# it depends on



## Insider

Hello!

Could anybody tell me, how it will be in German: it depends on?

Thanks a lot.


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## heidita

Insider said:
			
		

> Hello!
> 
> Could anybody tell me, how we could translate it depends on to German?
> 
> Thanks a lot.


 
You should try first yourself, but as it is just a sentence.

Es kommt auf .... an. 

It depends on the circumstances. 
Es kommt auf die Umstände an.

It depends.....
Es kommt darauf an.


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## Insider

Heidita,

Unfortunately, my knowledge of German is on such level where I cannot easily do whatever I want. 

Vielen Dank.


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## heidita

You are welcome, Insider. On this forum you will always be welcome, it doesn't depend on anything. 

It is a good practise for you to try and give your own version, though. What is important is to try, not the final achievement.


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## Insider

Heidita,

I clearly understand that theory is very important. But everyone know that theory without practice - nothing. Am I right? 

The worse thing is to start. But the worst is to continue, to start one more time after the brake. You try to remember the material which you've forgetten. You look like a baby in the wood who is trying to find out the solution.


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## gaer

No one has mentioned this, so I will.

We say:

"It depends…"

With those two words, we mean: "I/we can't give you an answer without more information/context/background."

We never say:

"It depends on…"

For this reason I am not entirely sure what you are asking.

In English we only add the word "on" when we are giving more information:

It depends on your point of view.
It depends on your age.
It depends on your religious background.

I don't know myself if this also changes in German, but I believe you can use "es kommt darauf an" for "it depends", yet you I believe you can also use this same phrase to say more by following it with a comma and more infomation:

*"Es kommt darauf an, *was du/Du machen willst."

"It depends on what you want to do."

I may be wrong, and I hope some of our natives will either confirm that I am right or let me know if I have made a mistake, but the main point is that "it depends on" is not used alone.

Gaer


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## Insider

Gaer,

Thank you for your engaging into the discussion in this thread. I'm not a native of English, but I've been living in USA and, probably, I hope so, my poor expierence will give an opportunity to argue with you. I caught what you wanted to emphasize, but let me tell my own version/opinion.

I suppose that there are still some kind of questions where you can use just the answer "it depends on".  I even think that it's undoubtelly present in informal English. With such usage of the phrase in formal language - I'm sure -it's impossible to see. But on the some levels of informal English, it's of course depends on circumstances, but it's possible to view.

Well, maybe, I'm not right, so change my opinion. 

Insider


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## Kajjo

"It depends...!"
"Das kommt drauf an!"

Kajjo


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## gaer

Insider said:
			
		

> Gaer,
> 
> Thank you for your engaging into the discussion in this thread. I'm not a native of English, but I've been living in USA and, probably, I hope so, my poor expierence will give an opportunity to argue with you. I caught what you wanted to emphasize, but let me tell my own version/opinion.
> 
> I suppose that there are still some kind of questions where you can use just the answer "it depends on".


Almost anything is possible in unusual situations, but it would be very rare. If you start a sentence and are interrupted—or if you interrupt yourself, it's possible.

However, I'd wager that 99% of the time you will hear something like:

"Well, it depends…"

Gaer


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## heidita

I am sorry, but 

it depends on, without adding what is simply not correct grammar. 

_It depends_ is what you are looking for. 

depend on has to be followed by "whatever"

Same in German:

*Das kommt auf an*

would be

*it depends on.*

Just as mistaken.

I might have been not too clear in my first post, but I thought I had indicated that you need the object.


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## gaer

Kajjo said:
			
		

> "It depends...!"
> "Das kommt drauf an!"
> 
> Kajjo


Thanks, Kajjo. I always feel better when I get confirmation. I believe Heidita gave the same answer, and I think she also gave this form:

_"Es kommt auf die Umstände an." It depends on the circumstances._

So there three ways to do it in German, I think:

1) Es kommt darauf an. It depends.
2) Es kommt darauf an, was (It depends what_____).
3) Es kommt auf _______ an. (I depends on _____.)

Gaer


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## chibibecci

Could you also use "Es hängt davon ab" to say "It depends"?

If I'm trying to say "it depends on the person"
would it be "Es hängt davon ab der Mensch"?
I'm not sure if that grammar is right, could someone correct it please?

(I hope you don't mind me using your thread to ask another question as well, it's a fairly similar question and might partly answer your question)


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## teto_90

chibibecci said:


> Could you also use "Es hängt davon ab" to say "It depends"?
> 
> If I'm trying to say "it depends on the person"
> would it be "Es hängt davon ab der Mensch"?
> I'm not sure if that grammar is right, could someone correct it please?
> 
> (I hope you don't mind me using your thread to ask another question as well, it's a fairly similar question and might partly answer your question)


Following grammar rules, you should say "Es hängt von dem Menschen ab" (the part of the verb "ab" should be put at the end of the sentence, the preposition "von" takes the dative and the noun "Mensch" is a weak noun, so in the dative case it's "Menschen"), but wait for the natives, since I'm not very sure as far as the usage of this verb is concerned...


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## Tifoso Bonisolli

Basically, teto is right. But you'd use the article "dem" only if a relative clause is to follow (von dem Menschen, der ...), otherwise you'd rather shorten it to "es hängt vom Menschen ab". Or "es hängt vom jeweiligen Menschen ab" if you want to stress differences between individuals.


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## Hutschi

So basically we have two idioms:

Das/es kommt darauf an.
Das/es hängt davon ab.

