How Best to Say "by <verb>-ing" in German (Questions About Your Target Languages) Language Learning Forum

How Best to Say "by <verb>-ing" in German
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Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages

jae Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5670 days ago 206 posts - 239 votes Speaks: English*, German, Latin Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, French	Message 1 of 3 02 September 2009 at 4:21pm \| IP Logged
	How would you best translate "by <verb>-ing" into German? Some random examples: 1) I was able to get a promotion by working hard. 2) He attained fluency in Japanese by studying for 5 years. I would appreciate if you tried to translate directly instead of "with hard work," etc. Thanks so much for your help! 1 person has voted this message useful
Mareike Senior Member Germany Joined 6230 days ago 267 posts - 323 votes Speaks: German* Studies: English, Swedish	Message 2 of 3 02 September 2009 at 6:52pm \| IP Logged
	I learn English. You could only translate it directly, when you say "gerade" in German. (present tense). p.e. I'm learning - Ich lerne gerade. I think in you expamples you couldn't translate it directly. You use the ing form after a preposition in English, but in German we don't do this. I would tranlate the first sentence with: Durch harte Arbeit erhielt ich eine Beförderung. I wouldn't translate -ing. 1 person has voted this message useful
rabyte Triglot Groupie Germany Joined 6036 days ago 44 posts - 46 votes Speaks: German*, English, French Studies: Spanish, Hindi	Message 3 of 3 03 September 2009 at 11:51pm \| IP Logged
	right, I'd translate it only with "indem" or "durch" 1) I was able to get a promotion by working hard. Durch hartes Arbeiten konnte ich eine Beförderung erhalten./ Ich konnte eine Beförderung erhalten, indem ich (immer) hart arbeitete. 2) He attained fluency in Japanese by studying for 5 years. Er schaffte es flüssig Japanisch zu sprechen, indem er es 5 Jahre studierte./ Er schaffte es durch fünfjähriges lernen, flüssig Japanisch zu sprechen. 1 person has voted this message useful

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