English Translation
Try on that shirt. It’s made of fine cotton.
Can anyone help me understand how “Ziehen Sie doch dieses Shirt einmal an” differs from “Ziehen Sie dieses Shirt an” ?
Is the latter just more direct/pushy?
2 Likes
Yes. Mal/einmal/doch einmal softens the request. In english you might say “Why don’t you …” to similar effect.
“Ziehen Sie dieses Shirt an.” sounds like a direct command.
The original english sentence is not as harsh because, I think, the verb “try” already has a softening effect.
3 Likes
Yes. “Put this shirt on” sounds harsher than “Try this shirt on”, which itself is further softened by “Why don’t you try this shirt on”.
3 Likes