# It is my understanding that you will provide your own funding to cover all the expenses of your stay at Indiana University.



## cindygiunmaro

[It is my understanding ... *formal letter]

How do you translate this sentence into German?
It is my understanding that you will provide your own funding to cover all the expenses of your stay at the Indiana University.
Thanks
Cindy


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## elroy

Possibly:

_So, wie ich das verstehe, werden Sie die Kosten Ihrer ganzen Studienzeit an der Indiana University aus eigenen Finanzmitteln übernehmen._

I don't know if "so, wie ich das verstehe" is formal enough, though.

I used "Studienzeit" (duration of your studies) instead of "Aufenthalt" (stay) because I think the former is what you mean and I think the latter might be odd in this context.

Correction to the English: _the__ Indiana University_


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## Hutschi

elroy said:


> Ihrer ganzen Studienzeit


Or: "Ihrer gesamten Studienzeit". (I think this is used more frequently, but I am not sure. "Ihrer ganzen Studienzeit" is correct. I prefer "gesamt" in this context.)


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## elroy

Yes!  "Ihrer gesamten..." is much better!


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## Demiurg

elroy said:


> Possibly:
> 
> _So, wie ich das verstehe, werden _



Or: _Wenn ich das recht verstehe, ..._
Or in nominal style: _Nach meinem Verständnis ..._


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## elroy

Ein Zweifel: Kann man die Kosten aus eigenen Finanzmitteln übernehmen? 

Vielleicht eher:

_...die Kosten mit eigenen Finanzmitteln übernehmen_
oder
_...die Kosten aus eigenen Finanzmitteln __decken_
?


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## manfy

elroy said:


> _So, wie ich das verstehe, werden Sie die Kosten ihrer ganzen Studienzeit an der Indiana University aus eigenen Finanzmitteln übernehmen._


Yes, that's certainly a possibility.
"So, wie ich das verstehe" is a little awkward though. It might not be my first choice. It depends a lot on the context, like who speaks to whom, why, how, what's the aim of starting the sentence that way, etc..

If I had to form that sentence as a native speaker (i.e. without looking at the English version and treating it as a translation), I might be inclined to start with:
"Soweit ich weiß, werden sie..." or "Laut meinen Unterlagen werden sie..." or "Laut meinem Kenntnisstand wollen/werden sie..."

edit: Yes, Demiurg's "Wenn ich das recht verstehe, werden sie..." is a very good, common form of saying this!


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## berndf

Demiurg said:


> Or: _Wenn ich das recht verstehe, ..._


Yes, that is better. _So, wie ich das verstehe _is used to explain your understanding of information received from a third party and not from the person you are addressing.


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## Hutschi

"Soweit ich weiß, werden sie..." ... Ich denke, das ändert die Bedeutung zu stark.  "Laut meinen Unterlagen werden sie..." funktioniert dagegen gut, wenn es stimmt und Unterlagen vorhanden sind. (... denke ich.)


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## Demiurg

elroy said:


> Ein Zweifel: Kann man die Kosten aus eigenen Finanzmitteln übernehmen?
> 
> Vielleicht eher:
> 
> _...die Kosten mit eigenen Finanzmitteln übernehmen _
> oder
> _...die Kosten aus eigenen Finanzmitteln __decken_
> ?


Kosten "bestreitet" man häufig, das hat aber nichts mit "anzweifeln" zu tun. 

_...die Kosten aus eigenen Finanzmitteln bestreiten_


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## elroy

In English you can also say "I understand that..." with the same exact meaning.  I don't think "ich verstehe,..." would work, though, right?  I think it would have a different meaning ("this is clear to me" not "this is my understanding").

I think "Unterlagen" is too specific?  I mean we don't know what it was, _was dieser Person zu verstehen gegeben hat, dass..._


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## Hutschi

berndf said:


> Yes, that is better. _So, wie ich das verstehe _is used to explain your understanding of information received from a third party and not from the person you are addressing.


