Quick help with very basic german

February 7, 2013 11:17 AM

We have this "German translation" of a template, which is obviously incomplete: Sie haben einen Termin mit Dr. [DOCTOR'S NAME] on [DATE] at [TIME]. I don't trust google translate, so I come to you, German speakers of metafilter. Can you please finish the translation? Thanks.
posted by [@I][:+:][@I] to Writing & Language (12 answers total)

You have an appointment with Dr. Name on Date at Time.
posted by royalsong at 11:22 AM on February 7, 2013

Sie haben ein is "you have a." Not sure what Termin is, although it is definitely a noun because nouns in German are capitalized. My guess is "appointment."
posted by thank you silence at 11:24 AM on February 7, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks, but I need other way around - looking for the full translation into German. Sorry for not being clear.
posted by [@I][:+:][@I] at 11:24 AM on February 7, 2013

Thanks, but I need other way around - looking for the full translation into German. Sorry for not being clear.

You mean the "on" and "at" part?
posted by burnmp3s at 11:32 AM on February 7, 2013

Best answer: Sie haben einen Termin mit Dr. [DOCTOR'S NAME] on [DATE] at [TIME]:

Sie haben einen Termin mit Dr. [Name] am [day] um [time].

Native speaker.
posted by MinusCelsius at 11:32 AM on February 7, 2013 [4 favorites]

Best answer: "Sie haben einen Termin mit Dr. ____ am [DATE] um [X] Uhr."
posted by frizzle at 11:32 AM on February 7, 2013

Best answer: Starting the way you have it I would finish it:

Sie haben einen Termin mit Dr. [Doctor's Name] am [Date] um [Time] Uhr.

But if I were writing it from scratch I would render it:

Sie haben einen Termin bei Dr. [Doctor's Name] am [Date] um [Time] Uhr.

Be aware that a German speaker may be expecting 24 hour (hh.mm) time and may also be expecting a date in dd.mm.yy or "dd. Month" format. For example:

Sie haben einen Termin bei Dr. Mustermann am 15. November um 13.30 Uhr.
posted by jedicus at 11:33 AM on February 7, 2013

Best answer: "...haben einen Termin bei Doktor..." isn't correct. If you have an appointment to pick up something the secretary might hand you, maybe. (You usually don't make appointments for that though.) But if you are seeing the actual doctor, it's "mit Dr. Name".
posted by MinusCelsius at 11:40 AM on February 7, 2013

I bow to the native speaker on that distinction, but you see "bei Dr." and "beim Arzt" all the time, including in grammar books. For example, Here it is in a book aimed at teaching German to English speakers. And here it is in a book aimed at teaching English to German speakers.
posted by jedicus at 12:04 PM on February 7, 2013

The bei and mit distinction is very subtle. Sie haben einen Termin beim Zahnarzt...Sie haben einen Termin mit Herrn Dr. Knochenkracher - where I come from (the north), "bei" would be just as ok. (Native speaker here too. Maybe a generation thing).
posted by Namlit at 1:09 PM on February 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Another native speaker here. If we're talking about a medical doctor whom you're seeing, "haben einen Termin bei Herrn/Frau Doktor..." is correct. If it's a person with a PhD, it would be "haben einen Termin mit Herrn/Frau Doktor..." instead.

Note that it's polite to use Herr/Frau in front of the title, not instead of the title.
posted by amf at 1:25 PM on February 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

Yes, if you're Dr. [DOCTOR'S NAME]'s client/patient, you have an appointment bei him/her, not mit (unless you're meeting them for coffee). And I agree, it should be Herr Dr. [DOCTOR'S NAME] or Frau Dr. [DOCTOR'S NAME].

(German law is quite strict with respect to who gets to call themselves a Dr. so depending on what you're planning to do with this translation you might want to review that. Many German physicians don't have doctoral degrees and can get into huge trouble if they refer to themselves as "Dr.".)
posted by snownoid at 2:30 PM on February 7, 2013 [2 favorites]