Germany, possibly the only place where handymen, electricians, etc. show up earlier than the time they said.
Also, ARG, German language, why?? If the verb "ausbauen" (literally "out" + "build") can mean both "develop, expand, enlarge" and "dismantle, remove," how am I supposed to tell whether the sentence "Die Rebellen wollen ihre Positionen ausbauen" means that the rebels want to build up their camps further, or break their camps down? Seems like kind of an important distinction...
"Die Rebellen bauen ihre Position aus" could never mean that they break down their positions/camps/frontline. At least in my ears, if you "baust aus"
ReplyDeletesomething in the sense of dismanteling, the object you refere to is the one that is being removed (like an engine) from an (implicit) larger object from which it is removed (like a car). Already the term "das Haus ausbauen" can only have one meaning, since the implicit object "Stadt or Stadtteil" from which it would have to be removed somehow makes no sense in this context.
(Unless of course you are talking about a house on a model-size children train-thingy or something like that, or a cartoon where two oversize gods discuss, one holding an actual house in his hands.)
"Ich habe den Motor ausgebaut" is indeed ambiguous- here it really depends on the context.
In the context of to "dismantel something", there are the better (correct) verbs "etwas entmanteln" oder etwas "etwas rückbauen".
Ooh, this is VERY interesting, thank you! This explanation makes sense, that an object alone can't be "ausgebaut," but it can be "ausgebaut" out of something larger than itself.
ReplyDeleteSo what do you make of "ausbauen" in the context of the article I was translating? That bit reads:
"Seit einer Woche residiert die M-23-Spitze [hier]. Nun aber wollen die Rebellen sich vielleicht aus Goma zurückziehen und die Beute in die umliegenden Berge schleppen: Positionen ausbauen, womöglich weiter nach Norden marschieren."
Given your explanation of "ausbauen," this can only mean "they want to BUILD ADDITIONAL BASES AND possibly march further north" not "they want to BREAK DOWN THEIR BASES HERE, then march further north" - right?