---

"it depends on the person"
would it be "Es hängt davon ab der Mensch"?

Grammatically it would be "Es hängt von dem Menschen ab/vom Menschen ab" as the other wrote.
Depending on context it can also be: "Das kommt auf die Person an."/"Es kommt auf den jeweiligen Menschen an."


And so in many contexts it should be: Das hängt von der Person ab ...
(which is similar to "vom jeweiligen Menschen".

"Die Person" is a special "Mensch".  So you can say "Das hängt von der Person ab, die das macht." or "Das hängt vom jeweiligen Menschen ab, der das macht."
I would prefer the first sentence in the most cases.


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## teto_90

Hutschi said:


> Grammatically it would be "Es hängt von dem Menschen ab/vom Menschen ab" as the other wrote.
> Depending on context it can also be: "Das kommt auf die Person an."/"Es kommt auf den jeweiligen Menschen an."


What's the difference between the two forms? Can you give some examples?
Thanks

*Moderator note*: This question is answered here. We continue discussing "it depends on".


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## Xander2024

Ich habe den ganzen Thread gelesen und kann nicht verstehen - wäre es richtig, in der folgenden Situation "Das kommt darauf an." zu benutzen?

-Are you going there tomorrow?
-It depends. 

-Gehst du morgen dorthin?
- Das kommt drauf an. (??)

Danke im Voraus.


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## Wedge

Yeah, you could but it begs the question "on what?/auf was?" since you are not really saying anything at all.


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## Xander2024

As far as I know, in English it does not require a continuation. They just say, "It depends." 
Wäre es nicht "Worauf?"?

Danke.


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## piloya

Hallo,
könnte mann auch  auf diesem Fall "je nachdem"  als "it depends!" benutzen, ohne weitere Information zu geben?


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## Hutschi

Je nachdem.

Es hängt vom Kontext ab und vom Textzusammenhang.

(Hier musste ich es erklären. Ohne Erlärung wäre es nichtssagend und unhöflich. Xander gibt in der nächsten Antwort ein Beispiel, bei dem es funktioniert.)


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## Xander2024

Kommt er oft? - Je nachdem.


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## piloya

könnte man auch zu dieser Frage so antworten?:
kommt er oft?
kommt drauf an.

Gibt es irgendwelchen Unterschied mit "je nachdem" zu antworten?

Welches ist näher zu "it depends!"

Danke


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## Widsith

According to WordRef,

*das ist verschieden*

can also mean ‘it depends’. Is the sense here different? This is such a useful element in conversation and I'm curious how it works in German.


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## JClaudeK

Widsith said:


> According to WordRef,
> *das ist verschieden*
> can also mean ‘it depends’.


Where did you read this?

It could be possible if "das ist verschieden" is followed by "je nach"
e.g.
_Das ist verschieden je nach der Zeit, den Umständen._


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## manfy

Widsith said:


> *das ist verschieden*
> 
> can also mean ‘it depends’. Is the sense here different?



 hmmm, ... Wie man's nimmt! ....oder genauer gesagt, es kommt drauf an! ....bzw. es hängt davon ab, wo für dich "richtig" endet und wo "falsch" beginnt! 

But seriously, if you're talking about the English phrase with intentional ellipsis "It depends ... !", then you have few options:
"Es kommt darauf an!"
"Wie man's nimmt." (It depends how you look at it.)
"Je nachdem." (It depends.) and/or implied 'It depends how you look at it.'

Proper context might allow "das ist verschieden" to convey the idea of "it depends", but off the top of my head I can't think of any good example.

JClaude's example "_Das ist verschieden je nach der Zeit, den Umständen._" is different; it's a specific statement "It depends on time and circumstances."


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## Widsith

JClaudeK said:


> Where did you read this?



It's listed here: verschieden - Wörterbuch Deutsch-Englisch - WordReference.com


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## JClaudeK

manfy said:


> JClaude's example "_Das ist verschieden je nach der Zeit, den Umständen._" is different; it's a specific statement "It depends on time and circumstances."


IMHO, most  phrases with _"(verschieden) je nach" _can be translated by_ " depend(s)/ depending on"._
Test here.


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## Perseas

manfy said:


> hmmm, ... Wie man's nimmt! ....oder genauer gesagt, es kommt drauf an! ....bzw. es hängt davon ab, wo für dich "richtig" endet und wo "falsch" beginnt!


_Das ist verschieden_: OK, but without context the first meaning that comes to mind is "that varies", isn't it?

By the way, in Duden there is "das ist von Fall zu Fall verschieden", which comes closer to "it depends", I believe.


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## Frieder

It depends. -> das kommt drauf an.
The inevitable counter-question will be
on what? -> worauf?



Widsith said:


> das ist verschieden


... is no option (except for  some very far-fetched examples).

Wann kommst du heute abend nach Hause?
Das kommt drauf an.
Worauf?
Ob der Chef mit unserem Exposé zufrieden ist oder nicht.
Also: Pizza-Service.​


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## manfy

JClaudeK said:


> IMHO, most  phrases with _"(verschieden) je nach" _can be translated by_ " depend(s)/ depending on"._
> Test here.


Oh yes, absolutely. But it cannot (easily) be used as an intentionally incomplete statement like "It depends...!"

Perseas has given a good example: "Das ist von Fall zu Fall verschieden." and "It depends...!" are equally vague and they can be - and often are - uttered merely to avoid an assertive (and binding) 'Yes' or 'No'.


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