I'm reading The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann in a Dutch translation and one of the smaller points that comes op sometimes is using the correct pronoun when addressing someone. Dutch and German both have a formal (u/Sie) and informal (je/du) wors for 'you'. How does an English translation deal with this? I'm talking specifically in situations where they address the usage of those pronouns.
by bleie77
2 Comments
Well, “thee” and “thou” are the obvious ones but would feel jarring outside of a certain time period.
As a Dutch person who also reads German books in Dutch translation, I feel it can even be complicated for the Dutch translation because we switch to the informal you so much sooner than our East neighbours do!