
Non-ProZ.com Apr 27, 2005:
German is also OK. Thanks!
Non-ProZ.com Apr 27, 2005:
English is enough. Thanks!

Proposed translations

+3
1 hr
Selected

nothing decisive

A grammatical explanation in English (sorry I can't write in Chinese either):

Basically whenever an adjective follows indefinite pronouns like etwas or nichts, that adjective is taken as a noun so it is capitalized. Adjectives in German often function as nouns, and are then capitalized (ein Beschaeftigter, den Angestellen, des Auszubildenden, etc.).

However, it is still in form an adjective and thus has to take an adjective ending. Thus, it bears the strong neuter-gender ending appropriate for the case:

Ich sehe hier nichts Wichtiges. (accusative)
Finanziell fehlt es an nichts Wichtigem. (dative)
etc.

One exception to the capitalization rule is "anderes": nichts anderes, etwas anderes. This can be (barely) justified on semantic grounds, but you can read more in Duden about it.

If you break out your Old High German or Middle High German grammar book from college (everyone has one of those, right?), you'll see that *originally* the -es was a genitive ending (nichts Wichtiges cf. French rien *de* bon). Over time this genitive was reanalyzed (misanalyzed) in Modern German as a neuter adjective, whence the modern structure.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs 28 mins (2005-04-27 12:01:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Nichts always means \"nothing.\" It would never mean \"no one\" or \"nobody.\" The translation into English of this structure is always the same: nothing + adjective:

nichts Wichtiges = nothing important
nichts Wichtigem = nothing important

Finanziell fehlt es an nichts Wichtigem = Financially, nothing important is missing.

Ich sehe darin nichts Gutes. = I see nothing good in it.

nichts Entscheidendes = nothing decisive (where entscheidend = decisive)

Note that if the word \"not\" appears in the English, then obviously \"nothing\" would become \"anything,\" as it usually does:

Ich kann nicht mit euch ohne nichts Schoeneres zu tragen.
I can*not* come with you without *anything* nicer to wear.

Translating this structure this way will always be correct. Karin\'s translation is also defensible in this case, but she has used slightly different syntax for stylistic reasons. Even so, you can see how Karin\'s solution \"nothing of importance\" is obviously synonymous with \"nothing important\" and \"nothing decisive.\" If you were learning this structure in a German class in school, however, you would be taught only the \"nothing + adjective\" meaning, and that will always be correct.

A close translation of your phrase:

When considered from a distance, the situation is much clearer. Outside of Berlin it is known that the Germans can*not* resist the Allies with *anything more decisive*. This was noted also by the author Erich Kaestner, who was in Mayrhofen in Austria on April 26, 1945. He notes in his diary:

Note that \"entgegensetzen\" is taking two objects here. The direct object, or accusative object, is \"nichts Entscheidendes\" and the indirect object, or adtive object, is \"den Alliierten.\" This means \"to resist the Allies with nothing decisive.\"
Peer comment(s):

agree Johanna Timm, PhD : !!!
10 mins
agree Sonia Soros
9 hrs
agree Elimar Orlopp : very cool, learned a lot.
1 day 20 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Again I am in in a dilemma for grading. Actually I do not have the qualification for grading. All of you are my teachers. But I really like Erik's detailed grammatical explanation. I am sorry I cannot split the points between you. Thank you Karin for swift and good answer! Thank you Elimar for good explanation in German. I hope I will not offend anybody. :-) Again thank you all!"
+6
1 min

nothing of importance

nothing that would make a difference/change the outcome/nothing that would matter

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 mins (2005-04-26 23:35:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

nichts, was einen entscheidenden Beitrag leisten würde/die Entscheidung ändern könnte

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 mins (2005-04-26 23:38:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

analogy:
nichts Großes = \"nichts, was groß ist\"
nichts Entscheidendes = \"nichts, was entscheidend sein könnte\"
Peer comment(s):

agree silfilla : nothing that would change the outcome of the war
1 min
agree Dr.G.MD (X)
2 mins
agree Elimar Orlopp : nothing that would make a difference
19 mins
agree Christine Lam
59 mins
agree Darin Fitzpatrick : nothing significant
3 hrs
agree CMJ_Trans (X) : nothing of any vital importance
7 hrs
Something went wrong...
29 mins

nothing decisive

???
a more literal rendering
Something went wrong...
31 mins

grammatische Erklärung siehe unten

Sorry, but I am not able to write in Chinese, so German may be good enough?

Okay, du hast, was ich im ersten Anlauf übersehen habe, nach einer grammatischen Erklärung für "nichts Entscheidendes" gefragt.

Offensichtlich gehört "etwas" oder "nichts" Entscheidendes zu der Familie
- Entscheidung (Substantiv)
- entscheiden (Verb)
- entscheidend (Adjektiv. z.B. die entscheidende Wende)

Etwas Entscheidendes ist also ein substantiviertes Adjektiv und behält somit den Sinn bei, dass es entscheidend ist, es ist somit etwas "Entscheidendes".
Interessant hier die etymologische Deutung des Wortes selbst. Ent-scheiden = Aus der Scheide ziehen. Was heißt, dass du zum Schwert greifst, Krieg führst. Insofern ist das Wort im Zusammenhang mit dem Kriegsgeschehen um Berlin durchaus SEHR zutreffend gewählt.
Ich hoffe, dass ich hilfreich sein konnte mit der grammatischen Erklärung?
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6 hrs

nothing essential

nothing significant, nothing relevant, nothing imperative
Something went wrong...
9 hrs

could no longer put up/offer any significant resistance

*
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