tätst

English translation: if you were to do

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	tätst
English translation:	if you were to do
Entered by:	erselking

01:40 Oct 26, 2004

German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Music

German term or phrase: tätst

I am having trouble with this line from Kurt Weill's "Die sieben Todsünden", especially the word "tätst":
"Bedenk, was geschieht, wenn du tätst, was dir läge!"
I would appreciate help with this line. Thanks.

erselking KudoZ activity Questions: 14 (none open) Answers: 0
Local time: 01:31

if you were to do

Explanation:
Bear in mind what would happen if you were to do as you wished.
Although this is not (at all!) as concise as the original. "Consider" is better...

Selected response from:

Francis Lee (X)
Local time: 08:31

Grading comment

Thank you. Your answer was a lot of help.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +10

would do / did

Christine Lam

3 +6

an attempt

Olaf Reibedanz

3 +1

if you were to do

Francis Lee (X)

if you did exactly what you wanted to do

Jonathan MacKerron

Answers

12 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +10

tätst would do / did

Explanation:
stands for "tun wuerdest"
Consider what would happen if you did what you are good at

Christine Lam
Local time: 02:31
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 11

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

tätst an attempt

Explanation:
I don't know the official translation of this line, but here is what I think it means:

"Be aware of what would happen if you did what you wanted."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 mins (2004-10-26 01:57:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

\"Tätst\" is a subjunctive of the verb \"tun\" :-)

Olaf Reibedanz
Colombia
Local time: 01:31
Native speaker of:

German

4 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

tätst

if you were to do

Explanation:
Bear in mind what would happen if you were to do as you wished.
Although this is not (at all!) as concise as the original. "Consider" is better...

Francis Lee (X)
Local time: 08:31
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 25

Grading comment

Thank you. Your answer was a lot of help.

5 hrs confidence:

tätst if you did exactly what you wanted to do

Explanation:
another take

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 43

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tätst

English translation: if you were to do

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English translation: if you were to do

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