# I spent my whole childhood listening to U2



## aleksk

I often don't know how to express ideas in German that involve the English -ing form. For example, talking about my musical preferences, I wanted to say that "I spent my whole childhood listening to U2". What I managed to say was "Während meiner ganzen Kindheit, habe ich nur U2 gehört" (is this OK?). If I want to be more precise, how would I convey the meaning of my original sentence? I think I would use something like "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit.............verbracht". 

I know I can add -d to the infinitive to make an adverb (e.g. lachen - to smile, lachend - smiling), but I can't work it out here, because I don't need an adverb in the first place (or do I?). Could you help?


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## Forero

I would use an infinitive and add an appropriate preposition.  My German is very rusty, but maybe "ins auf U2 horchen".  That doesn't sound right, but you want something that means "in listening (infinitive) to U2".


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## gaer

aleksk said:


> I often don't know how to express ideas in German that involve the English -ing form. For example, talking about my musical preferences, I wanted to say that "I spent my whole childhood listening to U2". What I managed to say was "Während meiner ganzen Kindheit, habe ich nur U2 gehört" (is this OK?). If I want to be more precise, how would I convey the meaning of my original sentence? I think I would use something like "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit.............verbracht".


We know that your construction (English) is not going to work in German, translated directly. But what is that you are really saying?

You can't mean, for instance, that the only thing you did when you were a child was to listen to U2. You did other things.

And you probably don't mean that during your childhood, the only group you listened to was U2.

So I have to guess what you mean. It is not clear in English!

Could you mean perhaps this:

During my childhood, my favorite band/group was U2 and I listened to it every day (nearly ever day) or continually (over and over each day.

If I'm having trouble understanding your meaning in English, surely no one can help you translate your thought into German.

Could you help us out? 

Gaer


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## aleksk

gaer said:


> We know that your construction (English) is not going to work in German, translated directly. But what is that you are really saying?
> 
> You can't mean, for instance, that the only thing you did when you were a child was to listen to U2. You did other things.
> 
> And you probably don't mean that during your childhood, the only group you listened to was U2.
> 
> So I have to guess what you mean. It is not clear in English!
> 
> Could you mean perhaps this:
> 
> During my childhood, my favorite band/group was U2 and I listened to it every day (nearly ever day) or continually (over and over each day.
> 
> If I'm having trouble understanding your meaning in English, surely no one can help you translate your thought into German.
> 
> Could you help us out?
> 
> Gaer



Indeed, I did other things besides listening to U2 - playing football mostly 

Well, my original sentence is obviously an exaggeration Gaer, but I still would like to stick to its original meaning.  If that doesn't sound right, what I mean is actually that when it comes to music, I listened to U2 consistently throughout my whole childhood far more often than any other performer/band - and that started when I was 9 or 10.


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## gaer

aleksk said:


> Indeed, I did other things besides listening to U2 - playing football mostly
> 
> Well, my original sentence is obviously an exaggeration Gaer, but I still would like to stick to its original meaning. If that doesn't sound right, what I mean is actually that when it comes to music, I listened to U2 far more often than any other performer/band.


Ah, got you!

Okay, you are after exaggeration, just for fun, right? Hmm…

"I spent my whole childhood listening to U2". 

God, that's HARD. I know what you mean. It works fine in English. I don't have the faintest idea of how someone would trasfer that feeling to German, but if someone does it and it's right, I think we'll both recognize it. 

Gaer


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## aleksk

Thanks, Gaer. There has to be a way to say exactly the same thing in German - a literal translation is certainly possible in Macedonian and Serbian (the two languages I speak fluently, Macedonian being my mother tongue). 

To make things clearer - someone asked me if I was familiar with U2, if I knew their music, and I wanted to respond by exaggerating the fact that I listened to U2 so often for so many years during my childhood, that it feels like I spent the whole time listening to U2.


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## Forero

Is this grammatical:

"Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit verbracht, in das auf U2 horchen."

oder vielleicht:

"Ins auf U2 horchen hab' ich meine ganze Kindheit verbracht."

?


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## aleksk

Forero said:


> Is this grammatical?:
> 
> "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit verbracht, in das auf U2 horchen."



