Ich halte dich frei.

Sentence Discussions German
#1
Spanish Translation

Te lo doy gratis.

Is the translation correct?

#2

That German sentence doesn’t make any sense to me. But as I just learned, some Germans do say that when offering to pay for the person they’re inviting. I’ve just never heard it before.

Translations that are closer to the Spanish “Te lo doy gratis” (“I give it to you for free”) would be:

  • Ich gebe es dir gratis.
  • Ich gebe es dir kostenlos.
  • Ich gebe es dir fĂĽr umsonst.
1 Like
#3

The German sentence is not nonsense, only a bit old fashioned.
It means " I am paying for you, too."
Like in
“Lass uns ein Bier trinken gehen.”
“Ich habe aber kein Geld dabei.”
“Macht nichts, ich halte Dich frei.”

So I think the Spanish is close, but not exact.

3 Likes
#4

Interesting, even as a native German speaker, I’m learning something new. :slightly_smiling_face:

I’ve never heard “Ich halte dich frei” until now.

1 Like
#5
English Translation

Is it free?

What really makes no sense is the picture :smiley:

#6

The English translation “Is it free?” doesn’t match the meaning of the other languages.

It should be something like one of these:

  • I’ll pay yours too.
  • I’ll take this.
  • This one’s on me.
  • My treat.

Situation: Person A offers to pay the meal (or whatever) of person B.

All other languages speak from the perspective of person A.

The English sentence seems to speak from the perspective of person B.