Translation

Tricky translations

How do you say “pick” in German?

If you “pick” a thing or a person, you select them because they are the best or most suitable in a given context. Used in this sense, “pick” is another word for “choose”. It is translated ⋅ as auswählen or aussuchen:

“Our employees can pick the benefits that suit them.” — Unsere Mitarbeiter können die Leistungen aussuchen, die zu ihnen passen.

If you “pick” flowers or fruit, you remove them from the ground or from a tree (sammeln ⋅ or pflücken):

“Please do not pick the flowers.” — Bitte die Blumen nicht pflücken.

“Cherry-picking” is choosing the best or most successful things or people from a group while ignoring the rest (Rosinenpickerei). In construction, however, a “cherry-picker” is a Hubsteiger or Hebebühne,a small crane with a platform attached that enables workers to be lifted to reach high places.

If you “pick someone’s brains”, you want to get information from them (jmdn. ausfragen, sich bei jmdm. (durch Ausfragen) Ideen holen).

How do you say lösen in English?

When we use lösen in the context of a difficult situation, we mean to “find an answer or solution”. It is usually translated ⋅ as solve or resolve:

Ich versuche seit Monaten, dieses Problem zu lösen.— “I’ve been trying to solve this problem for months.”

In an engineering or mechanical context, lösen means to “move one part of a machine away from another part that was connected to it”. Here, we translate the verb as disengage ⋅ or release:

Der Busfahrer konnte die Bremse nicht lösen. — “The bus driver was unable to release the brake.”

In other contexts — for example with screws, string, rope or cable — we can translate lösen as undo or loosen. In the case of string, rope or cable, we can also ⋅ say untie:

Der Mechaniker musste alle Schrauben lösen. — “The mechanic had to loosen all the screws.”

A notice on public transport that says Bitte einen Fahrschein lösen would be translated as Please buy a ticket.