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Do You Mind?

How do you say "I don't mind" in German? At the end of the recent lesson about the verb ausmachen, I mentioned that the verb ausmachen, combined with a dative pronoun and the negation nicht, is a way of asking if somebody "minds" something, or of stating that "you don't mind."

 

Ach, was soll's! Die Alten meckern ja dauernd, aber das macht mir nichts aus.

Oh, never mind! Old folks are always complaining, but I don't mind.

Captions 19-20, Es war einmal... der Weltraum Die Saurier

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The adverb meinetwegen is a curious one. It may be translated, according to the context, as "for all I care," "because of me," "as far as I'm concerned," or even just "whatever." But sometimes it's also "I don't mind":

 

Meinetwegen. Aber wenn du das Geld von meinem Vater hast, dann sag...

I don't mind. But if you got the money from my father, then say...

Captions 38-39, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

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The phrase von mir aus may also be translated as "for all I care," "fine with me," "fine by me," or "as far as I'm concerned," but also as:

 

Wir wollen mit! Also gut, Jungs, von mir aus.

We want to come along! All right, boys, I don't mind.

Captions 15-16, Es war einmal... der Weltraum: Planet Omega

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The phrase nichts dagegen haben could be literally translated as "to have nothing against it," but in many contexts that is awkward. This is often a better solution:

 

Also, wenn du nichts dagegen hast, kann ich dieser Jackie ja mal 'nen Besuch abstatten.

So, if you don't mind, I can pay that girl Jackie a visit.

Captions 103-104, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

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To summarize, the phrases nicht viel ausmachen (with a personal dative pronoun), von mir aus, nichts dagegen haben, and the adverb meinetwegen may all, depending upon the context, be translated as "don't mind."

 

Further Learning
Read the German Lesson Meinetwegen and von mir aus to go deeper into those terms. Then go to find some more examples on Yabla German to see other German words and phrases translated as "(I, you, we, they) don't mind."

Relationship Words - Romantic Relationships

This week, we will look at words for indicating various types of romantic relationships. 

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First, let’s start off with marriage (die Ehe). Often, a person will refer to their husband simply as mein Mann or their wife as meine Frau. There are, however, more formal terms that you also might hear, in particular der Ehemann / die Ehefrau and der Gatte / die Gattin.

 

Und so lernte die Prinzessin ihren Ehemann kennen,

And this is how the Princess made her husband's acquaintance,

Caption 35, Märchen - Sagenhaft - König Drosselbart

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Herr Blöhmann, helfen Sie Ihrer Gattin gelegentlich?

Mr. Blöhmann, do you occasionally help your spouse?

Caption 55, Loriot - Die Eheberatung

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For long-term relationships where the marriage aspect is not necessarily relevant, there are a few words to know as well: der Lebensgefährte / die Lebensgefährtin and der Lebenspartner / die Lebenspartnerin

 

Ich bin Corrys Geschäftspartner.

I am Corry's business partner.

-Aha. Und ich bin Corinnas Lebenspartner.

-Uh-huh. And I am Corinna's life partner.

Caption 49, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 2: Kompromisse zu finden ist nicht einfach

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So far, most of the words have had an -in ending for the feminine versions. Note that this is different with der Verlobte ("the fiancé") and die Verlobte ("the fiancée"), as only the article changes. You may remember that this is similar for der Bekannte and die Bekannte ("the acquaintance").

 

As noted last week, der Freund / die Freundin can either refer to a friend or a girlfriend or boyfriend. It is necessary to notice the context in which the word is being used. 

 

Ich würde mir wünschen, dass ich mit meinem Freund verheiratet wäre.

I hope that my boyfriend and I will be married.

Caption 56, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch

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Further Learning
If you missed last week's lesson on platonic relationships, you can look at it and other past lessons here. Memorize the vocabulary words from both lessons using flashcards, and practice constructing sentences with those that are most relevant for you.