It depends on context. In my mind it refers to the text you got. It may be from a third party, but it may also be from the dialogue partner. 
_
It is my understanding_ - seems to be very general.
You  got something but it is either not clear or it may be changeable.


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## Demiurg

And maybe "Studienaufenthalt" instead of "Studienzeit" ...


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## Schlabberlatz

Hutschi said:


> "Soweit ich weiß, werden sie..." ... Ich denke, das ändert die Bedeutung zu stark.


vs.


elroy said:


> In English you can also say "I understand that..." with the same exact meaning.


Ja, ich glaube, die Bedeutung wird nicht zu stark geändert:


> *understanding* _n_(limit of knowledge)Kenntnisstand _Nm_Wissen _Nn_I might be wrong, but it is my understanding that they are no longer dating.
> 
> understanding - Wörterbuch Englisch-Deutsch - WordReference.com





Demiurg said:


> Kosten "bestreitet" man häufig, das hat aber nichts mit "anzweifeln" zu tun.
> 
> _...die Kosten aus eigenen Finanzmitteln bestreiten_


Ja, das passt sehr gut.

Edit:
„Soweit ich weiß“ passt wohl doch nicht besonders gut, das ist mir im weiteren Verlauf der Diskussion klar geworden.


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## elroy

Hutschi said:


> _It is my understanding_ - seems to be very general.


Yes, in English it's not specified where the information is from.  It could have come from a third party, or from the addressee (in a prior e-mail, for example).


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## elroy

elroy said:


> In English you can also say "I understand that..." with the same exact meaning.





Schlabberlatz said:


> Ja, ich glaube, die Bedeutung wird nicht zu stark geändert


I think you may have misunderstood me?
What I meant was that in English we can also just use the verb ("I *understand*"), as opposed to the long-winded "It is my *understanding*" (with the noun) with the exact same meaning.  But I don't think that's possible in German, as "Ich verstehe" (with the verb) would change the meaning, right?


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## berndf

Hutschi said:


> It depends on context. In my mind it refers to the text you got. It may be from a third party, but it may also be from the dialogue partner.
> 
> _It is my understanding_ - seems to be very general.
> You  got something but it is either not clear or it may be changeable.


Not really. The only exception would be if you tried to explain to the person you are talking to how their text could be read but then it is taking to text as it stands abstracting from the author's intention, i.e. as if it came from a third party.


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## Hutschi

"Soweit ich weiß" - "as far as I know" - includes the connotation that I have only vague information. I do not see this in the original text.
"Nach meinem Verständnis" has the connotation that I have information, but I might misunderstand it.


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## berndf

elroy said:


> as "Ich verstehe" (with the verb) would change the meaning, right?


Right. It was a bit confusing (or at least remarkable) when I heard "I understand" used this way the first time in English. In German, you would say "Ich verstehe, dass.." to tell a person that you have understood something and they can stop explaining it.


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## elroy

berndf said:


> The only exception would be if you tried to explain to the person you are talking to how their text could be read but then it is taking to text as it stands abstracting from the author's intention, i.e. as if it came from a third party.


For that, I would say "I understand you to be saying..." or "What I understand from what you said is...".
"It is my understanding" would not be used in reference to a specific text or message.

Could you really not use "So, wie ich das verstehe" if the information did come from the addressee but it was in an e-mail from two months ago, so it's in the distant past?  Does it really matter at that point where the information came from?


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## Hutschi

berndf said:


> i.e. as if it came from a third party.


With this "trick" I agree.


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## Schlabberlatz

elroy said:


> I think you may have misunderstood me?


Ja, so sieht es aus.





elroy said:


> What I meant was that in English we can also just use the verb ("I *understand*"), as opposed to the long-winded "It is my *understanding*" (with the noun) with the exact same meaning. But I don't think that's possible in German, as "Ich verstehe" (with the verb) would change the meaning, right?


Stimmt. „Ich verstehe (es so)“ bedeutet nicht das gleiche wie „Soweit ich weiß“ oder „Nach meinem Kenntnisstand“.


