English Translation
There are significant differences between those two countries.
Is there any way of knowing whether ‘those’ should be translated as ‘dies…’ or ‘jen…’
Cloze seems to usually use the ‘jen…’ forms and then sometimes ‘dies…’
Do you mean when to say which (similar to when to say “this” and when “that”)?
- Zwischen diesen zwei Ländern gibt es wichtige Unterschiede.
- Zwischen jenen zwei Ländern gibt es wichtige Unterschiede.
Fundamentally, they are synonyms. Although “diese” is much more common. In my own experience, I don’t see people use “jene” very often, except trained writers (journalists, for example) or well-spoken educated people.
The problem if you always use “diese” and never “jene”: It can be ambiguous or misleading. Consider this example:
“Dieses Kind ist gut in Mathematik. Dieses Kind ist gut in Sport.”
What did the person mean? Is there one kid who excels both in maths and in sports? Or are there two kids, one good at maths and the other good at sports? It’s not clear.
A guiding principle when to use “diese” and “jene” rather than “diese” twice:
- When you would say “this and that” rather than “this and this”.
- When you would say “the former (jene) and the latter (diese)”.
If there are two kids, you could say:
“Dieses Kind ist gut in Mathematik. Jenes Kind ist gut in Sport.”
This might not be the best example possible, I just couldn’t come up with a better one. I hope the point is clear nonetheless.
Usually, you don’t need “jenes” if you didn’t also use “dieses”. You could use “jene” without “diese” though if you reminisce about the past. Example: “That fateful day …” / “Jener schicksalhafter Tag …”.
“jenes” goes a bit further into the past than “dieses”, or “further to the left” in your sentence (“jene” = “the former”; “dies” = "the latter).
1 Like
English Translation
There are significant differences between those two countries.
Thanks. I was finding it frustrating that Cloze uses both and I couldn’t see the pattern.