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| | 20 July 2009 11:59 |
| gamineNumber of messages: 4611 | I didn't know at all that you liked me
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| | 20 July 2009 14:12 |
| | i didn't know that you liked me would mean that the other persons feelings are gone. the german source implies that those are present. => " I didn't know (that) you like me" |
| | 21 July 2009 15:10 |
| wknNumber of messages: 332 | I would say "I didn't know that you like me", not "liked" |
| | 21 July 2009 15:38 |
| gamineNumber of messages: 4611 | Right wkn. Of course, the simple past is already in did. |
| | 21 July 2009 15:50 |
| | No, that's like reported speech (I didn't know that/I said that) which combines past/past.
Ex:
I didn't know you were here (not "you are here" )
So, the line is correct, guys CC: kopcologne gamine wkn |
| | 21 July 2009 20:42 |
| gamineNumber of messages: 4611 | Thanks for the explanation, Lilian. Learning again
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| | 21 July 2009 21:02 |
| wknNumber of messages: 332 | In my opinion both forms may be correct, the choice being a matter of style and preference. My preference is what I wrote but I will not dispute that Lilian's preference is correct too. There's a very relevant and recent discussion of this topic here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090716032800AAxQ5VH. I German and Danish, however, if the past/past form had been used (which it has not) it would hint that the liking is a thing of the past. So the "liked" form gives a translation which IMO is correct but slighly misleading. |
| | 21 July 2009 21:31 |
| | Both forms are correct. Most people would say "like" as it's unambiguous. Otherwise, it might mean that you don't like me anymore. |
| | 21 July 2009 21:38 |
| | If most people would use "like", then let's edit it
Thanks to everyone. |
| | 21 July 2009 21:46 |
| | You're welcome - this is one of those things that has evolved over the years in English, I think. |
| | 22 July 2009 04:57 |
| | lilian canale, great job your german is that perfect. wkn gives us the right clue to it. "wußte gar nicht, daß du mich magst" means that the other person likes me (and still does so right now) and implies that i just heard the news.. "ich weiß gar nicht , ob (daß) du mich magst" would show us the speaker still doesn't know about the other person's feelings.
to lilian.. as in reported speech "past/past" is combined when both happened at the same time, and reagrding my explanations above, what might the correct translation be then? |