Nathalie I am a police officer, and for a bit of fun I would love to be able to say one of our regularly used expressions 'The police Caution' in German. We normally use this expression when arresting someone The Phrase is as follows. 'You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence, if you do not mention when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be used in evidence' :) Would you do a translation for me when you have time. Cheers Ken.

Hi Ken, "Sie müssen nichts sagen, aber es kann Ihrer Verteidigung schaden, wenn Sie etwas nicht erwähnen wenn Sie gefragt werden, auf das Sie später vor Gericht angewiesen sind. Alles was Sie sagen kann als Beweis benutzt werden. This is a literal translation of what you say in English. However I know from many movies that the German version of the police caution sounds a bit different. It also includes that you have the right to talk to a defence lawyer and if you can't afford one court will provide one for you. I rang the police headquarter to find out more, but it was hard to get through. What I do remember from the movies is that they say: Sie haben das Recht die Aussage zu verweigern ("You have the right to remain silent") Alles was Sie sagen kann vor Gericht gegen Sie verwendet werden. ("Everything you say can be used as evidence against you in court") Sie haben das Recht sich einen Anwalt zu nehmen ("You have the right to get a defence lawyer") Wenn Sie sich keinen Anwalt leisten können wir Ihnen einer vom Gericht gestellt. ("If you can't afford a defence lawyer the court will get one for you") I hope that helps

Nathalie, thanks very much for taking the time to do the translation, I am going to learn it and memorise it to impress my colleagues. :D Ken

:D

Nathalie. I have been thinking about this expression. In English the beginning of the expression is " You do not have to say ANYTHING" I remember from one of the previous lessons that "ANYTHING" is "irgendetwas" Would I still be correct if I said "Sie mussen nicht irgendetwas Sagen"

Hi Ken, yes you are right, "irgendetwas" means "anything", but it also means "something". So if you say: "Sie müssen nicht irgendetwas sagen" then it implies that the person doesn't just have to say "something" , but something in particular. If you want to make sure that the person knows that they don't have to say anything at all (they can be as silent as a mouse) then it's best to say: "Sie müssen nichts sagen" or the German version of the police caution: "Sie haben das Recht zu schweigen". :D

Nathalie I know I must becoming a pain, but now I am a little confused, I thought Etwas = Something and Irgendetwas = Anything. Sorry for going on about it, but I am now worried that I misunderstood one of the earlier lessons (lesson 2.3) Ken. :oops:

Hey, you should never feel like you are being a pain. It's great that you are so active on the forum and I'm sure that there are many people out there wondering exactly the same thing, so please keep the questions coming. Etwas means something or some Irgendetwas can be translated as "something" or in a question also as "anything" Irgendjemand can be translated as "somebody"/ "someone" or in a question also as "anybody" For example: Ich habe etwas Geld - I have some money Ich möchte etwas Milch- I want some milk Ich möchte irgendetwas - I want something Hat er irgendetwas gesagt? Did he say anything? Ist irgendjemand da? - Is anybody there? Irgendjemand hat nach dir gefragt - Somebody/ Someone asked for you Generally you can say that the translation is "somebody or something" in a statement and "anything or anybody" in a question. I hope that clarifies it a little. Please get back to me if you need more information :D

Thanks Nathalie du sehr geduldest. Ken.