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## Kajjo

cindygiunmaro said:


> It is my understanding ...


_Ich gehe davon aus, dass...
Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass..._


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## berndf

Schlabberlatz said:


> Stimmt. „Ich verstehe (es so)“ bedeutet nicht das gleiche wie „Soweit ich weiß“ oder „Nach meinem Kenntnisstand“.


Wobei zwischen "ich verstehe, dass..." und "ich verstehe es so, dass..." ein himmelweiter Unterschied besteht. Ersteres bedeutet, was ich in #19 beschrieben habe und letzteres bedeutet, dass man seine Auslegung eines Textes erklären will.


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## elroy

Kajjo said:


> _Ich gehe davon aus, dass...
> Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass..._


I think these are different.
"It is my understanding" is not the same as "I assume."
"It is my understanding" = I have been given specific information, and this is what I've understood the information to be saying.
"I assume" = I _deduce_ based on _other_ information/knowledge/other assumptions (!) that X is the case.

For example:

If you indicated on your application form that you'll be covering the costs, I can say:
"It is my understanding that..." but NOT "I assume that..." (the latter would not make sense)

If I know that you're wealthy and suspect that you don't qualify for need-based scholarships, and I also suspect that your grades aren't good enough for you to quality for merit-based scholarships, then I can say:
"I assume that..." but NOT "It is my understanding that..." (the latter would not make sense)

I think in German you can use "ich gehe davon aus" in the second scenario but not in the first?


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## Kajjo

elroy said:


> "It is my understanding" is not the same as "I assume."


I agree, but I also am pretty sure that this is what we would really write ("davon ausgehen"). The other suggested phrases in this thread sound somehow less natural to me.

"Ich habe es so verstanden, dass..." might be used in spoken language to make sure your understanding is correct.


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## elroy

Kajjo said:


> I agree, but I also am pretty sure that this is what we would really write ("davon ausgehen").


If the applicant had explicitly said "I will cover the costs" on their application form, do you think "ich gehe davon aus" would still work?


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## berndf

Kajjo said:


> _Ich gehe davon aus, dass...
> Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass..._


Ich glaube nicht, dass es passt; zumindest nicht hier. _Ich gehe davon aus..._ beschreibt eine Erwartung entsprechend allgemeiner Regeln und nicht das Verständnis eines erhaltenen Information.


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## Kajjo

elroy said:


> If the applicant had explicitly said "I will cover the costs" on their application form, do you think "ich gehe davon aus" would still work?


No, not really. But #1 does not say anything about it.

I would write "Wie von Ihnen bestätigt..." or (depending on the previous communication) "wie abgesprochen". Auch "wie vereinbart...".


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## berndf

elroy said:


> If the applicant had explicitly said "I will cover the costs" on their application form, do you think "ich gehe davon aus" would still work?


That is my understanding of the context and that's why I think it doesn't.

PS: I would actually find it difficult to think of a context where _Ich gehe davon aus, dass..._ would be an appropriate translation of _I understand that..._. Could you?


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## elroy

Kajjo said:


> I would write "Wie von Ihnen bestätigt..." or (depending on the previous communication) "wie abgesprochen".


Right, my example was just that: an example.  We don't know where the information came from, but the information did come from somewhere.  "It is my understanding..." keeps it general, but it does say that the information was communicated to the speaker.  In reality, it's actually kind of a hedge most of the time: you don't want to say "I know" to allow for the possibility, if ever so slight, that you perhaps misunderstood.  The pragmatic function is really to make it clear that you are aware of this and to allow the addressee to confirm or correct the information if necessary.

We don't have the full context, but I would expect that what follows this sentence is something like "So you will have to fill out this form" or "So you'll need to contact such-and-such an office."  In other words, the "It is my understanding" part is communicating that the speaker is aware of X and is mentioning it here because it's relevant to something else they want to say.


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## berndf

elroy said:


> to allow the addressee to confirm or correct the information if necessary


    Yes, I think this is the core function of the phrase.


