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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

Our next door neighbor / Our next door neighbors

German translation: unser Nachbar / unsere Nachbarn

09:12 May 27, 2009
English to German translations [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: Our next door neighbor / Our next door neighbors
Hello / Hallo / Guten Tag,

How would one say this (Our next door neighbor / Our next door neighbors) in German? e.g. as in "Our next door neighbor is a Vedantist" or "Our next door neighbors go on vacation a lot (often go on holidays etc.).

Thanks in advance for the help. I appreciate all answers that are given even though I can only vote for one in the end.

Sincerely,

Brian Costello
brian1
German translation:unser Nachbar / unsere Nachbarn
Explanation:
in necessary, also:

unsere Nachbarn von nebenan

but sounds stilted
Selected response from:

Edith Kelly
Switzerland
Local time: 20:16
Grading comment
EdithK,

I'm going to go with your translation as most correct and most helpful. Thank you very much.

Some languages I've studied can say it almost the way English does. For example Albanian has something that means literally "Our next-to neighbor" and Irish something that literally means "Our doorway neighbor."

However, in German, it looks like the concept of "next" is implied (or subsumed) in the word "Nachbar."

Thanks again,

Brian Costello.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +15unser Nachbar / unsere Nachbarn
Edith Kelly
3 +9unser direkter Nachbar
Monja Meyer
4 +3unsere direkten Nachbarn
Helga Humlova
4 +3"unser Nachbar nebenan"
Stefanie Neubert


  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +15
our next door neighbor / our next door neighbors
unser Nachbar / unsere Nachbarn


Explanation:
in necessary, also:

unsere Nachbarn von nebenan

but sounds stilted

Edith Kelly
Switzerland
Local time: 20:16
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 29
Grading comment
EdithK,

I'm going to go with your translation as most correct and most helpful. Thank you very much.

Some languages I've studied can say it almost the way English does. For example Albanian has something that means literally "Our next-to neighbor" and Irish something that literally means "Our doorway neighbor."

However, in German, it looks like the concept of "next" is implied (or subsumed) in the word "Nachbar."

Thanks again,

Brian Costello.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  David Seycek: unser Nachbar / unsere Nachbarn
1 min
agree  Simon Kramer: Nachbar/n
2 mins
neutral  BrigitteHilgner: I think "nebenan" is essential, because "Nachbar" might also be somebody who lives a few houses down the road, not necessarily next door.
4 mins
  -> Brigitte, nur sagt man das halt nicht im Deutschen, im Englischen ist das ein üblicher Ausdruck
agree  pme
7 mins
agree  Erik Freitag: Ja, "nebenan" sagt man im Deutschen einfach nicht, wenn es nicht unbedingt nötig ist.
9 mins
agree  maja.freelan (X): I like "unsere Nachbarn von nebenan" more
31 mins
agree  Andrea Teltemann: Nachbarn von nebenan
35 mins
agree  Rolf Keiser: der Nachbar ist im normalen Sprachgebrauch nebenan
44 mins
agree  Ruth Wöhlk: with Andrea and Maja
45 mins
agree  Christina Bergmann: nebenan ist nicht nötig. Wenn ich über jemanden in der Straße rede, der nicht mein direkter Nachbar ist, beschreibe ich ihn näher.
58 mins
neutral  Ulrike Kraemer: @Goldcoaster: Ich habe auch Nachbarn, die gegenüber wohnen ...
1 hr
  -> Im Englischen ist einfach der Sprachgebrauch anders, da wird präzisiert i.e. our neighbours from across the road, aber man sagt nicht: Unsere Nachbarn von gegenüber.
agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X): ich würde nebenan hinzufügen
1 hr
  -> von nebenan, danke Ingeborg
agree  Nicole Y. Adams, M.A.: Nachbarn von nebenan
1 hr
agree  Sabine Deutsch: without nebenan sounds better to me
2 hrs
agree  babli: agree
3 hrs
agree  Anja C.
6 hrs
agree  Anne Spitzmueller
1 day 1 hr
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6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +9
our next door neighbor / our next door neighbors
unser direkter Nachbar


Explanation:
This is what I would say.

Monja Meyer
Georgia
Local time: 22:16
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  erika rubinstein: oder Nachbarn
4 mins
agree  Erik Freitag: Ja, aber nur, wenn die zusätzliche Information "nebenan/direkt" wirklich unverzichtbar ist.
6 mins
agree  Barbara B. (X): See comment on Helga's answer.
6 mins
agree  Ulrike Kraemer: "unsere unmittelbaren Nachbarn" geht auch
7 mins
agree  Stefanie Neubert: "schriftsprachlich" die wohl beste Lösung, "nebenan" ist in meinen Augen mehr umgangssprachlich
13 mins
agree  Bernd Runge
1 hr
agree  Sabine Deutsch
2 hrs
agree  Colin Rowe: With LittleBalu - "unsere unmittelbaren Nachbarn" is exactly what I would have expected here
3 hrs
agree  Sabine Schlottky
7 hrs
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
our next door neighbor / our next door neighbors
unsere direkten Nachbarn


Explanation:
ist vermutlich regional unterschiedlich. ich habe nachbarn (das sind alle leute, die in meiner strasse wohnen) und dann habe ich direkte nachbarn (das sind die leute, mit denen ich "tür an tür" wohne.
hdh
Helga

Helga Humlova
Austria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Barbara B. (X): Genau so würden wir es in der Schweiz auch sagen. :-)
3 mins
agree  Erik Freitag: Ja, aber nur, wenn die zusätzliche Information "nebenan/direkt" wirklich unverzichtbar ist.
6 mins
agree  Sabine Deutsch
2 hrs
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2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
our next door neighbor / our next door neighbors
"unser Nachbar nebenan"


Explanation:
spontane Eingebung ;O)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 Min. (2009-05-27 09:21:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I totally agree with Brigitte, "nebenan" is essential, because "Nachbar" might also be somebody who lives a few houses down the road, not necessarily next door.

Thanks again for this amendment!

Stefanie Neubert
Sweden
Local time: 20:16
Native speaker of: German

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  BrigitteHilgner: and plural: unsere Nachbarn nebenan
1 min
  -> thanks Brigitte! And with your commentary above!! I was thinking of adding that to the answer myself!!
neutral  Edith Kelly: steht bereits in meiner Antwort
5 mins
  -> no offence intended- wie gesagt, ich wollte diese Ergänzung ohnehin noch machen !!!
agree  Erik Freitag: Ja, aber nur, wenn die zusätzliche Information "nebenan/direkt" wirklich unverzichtbar ist.
11 mins
  -> Danke trotzdem!
neutral  Andrea Teltemann: "Nachbarn von nebenan" muss es heißen
36 mins
agree  Sabine Wulf
40 mins
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