Translation
Tricky translations
How do you say “revise” in German?
If you “revise” something, such as a report or a forecast, you change it because you have new information (überarbeiten, berichtigen or revidieren):
“We have revised our sales target because of the recent stock market crash.” — Wir haben unser Umsatzziel wegen des jüngsten Börsencrashs revidiert.
If you “revise” a piece of writing, you change it by making improvements or correcting mistakes (revidieren, überprüfen or abändern):
“The new edition of my book has been revised and the typos have been corrected.” — Die neue Ausgabe meines Buches wurde überarbeitet und die Druckfehler wurden korrigiert.
In British English, when you “revise” for an exam or test, you study the facts and materials again so that you will remember them (lernen or
wiederholen). American English uses “review” or “study”: “I don’t think I’m going to pass the exam. I haven’t revised enough.” — Ich glaube nicht, dass ich die Prüfung bestehen werde. Ich habe nicht genug gelernt.
How do you say verrechnen in English?
In finance, verrechnen refers to amounts that cancel each other out so that the net effect is reduced or the situation stays the same. In English, this would be offset, set (off) against or cross-charge:
Das deutsche Energieunternehmen verrechnet seine Verluste in Großbritannien mit seinen Inlandsgewinnen. — “The German energy company offsets its losses in the UK with its domestic profits.”
Verrechnen mit etwas means “to take into account a part payment of a total bill” (offset against, count towards, deduct from):
Wir werden Ihre Anzahlung mit den Gesamtkosten verrechnen. — “We will count your down payment towards the total costs.”
As a reflexive verb, sich (stark) verrechnen means “to make a serious mathematical mistake” and is usually translated as (badly) miscalculate, (really) get one’s sums wrong, make a (big) mistake:
Wir haben uns stark verrechnet, als wir unsere Preise festsetzten. — “We really got our sums wrong when we fixed our prices.”
2. How would you say that?
Translate the following sentences.
A. We will have to revise our sales forecasts following the government announcement.