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## Hutschi

I think that the applicant either said nothing about it  or only implicitly that he will cover the cost.

---


> It is my understanding that you will provide your own funding to cover all the expenses of your stay at Indiana University.



This is used as far as I understand it:

1. it is a general condition, and you just want to make sure that it is clear.
2. The other said it implicitly. But it may be misunderstood.
3. You repeat it just to make sure that it is clear.
4. It is a special and unexpected proposal by the other one who applied.

PS: Pragmatically it has the funn to give the opportunity to confirm or connect. (As you wrote in the former answers).


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## elroy

Would "Mir wurde mitgeteilt" work?


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## elroy

Hutschi said:


> I think that the applicant either said nothing about it or only implicitly that he will cover the cost.


Why do you think so?  In fact, the applicant could have stated it very explicitly.  You wouldn't say "It is my understanding that..."  _right after_ they said it, but you could very well use it a few weeks later, for example (this is a very common usage).  It's a way of making sure that you're both on the same page (and again, it's typically mentioned because it's relevant to something else).


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## elroy

elroy said:


> Would "Mir wurde mitgeteilt" work?


Hmm... I think this implies a third party too, doesn't it?


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## berndf

Hutschi said:


> I think that the applicant either said nothing about it  or only implicitly that he will cover the cost.
> 
> ---
> 
> 
> This is used as far as I understand it:
> 
> 1. it is a general condition, and you just want to make sure that it is clear.
> 2. The other said it implicitly. But it may be misunderstood.
> 3. You repeat it just to make sure that it is clear. ???
> 4. It is a special and unexpected proposal by the other one who applied.


Nummer 3. wäre so richtig: "You repeat what the other person said to make sure you have undertood it correctly". Mir war nicht ganz klar, ob Du es auch so gemeint hattest.


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## elroy

I was also considering "Laut Angaben."  Could that be used generally, or would you have to say "Laut Angaben _von/des/etc._"?


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## berndf

elroy said:


> Hmm... I think this implies a third party too, doesn't it?


Exactly.


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## Hutschi

elroy said:


> Why do you think so?  In fact, the applicant could have stated it very explicitly.  You wouldn't say "It is my understanding that..."  _right after_ they said it  , but you could very well use it a few weeks later, for example (this is a very common usage).  It's a way of making sure that you're both on the same page (and again, it's typically mentioned because it's relevant to something else).


Possible. It requires some pause. I did not find this.

The main thing is what you wrote: to give the opportunity to confirm.


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## elroy

berndf said:


> Nummer 3. wäre so richtig: "You repeat what the other person said to make sure you have undertood it correctly".


You can't use "It is my understanding that" in that case.  You could use "I understand," though, but in practice I don't think that's very common.  I would probably say, "So, to make sure I've understood, what you're saying is...?"

(With "I understand," I think I would add some things: "So I understand you to be saying X.  Is that right?")


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## Hutschi

berndf said:


> "You repeat what the other person said to make sure you have undertood it correctly". Mir war nicht ganz klar, ob Du es auch so gemeint hattest.


I mean:


"You repeat _the condition _to make sure you have understood it correctly".  

Edit: 
"It" refers to  "you will provide your own funding to cover all the expenses of your stay at Indiana University."


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## elroy

@Hutschi, can you give an example of what you mean?


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## berndf

Um noch mal alles zusammenzufassen: Dies hätte ich wahrscheinlich geschrieben:
_Ich verstehe Sie so, dass Sie beabsichtigen, ihre Ausgaben aus eigenen Mitteln zu bestreiten..._


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## elroy

berndf said:


> _Ich verstehe Sie so_


By why "Sie"?  The information could have been communicated to the speaker by someone else.


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## berndf

Hutschi said:


> I mean:


Ich denke, Diese Frage hat sich mit diesem  erledigt:


Hutschi said:


> 1. it is a general condition, and you just want to make sure that it is clear.


