Tom mag kein Gemüse, außer Erbsen.

Sentence Discussions German
#1
English Translation

With the exception of peas, Tom dislikes vegetables.

“Außer Erbsen” mag Tom kein Gemüse." Is that better or worse or plain bad German?

1 Like
#2

It is a matter of what tone you want to bring across. Your proposal is perfectly valid and closer to the english sentence.

I think english and german are no different in how they come across depending on the word order:

Außer Erbsen mag Tom kein Gemüse. - With the exception of peas, Tom dislikes vegetables.
This is a statement that gives all relevant information on an equal level of importance, which makes it sound neutral.

Tom mag kein Gemüse, außer Erbsen. - Tom dislikes vegetables, except for peas.
This sounds like an absolute statement at first that is then amended after a pause by a kind of afterthought, altering the first impression.

2 Likes