No, Forero, I'm afraid it isn't. At least it sounds quite wrong to me.


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## Forero

aleksk said:


> No, Forero, I'm afraid it isn't. At least it sounds quite wrong to me.



Thanks.  Any way to "rescue" it?


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## aleksk

Forero said:


> Thanks.  Any way to "rescue" it?



Well, you actually helped me remember something else from my German lessons - perhaps "indem" could fit? 

Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit verbracht, indem ich nur U2 gehört habe.

I might be awfully wrong though.


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## gaer

aleksk said:


> Thanks, Gaer. There has to be a way to say exactly the same thing in German - a literal translation is certainly possible in Macedonian and Serbian (the two languages I speak fluently, Macedonian being my mother tongue).
> 
> To make things clearer - someone asked me if I was familiar with U2, if I knew their music, and I wanted to respond by exaggerating the fact that I listened to U2 so often for so many years during my childhood, that it feels like I spent the whole time listening to U2.


It's really clear now.

I think it's going to turn out something like this:

… it's as if I did nothing but listen to U2.
… I feel as though I did nothing but listen to U2.
… It seems as though I did nothing but listen to U2 when I was a kid/during my childhood.

And I'm stumped. I wish someone would wake up and help us out! 

Gaer


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## Forero

I've got two more, but I don't think I'm close yet:

"Ich nur U2 gehört habe indem ich meine ganze Kindheit verbracht habe."

"In dem U2 hören, habe ich meine ganze Kindheit verbracht."

What I thought I remembered is that a gerund (verbal noun) in English may become an infinitive in German (used with das to mark it as a noun).  The -d form is a participle (verbal adjective) and wouldn't be useable as a noun.  Since we want to say how you spent your childhood, we need something that works like an adverb, so I was looking for a preposition to use (as "in listening to U2").  I tried _in_ but forgot to change _das_ to _dem_.

I've got to go to sleep now, but I will definitely check back in the morning to see what develops as other Europeans get a chance to look at this.


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## Marty*

aleksk said:


> I often don't know how to express ideas in German that involve the English -ing form. For example, talking about my musical preferences, I wanted to say that "I spent my whole childhood listening to U2". What I managed to say was "Während meiner ganzen Kindheit habe ich nur U2 gehört" (is this OK?) (without comma).
> If I want to be more precise, how would I convey the meaning of my original sentence? I think I would use something like "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit.............verbracht".
> 
> I know I can add -d to the infinitive to make an adverb (e.g. lachen - to smile, lachend - smiling), but I can't work it out here, because I don't need an adverb in the first place (or do I?). Could you help?


 

Hi aleksk,

your above (ticked) sentence is correct, but to me it doesn't express the intended exaggeration. It just tells us that U2 was your favorite music band and that you regularly listened to their (or its?) music.
A more exaggerated version is "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit mit Musikhören/Fußballspielen verbracht." In your case: "Ich habe meine ganze Kinheit mit U2-Hören verbracht" ("U2-Hören" is colloquial language, I wouldn't write it in formal texts). 
It's also possible to paraphrase your initial english sentence with "Während meiner (ganzen) Kindheit habe ich nichts anderes gemacht als U2 zu hören."

Martin


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## aleksk

Thanks Marty. That's really helpful. I like this one "Ich habe meine ganze Kinheit mit U2-Hören verbracht" a lot. 

Would this one  "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit verbracht, indem ich nur U2 gehört habe." be wrong, though? Probably yes.


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## Marty*

aleksk said:


> Would this one "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit verbracht, indem ich nur U2 gehört habe." be wrong, though? Probably yes.


 
You're right, this sentence sounds wrong because the correct phrase is "Zeit *mit* ... verbringen". So you can rewrite your sentence this way: "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit damit verbracht, U2 zu hören."

Martin


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## aleksk

OK. Apparently, I should've spent more time studying German than listening to U2 or playing football


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## min300

Hi there,

I read this thread and I was wondering if I can say: 

U2 war etwas, dass ich während meiner ganzen Kindheit gehört habe.

Is it wrong?


