bwt_on@live.com

why do I not get the word for word translations? , instead I get what it might mean in English

Word for word translations don't always mean the same thing literally. For example, the expression "Es gibt" literally means "it gives" but the real meaning is "There are". However, that said, there are a lot of situations where the translators take far too many liberties with the translations in my opinion and could render them more exactly into the English equivalents. I have complained about it many times and have requested many phrases to be retranslated. You'll notice too the translators frequently leave out descriptive adverbs or adjectives in the translations which I find very annoying and not at all thorough.