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## berndf

elroy said:


> By why "Sie"?  The information could have been communicated to the speaker by someone else.


Hmmm. Ich finde es schwer eine wirklich passende Formulierung zu finden, ohne die Quelle zu benennen. Wir sollten nach dieser Information fragen. Das war jetzt erst mal nur eine Annahme. Ja nachdem, worauf sich der Satz bezieht, ginge statt Sie auch z.B.:
_Ich verstehe ihren Vater so, ...
Ich verstehe das Schreiben so, ...
..._

Natürlich wäre ein unbestimmtes_ es _auch möglich. Aber das gefällt mir nicht so recht.


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## Hutschi

We now said very much.
My proposal:

Bernd, could you, please, give a kind of summary and inform cindygiunmaro about the solution? I would do it myself, but maybe you  are  better with this.


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## elroy

elroy said:


> I was also considering "Laut Angaben." Could that be used generally, or would you have to say "Laut Angaben _von/des/etc._"?


So I take it "Laut Angaben" won't work?


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## berndf

elroy said:


> So I take it "Laut Angaben" won't work?


Again the same issue: _Laut __Ihren__ Angaben_ would work. You have to state the source.


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## elroy

"Laut aktuellen Angaben"?


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## berndf

We are getting closer: _Laut den mir vorliegenden Angaben_ would work.


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## elroy

I think that's really good!  And suitably formal.


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## berndf

Neuer Versuch:
_Laut den mir vorliegenden Angaben, beabsichtigen Sie, ihre Ausgaben aus eigenen Mitteln zu bestreiten..._

Very techno-/bureaucratic._  _


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## elroy

Here's an update for @cindygiunmaro: 

_Laut den mir vorliegenden Angaben werden Sie die Kosten Ihrer gesamten Studienzeit an der Indiana University aus eigenen Finanzmitteln bestreiten._


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## elroy

Does "laut" take dative or genitive?  "Laut den..." or "Laut der..."?


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## berndf

Dativ.


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## berndf

elroy said:


> Here's an update for @cindygiunmaro:
> 
> _Laut den mir vorliegenden Angaben werden Sie die Kosten Ihrer gesamten Studienzeit an der Indiana University aus eigenen Finanzmitteln bestreiten._



@cindygiunmaro : If it the context permits it you should replace _den mir vorliegenen Angaben_ by naming the source. E.g., if the information was provided by the addressee of the letter themselves you would write _Laut Ihren Angaben_. We chose the above formulation only because the English sentence doesn't reveal the source of the information. In German you would normally do that and by not doing it you imply something, either that you don't want to name your sources or that you are not sure where the information come from or if it is up to date or you stress that you are referring to what is on file and aren't fully familiar with the matter or something like that. But it is not as neutral as the English sentence.


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## Schlabberlatz

berndf said:


> Wobei zwischen "ich verstehe, dass..." und "ich verstehe es so, dass..." ein himmelweiter Unterschied besteht. Ersteres bedeutet, was ich in #19 beschrieben habe und letzteres bedeutet, dass man seine Auslegung eines Textes erklären will.


Ja. Ich ging davon aus, dass elroy sich auf seine Formulierung in #2 bezog:


elroy said:


> So, wie ich das verstehe,





berndf said:


> Laut den mir vorliegenden Angaben


Ja, so kann man das auf jeden Fall sagen.

Vielleicht auch so:
_Wie ich den mir vorliegenden Unterlagen entnehmen kann, …_
(Wenn Unterlagen vorhanden sind.)
_Aus den mir vorliegenden Angaben geht hervor, dass …_
… und wahrscheinlich gibt es noch weitere formale Ausdrücke, die man verwenden könnte.


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## Hutschi

One question:

Stay - Besuch oder Studium oder beides?


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## Kajjo

berndf said:


> We are getting closer: _Laut den mir vorliegenden Angaben_ would work.


That's the first phrasing I think is realistic.



Schlabberlatz said:


> _Wie ich den mir vorliegenden Unterlagen entnehmen kann, …_


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