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## Jana337

Before I forget, here's an old thread about the gerund. You'll see that you mostly have to find other ways to express the English gerund in German.



Forero said:


> I would use an infinitive and add an appropriate preposition.  My German is very rusty, but maybe "ins auf U2 horchen".  That doesn't sound right, but you want something that means "in listening (infinitive) to U2".


"Horchen" means either "to obey" (auf jemandem horchen) or "to listen with much attention/suspense".

"Ins auf" sounds like a literal translation.



Forero said:


> I've got two more, but I don't think I'm close yet:
> 
> "Ich nur U2 gehört habe indem ich meine ganze Kindheit verbracht habe."
> 
> "In dem U2 hören, habe ich meine ganze Kindheit verbracht."
> 
> What I thought I remembered is that a gerund (verbal noun) in English may become an infinitive in German (used with das to mark it as a noun).  The -d form is a participle (verbal adjective) and wouldn't be useable as a noun.  Since we want to say how you spent your childhood, we need something that works like an adverb, so I was looking for a preposition to use (as "in listening to U2").  I tried _in_ but forgot to change _das_ to _dem_.


Nope, you are not quite close. 

First of all, the word order is quite rigid in German. 
Ich habe nur U2 gehört. - The second place has to be occupied by a conjugated verb in main clauses.

Now the vocabulary part:
_Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit verbracht, indem ich U2 gehört habe. _

Hm... "Indem" actually expresses an instrument.
_Ich habe meine Sprachkenntnisse verbessert, indem ich ausländische Musik gehört habe._

I am not quite sure you can spend time indem you do something, although Google reveals that it is being used. Natives?


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## Beate

Hallo,

mein Vorschlag ist:

Als ich ein Kind war, habe ich nichts anderes getan, als U2 zu hören.

Gruß Beate


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## Jana337

min300 said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I read this thread and I was wondering if I can say:
> 
> U2 war etwas, dass ich während meiner ganzen Kindheit gehört habe.
> 
> Is it wrong?


The grammar is fine but I wouldn't say it.  I'd use the "ist etwas, was" thingy to refer to (and to stress!) a long, complex expression, not just "U2".
_
Seine unerschöpfliche Geduld, die er nicht einmal in den kritischsten Momenten verloren hat, das war etwas, was mir geholfen hat, die stressvolle Prüfungszeit zu überstehen.

_Hm, it sounds somewhat English anyway. 

In your sentence, I'd simply say "U2 war die Musik/Gruppe, die ich währen meiner ganzen Kindheit gehört habe".

But this might be just a personal preference of mine.


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## Marty*

min300 said:


> I read this thread and I was wondering if I can say:
> 
> U2 war etwas, dass ich während meiner ganzen Kindheit gehört habe.
> 
> Is it wrong?



Hi min300,

your sentence is grammatically correct, I think, but the "etwas"-construction sounds a bit odd in conjunction with a concrete music group. Its meaning goes in the direction of "During my whole childhood I heard something (in my head)".


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## aleksk

Thank you all. Marty already translated the sentence exactly as I intended. However, I'd appreciate if a native speaker can answer the question Jana asked. I'm very curious how wrong (if at all) was my attempt (the one with "indem").


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## Hutschi

Ich hätte es folgendermaßen übersetzt: (My translation would be

Während meiner gesamten Kindheit habe ich "U2" gehört. 

Das impliziert: 
Während meiner gesamten Kindheit habe ich immer wieder "U2" gehört. 

Völlig klar ist, dass es eine Übertreibung ist. It is clear that is an exaggeration.


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## Marty*

aleksk said:


> Thank you all. Marty already translated the sentence exactly as I intended. However, I'd appreciate if a native speaker can answer the question Jana asked. I'm very curious how wrong (if at all) was my attempt (the one with "indem").



I wouldn't say "Zeit verbringen, indem", maybe because it unintendedly emphasizes the elapsing of time in some way. I can't really explain that, it just feels wrong. However, you hear it from time to time.
The "indem"-construction fits better in conjunction with other verbs like _vergeuden_ or _verschenken_: "Ich habe viel Zeit vergeudet/verschenkt, indem ich ständig Musik gehört habe."


