German term
so
This is both a general and specific query, as it comes up again and again, as does my grappling with the term. This is a classic example from my current project:
In der Kindheit wurde unser Denk- und Gefühlssystem **so** gestaltet, dass wir ihm seitdem hundertprozentig glauben.
My current rendition:
During childhood, our thought and emotional system was shaped in such way(,) that we have relied on it one hundred percent/had complete faith in it ever since.
I am only interested in English translations, so please refrain from endless German references :-). I'm open to discussion, though.
Thank you!
| 4 +6 | in such a way |
Sarah Bessioud
|
| 4 +1 | The way that |
Harris Morgan
|
| 3 +1 | such that |
Edith Kelly
|
| 3 | set up in a way that.. |
Michael Martin, MA
|
Feb 9, 2017 17:58: Murad AWAD changed "Field" from "Other" to "Social Sciences"
Feb 10, 2017 00:13: Cilian O'Tuama changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): Edith Kelly, philgoddard, Cilian O'Tuama
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Proposed translations
Germany
A way with words
Native in: English (Variants: US, British, UK) 
Works in: German to English, French to English, English
in such a way
| Hi Sarah! Good to see you! I don't doubt the validity of my rendition, but there must be another way to translate 'so' in this context. Look: Die Kinder waren so erzogen, dass... Bitte die Lautstärke so regeln, dass.. Die Katze nur so streicheln, dass.... |
| agree |
Ioana-Leda Costea-Nicolae
1 min
|
| agree |
Katja Dienemann
9 mins
|
| agree |
phillee
: 100%
1 hr
|
| agree |
Amruta Deolekar
1 hr
|
| agree |
franglish
2 hrs
|
| agree |
Eleanore Strauss
: yes, definitely, from my vantage point in Berlin... hello !
5 hrs
|
United Kingdom
Marketing|Publications|Media: SDL Trados
Native in: English (Variants: US, British)
Works in: German to English
The way that
The way that our [...] system was shaped has meant that we...
The structuring method of our [...] system has [resulted in/caused] us to...
| Thank you Harris |
| agree |
Armorel Young
: Yes, that works - another version would be "Because of the way that ...., we subsequently ...."
48 mins
|
Switzerland
Professional conference interpreter
Native in: German 
, English
Works in: German to English, English to German, Dutch to German, and 4 more.
such that
| Thanks Edith! |
United States
Creativity wins in the long run
Native in: German (Variant: Germany) , English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
set up in a way that..
To deal with your more expanded query:
– so as to = damit
(but that’s a formal solution and is not required in the sentence above.
Die Kinder waren so erzogen, dass... The kids were educated in a way so as to instill..
Bitte die Lautstärke so regeln, dass.. Please lower the volume so as not to disturb his sleep..
Die Katze nur so streicheln, dass.... Stroke the cat this way only so as to keep it from scratching you..
| Thanks for the enlightening examples, Michael! |
Discussion
Another option, of course, would be to switch from passive to active voice (again, reworking the whole thing).
If I may use your example, something like:
It is during childhood that we develop a [...] system [on] which we ...
Or add a subject in EN (quite a common occurence):
Our childhood experiences have helped shape a [...] system that...will haunt us for the rest of our lives (joke).
Best wishes
Half the time, you can safely omit it and rework the sentence or change the grammatical structure (agree with Harris here, by the way / @Harris Not sure what Elli thinks...but in my experience, American English is more tolerant of noun phrases than British English; marketing documents by US software companies are studded with manageability, flexibility, capabilities, etc.).
In another context, "so gestaltet, dass es einfach zu handhaben ist" -> "designed for ease of use."
Another option is to use an infinitive:
"Lautstärke so herunterregeln, dass sie zum ... passt"
-> Lower the volume to match the...
I think Germans are much more likely to use "so" and a relative clause than their ENS counterparts. Replacing every "so" with "(in) such (a way)" will make some excerpts sound pretty clunky.
And as you've said many times before: Context is important. Since we don't have any, really, it's hard to say what works and what doesn't.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/thusly
I would also avoid "thusly", in all honesty. It was seemingly coined as a joke and is considered incorrect by stylists: http://web.archive.org/web/20080209014857/http://www.bartleb...
@Everyone
Once upon a time, I would have used 'so' or 'so that', but I have the sneaking suspicion this is antiquated. Does anyone else think SO?
If you permit a suggestion regarding "dem ... system glauben": I would try to maintain the connotation of "glauben", e.g. believe them to be true