I know what Google Translate says - Beende die Kämpfe
Does that actually say, "End the Fighting"?
Note that I'm NOT asking Stop Fighting - in the story I'm writing, I'm having a bit of an authority figure tell two groups that it's time to make nice and end the fighting between them. And it's in German, because that's apparently the most common language in Switzerland.
"Beendet die Kämpfe" (cease the fights) or "Beendet das Kämpfen" (cease the fighting) would be better. ("Beende" is used when adressing a single person)
"Hört auf zu Kämpfen" would also be valid, but that comes closer to "Stop fighting" used as an exclamation.
"Hört auf zu Kämpfen" would also be valid, but that comes closer to "Stop fighting" used as an exclamation.
Since the speaker appears to be in a position of authority, wouldn't this be the more appropriate phrase to use?
"Beendet die Kämpfe" (cease the fights) or "Beendet das Kämpfen" (cease the fighting) would be better. ("Beende" is used when adressing a single person)
And that's why I got on here and asked.
Thank you.
In context, the proclamation isn't just telling the two groups to create a cease-fire between them, it's to end the war that's been going on for several years. But I didn't want to use the word war, specifically.
And yes, the authority figure does have the strength behind what is considered an ultimatum that comes after the figure has made some actions to get the point across, so the implied 'or else' is very much there.
Hero68 is right.
"Hört auf zu Kämpfen" is often used from a position of no real authority, the implied 'or else ...' is missing.
"Beendet den Kampf" (end the fight) may also be applicable if its one fight or one battle.
There are slight differences due to regional dialects,
"Swizzerdütsch" is in daily use often quite different to Standard German, especially they use "haben" (to have) in situations were standard German speakers use "sein" (to be). "es hat" (it has) instead of "es ist" (it is).
The language used in Switzerland depends on where you are.
Today you may easily find people in the French and Italian regions who understand German because they were (and still are) required to learn it in school, but only a hundred years back...
BTW, one of my uncles bought a small chalet in the upper Rhone valley and was often there on weekends and holidays, but never learned to understand the regional version of Swiss German. It's quite different from the Swiss German spoken in Zürich. The language spoken in the lower part (in Switzerland) of the Rhone valley is a version of Swiss French.
HM.
I was chatting about dialects to someone from Switzerland while sitting in a chairlift in the country. He said he had been in areas where he had to ask what language they were speaking and was somewhat surprised to discover it was just another German dialect.
Then again, a month ago I heard a couple talking and wanted to ask them something but first had to establish if we had any language in common. I asked if English or German would work better for them. They turned out to be from somewhere near Altötting which is rural Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Of course they had been speaking German but I had not recognised it as such.
He said he had been in areas where he had to ask what language they were speaking and was somewhat surprised to discover it was just another German dialect.
I did my basic training at Ft. Bragg. My closest friends there were from Texas and Tenn (I was from Brooklyn). The Texas guy had to translate for the Tenn guy and me.
I remember the Tenn guy asking me if I had an "envelip." He was asking for an envelope.
There are slight differences due to regional dialects,
That's key. I needed to say "Who is he?" in Mexican Spanish. I asked for native Spanish speaking people for help on wattpad. The first person gave me wrong info and then I found out he knew Castilion (sp?) Spanish.
But even the Mexican translation was wrong because I was told that a Mexican wouldn't phrase the sentence like that. They start the question with "and" and would say "that" instead of "he". So the English equivalent to the Spanish is "And who is that?"
So even though my Spanish was correct, it wouldn't be the way it's spoken there. Same thing with "little house." In America, a little house in Spanish is "casita" so I had a drug lord say, "Take him to the little house." I was told that a Mexican drug lord would never say casita.
depends what type of authority figure, the age of the group, the "social class", gender, etc.
"beendet die Kämpfe" is super formal and would really only be used in an official fight.
Most likely the authority figure would not use the word fighting/Kampf at all. Just telling them to "Hört auf (damit)" (stop right now)
Or use light swear words if the people are above teenagers "Hört auf mit dem scheiss"
"beendet die Kämpfe" is super formal and would really only be used in an official fight.
Based upon the context, this would be the correct usage, then.