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## Hutschi

I think: Zeit verbringen" fits with "mit": _Ich habe viel Zeit verbracht mit Musikhören._


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## Malaya

aleksk said:


> Thank you all. Marty already translated the sentence exactly as I intended. However, I'd appreciate if a native speaker can answer the question Jana asked. I'm very curious how wrong (if at all) was my attempt (the one with "indem").


 
An illustration of “indem”:

Indem er sich zum Weggehen anschickte, sagte er…

Indem ich ein Kind war, hörte ich zu…

It sounds like “while I was a Child I used to listen to… Seems a bit odd.

Natives' comments are welcome.


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## Beate

aleksk said:


> Thank you all. Marty already translated the sentence exactly as I intended. However, I'd appreciate if a native speaker can answer the question Jana asked. I'm very curious how wrong (if at all) was my attempt (the one with "indem").


 
Hello aleksk,

for me as a native speaker the construction with "indem" sounds wrong because "spending its childhood" is not an action. 
Usually you use "indem" to describe an action. "Indem" is a "instrumentale Konjunktion". This means that "indem" is used to show by which method or in which way something is achieved.
For example:

Man kann seine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern, indem man viel liest."

But in the above sentence it is about the childhood someont spent. There is no action behind. I mean spending the childhood is not something you do like playing soccer or reading a book.

And this is why it sounds strange to me.

bye Beate


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## aleksk

Beate said:


> Hello aleksk,
> 
> for me as a native speaker the construction with "indem" sounds wrong because "spending its childhood" is not an action.
> Usually you use "indem" to describe an action. "Indem" is a "instrumentale Konjunktion". This means that "indem" is used to show by which method or in which way something is achieved.
> For example:
> 
> Man kann seine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern, indem man viel liest."
> 
> But in the above sentence it is about the childhood someont spent. There is no action behind. I mean spending the childhood is not something you do like playing soccer or reading a book.
> 
> And this is why it sounds strange to me.
> 
> bye Beate



Thanks Beate. German is so complicated. For example, my dictionary says:
"Indem er sich hinsetzte, sagte er ..."  OK, saying something is indeed an action, but whatever he (the subject in the sentence) said, is not really helped by him sitting down at all, is it? I mean, the fact that he sat down is not instrumental to whatever he had to say. Which is really confusing. Here "indem" is used purely to mean "while" or "whilst" (that's how the dictionary translates it), which is the way I intended to use it in my translation attempt. 

The use of indem in your example  "Man kann seine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern, indem man viel liest" is perfectly clear to me. Grammars usually explain the use of "indem" in this way. But also, in the explanations Marty gave (above), he says you can actually "waste time" indem......but not "spend time" indem.....

I know it's hard to explain - it's German.


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## Beate

Hi aleksk,

and this sentence

"Indem er sich hinsetzte, sagte er ..."

sounds really wrong to me.

I would say

"Während er sich hinsetzte, sagte er..."

bye Beate


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## aleksk

Beate said:


> Hi aleksk,
> 
> and this sentence
> 
> "Indem er sich hinsetzte, sagte er ..."
> 
> sounds really wrong to me.
> 
> I would say
> 
> "Während er sich hinsetzte, sagte er..."
> 
> bye Beate



Hmmm, strange....Because my dictionary (I don't know if I'm allowed to say which one) lists this example under "indem" exactly in the same way I wrote it (with the three dots at the end).


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## Kajjo

aleksk said:


> "I spent my whole childhood listening to U2".


_Ich habe meine gesamte Kindheit damit verbracht, U2 zu hören._

Dies ist eine idiomatisch korrekte, sehr eng am Original bleibende Übersetzung einschließlich der Übertreibung.

Kajjo


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## muycuriosa

aleksk said:


> Hmmm, strange....Because my dictionary (I don't know if I'm allowed to say which one) lists this example under "indem" exactly in the same way I wrote it (with the three dots at the end).


 
Hi Aleks,

that is really strange, because I agree with Beate. I wouldn't use that sentence either, at least not when I say something. But even if I imagine it in a literary text, it doesn't really sound natural for me.

