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Need help with German translation from a native speaker (Nur Muttersprachler, bitte)?

I'm trying to translate the phrase "Sow Wind, Reap the Storm" into German, based off of the English phrase "You reap what you sow."

The best I can come up with is "Erntet Wind; Sät den Sturm," in 3rd person plural indicative imperative, but I'm not sure if imperative is correct with the message I'm trying to convey...

i feel like subjunctive present would convey the thought better, but I'm not super familiar with the German subjunctive... conjugating it is no problem, what trips me up is when to use it.

So my question is, how would a native speaker of German translate "Sow Wind; Reap the Storm?" If you saw the phrase "Erntet Wind; Sät den Sturm," say on a shirt or something, would it make sense, or would you assume it was clearly written by a non-native speaker?

Any help would be appreciated, if I can figure this out, it will make a great tattoo :)

Danke, Komeraden!

Update:

I meant "Sät Wind; Erntet den Sturm"

1 Answer

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  • 6 years ago
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    In German, the saying goes: "Wer Wind sät, wird Sturm ernten."

    Another possibility: "Man erntet, was man sät." (You reap what you sow)

    P.S.: "Erntet Wind, sät den Sturm" wouldn't make sense, because storm is stronger than wind, so you have to sow wind in order to reap a storm and not the other way around. ;)

    Source(s): Regards from Germany
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