Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
dreimal mehr (three times more)
German answer:
three times as much/many (300%)
Added to glossary by
Ulrike MacKay
Nov 27, 2014 06:38
9 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
Germany
Marketing and "green" specialist
Native in: German
Works in: English to German, French to German, German to English
dreimal mehr (three times more)
German
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Allgemeine Verständnisfrage
Etwas, was ich mich immer wieder frage:
Handelt es sich bei z.B. "dreimal mehr" / "three times more"
=> einfach um eine (für meine Begriffe irreführende und somit möglicherweise oft/ gemeinhin falsch angewandte) Formulierung für "das Dreifache" => 300% von x
oder
=> bedeutet es, in Zahlen ausgedrückt, tatsächlich "x + 3x = 4x" => 400% von x, so wie ich es auffassen würde?
Habe bereits versucht, die Antwort darauf online zu finden, aber leider ohne Erfolg...
Wer weiß Bescheid?
Danke!
Handelt es sich bei z.B. "dreimal mehr" / "three times more"
=> einfach um eine (für meine Begriffe irreführende und somit möglicherweise oft/ gemeinhin falsch angewandte) Formulierung für "das Dreifache" => 300% von x
oder
=> bedeutet es, in Zahlen ausgedrückt, tatsächlich "x + 3x = 4x" => 400% von x, so wie ich es auffassen würde?
Habe bereits versucht, die Antwort darauf online zu finden, aber leider ohne Erfolg...
Wer weiß Bescheid?
Danke!
Responses
| 4 +4 | three times as many (300%) |
Jack Doughty
|
| 4 +5 | das Dreifache |
ibz
|
Responses
+4
14 mins
Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Translator since 1953
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, German to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
three times as many (300%)
"Three times more" is unfortunately used a lot nowadays, though it wasn't thirty or forty years ago, to mean "three times as many". It was possibly imported from German. I avoid using it myself, but I am fighting a losing battle.
Note from asker:
| ... I'm by your side in this fight, Jack! ;-) Like you, I always prefer to use "das x-fache/ x-mal so viel", which leaves no room for interpretation, but have never been sure about "how much of x" the expression "x times more" would really translate into... In my opinion, it is rather mistakable and therefore I think it is often used in the wrong way... Strictly speaking "three times more" should be "x + 3x", but I doubt this is considered by many... :-( |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you, Jack, and everybody who confirmed. Cilian, I tried to explain my general question about this expression above - if I have a "more" of anything, this means I must have a basic reference value "x". So when I have "three times MORE (of x)", this should - strictly speaking - translate into "x + 3x = 4x", meaning 400% of x, not only 300%. However, I've suspected that "three times more" is commonly (wrongly) used to just mean "three times as much/many" (= 300% of x) - just like Jack and everybody else confirmed. So again, thank you everybody! (Would have liked to divide the points, by the way!) :-)"
+5
14 mins
das Dreifache
So verstehe ich das ...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
BrigitteHilgner
20 mins
|
| agree |
Geneviève von Levetzow
33 mins
|
| agree |
Coqueiro
38 mins
|
| agree |
Usch Pilz
1 hr
|
| agree |
Karin Hinsch
4 hrs
|
Something went wrong...