I suppose your dictionary is a monolingual one? I've come to trust only monolingual dictionaries, because when I discussed things with native speakers of the other language, we have often found mistakes in bilingual dictionaries, or things that don't sound idiomatic or are a bit old-fashioned.

And by the way, as for your original question, I would express your idea as Kaijo has said it.


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## Marty*

Malaya said:


> An illustration of “indem”:
> 
> Indem Während/Als er sich zum Weggehen anschickte, sagte er…
> Indem Als ich ein Kind war, hörte ich zu…
> It sounds like “while I was a Child I used to listen to… Seems a bit odd.
> 
> Natives' comments are welcome.



Hi Malaya,

as Beate already wrote in her answer to aleksk's post, _indem_ doesn't fit in your above sentences. It can't be used as a synonym for _während_ (while) or _als_ (when). 

Martin


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## muycuriosa

Marty* said:


> Hi Malaya,
> 
> as Beate already wrote in her answer to aleksk's post, _indem_ doesn't fit in your above sentences. It can't be used as a synonym for _während_ (while) or _als_ (when).
> 
> Martin


 
I was about to write that, too! 

Today 'indem' is used for the manner and hardly for anything else.

However, a look into the Duden shows me that there is a temporal use of 'indem', only, in my view, it isn't used a lot any more. (And for those of you who learn German: you don't want to sound like Goethe, Kleist ..., do you?)

Let me quote the Duden: "'indem': (zeitlich) leitet einen Gliedsatz ein, der eine Gleichzeitigkeit ausdrückt, = während: Indem er sprach, öffnete sich die Tür."

Would you believe it????!!!!

Honestly, I'd never use it that way and I get the impression that the other native speakers wouldn't either. I even doubt that a German teacher who has to mark compositions of native speakers would accept it, because the style is so absolutely old-fashioned!


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## Kajjo

muycuriosa said:


> "'indem': (zeitlich) leitet einen Gliedsatz ein, der eine Gleichzeitigkeit ausdrückt, = während: Indem er sprach, öffnete sich die Tür."
> 
> Would you believe it????!!!!
> 
> Honestly, I'd never use it that way and I get the impression that the other native speakers wouldn't either.


Yes, this usage is archaic and rare. _Indem_ cannot be used this way in contemporary German.

Kajjo


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## aleksk

The funny thing is the dictionary that I have (the one that lists the example as I wrote it here which you all find it strange and archaic) was advertised as a dictionary of modern German  Not so modern after all, I guess. It is the Collins electronic version of their best-selling English-German and German -English dictionary.

Thank you all once again. I'll have to go now. I'll check this thread tomorrow again in case somebody else has anything more to say about the usage of "indem".


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## Acrolect

_Meine ganze Jugend hindurch habe ich nichts anderes gemacht, als U2 zu hören._

Is it really your childhood that you are talking about? Well, the boundaries are fuzzy, but I find it a bit difficult to imagine a 7-year-old boy singing along to "Mysterious Ways".


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## Voxy

gaer said:


> ...
> 
> "I spent my whole childhood listening to U2".
> 
> God, that's HARD. I know what you mean. It works fine in English. I don't have the faintest idea of how someone would trasfer that feeling to German, but if someone does it and it's right, I think we'll both recognize it.
> Gaer


If it is about exaggeration, (that's exactly what I thought first) than you
can say easily:
_"Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit mit U2 verbracht."
_(Stress on activity around the Band U2. Collecting stuff about U2,
listening U2, visiting gigs etc. pp.)
_"Ich habe in meiner ganzen Kindheit (nur) U2 gehört."
_(Stress on listening U2. I was listening to U2 my entire childhood.)

Voxy


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## Malaya

> And for those of you who learn German: you don't want to sound like Goethe, Kleist ..., do you?


Italians would say _Magari!_
I think one should never fear to learn a too elevated style of a foreign language, because there is always a possibility to worsen when you go to live to the country where this language is spoken.


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## Kajjo

Malaya said:


> I think one should never fear to learn a too elevated style of a foreign language, because there is always a possibility to worsen when you go to live to the country where this language is spoken.


Yes, you are right. You approach is refreshingly serious and healthy as opposed to many beginenrs who want to indulge in slang and vulgarities far earlier than they even are on sure ground with their Germans skills.

However, please understand that our comparison with Goethe was not targeted towards his elevated or educated style, but only to the anachronistic, if not archaic, usage of certain words which makes some of his paragraphs difficult to read even for the average German native.

The meaning _indem = während_ is not anymore possible in contemporary German and will be recognised as mistake instead of conveying the intended information.

Kajjo


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## gaer

Remember, this was the sentence we started with:

_"I spent my whole childhood listening to U2"._


Marty* said:


> "Ich habe meine ganze Kindheit mit U2-Hören verbracht."


This may be very informal, but I like it, if no one else has objections based on anything else. It would certainly get the meaning across to me.


Kajjo said:


> Ich habe meine gesamte Kindheit damit verbracht, U2 zu hören.


Kajjo, this was what I was looking for:

"Ich habe meine [ganze, gesamte] Kindheit _*damit*_ verbracht, ____ zu ____."

Damn it! I always miss "damit". 

Gaer


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## aleksk

Acrolect said:


> _Meine ganze Jugend hindurch habe ich nichts anderes gemacht, als U2 zu hören._
> 
> Is it really your childhood that you are talking about? Well, the boundaries are fuzzy, but I find it a bit difficult to imagine a 7-year-old boy singing along to "Mysterious Ways".



Lol  Yeah Arcolect, I have a much older brother who was really into rock music, and since I considered him and his friends very cool and looked up to them, I picked up really quickly. BTW, earlier in my childhood it was rather Pride (In the Name of Love) and New Year's Day than Mysterious Ways (I'm not that young if you do the math ).


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## Forero

gaer said:


> Remember, this was the sentence we started with:
> 
> _"I spent my whole childhood listening to U2"._
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by Marty*
> "Ich habe meine ganze Kinheit mit U2-Hören verbracht."
> 
> This may be very informal, but I like it, if no one else has objections based on anything else. It would certainly get the meaning across to me.
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by Kajjo
> Ich habe meine gesamte Kindheit damit verbracht, U2 zu hören.
> 
> Kajjo, this was what I was looking for:
> 
> "Ich habe meine [ganze, gesamte] Kindheit _*damit*_ verbracht, ____ zu ____."
> 
> Damn it! I always miss "damit".
> 
> Gaer



I like the same ones.  Both have an infinitive to translate the gerund.  Both have a preposition _mit_ in one form or another.  Both are idiomatic but fairly close renderings of the English sentence.


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## elroy

Kajjo said:


> _Ich habe meine gesamte Kindheit damit verbracht, U2 zu hören. _


 Das wäre auch mein Vorschlag gewesen! 


aleksk said:


> The funny thing is the dictionary that I have (the one that lists the example as I wrote it here which you all find it strange and archaic) was advertised as a dictionary of modern German  Not so modern after all, I guess. It is the Collins electronic version of their best-selling English-German and German -English dictionary.


 Collins identifies the usage as "literary" (that's what _liter_ stands for).


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## aleksk

elroy said:


> Das wäre auch mein Vorschlag gewesen!
> Collins identifies the usage as "literary" (that's what _liter_ stands for).



Not the one I have, Elroy. Here's the whole entry:

in|dem []
1. conj
a) (= während der ganzen Zeit) while, whilst (Brit liter); (= in dem Augenblick) as; indem er sich hinsetzte, sagte er ... sitting down, he said ..., as he sat down he said ...
b) (= dadurch, dass) indem man etw macht by doing sth

© Langenscheidt KG, Berlin und München und HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

It does say "Brit liter" but that refers to "whilst", not to "indem".
So, unless I'm told so, how am I supposed to know that the usage is literary or archaic?


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## elroy

My entry is identical to yours, except that mine only says _liter_ and not _Brit liter_.

And I see what you're seeing about _liter_ referring to _whilst_ and not _indem _(although _whilst_ is still used quite a bit in British English).  In that case, I share your puzzlement.  What's even crazier than the lack of a usage label is the fact that that meaning is given before the other one, which is far more common!


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