keine roten Faden hinbekommen

English translation: not able to follow things through, inability to string things together, inable to impose a clear structure on

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	keinen roten Faden hinbekommen
English translation:	not able to follow things through, inability to string things together, inable to impose a clear structure on
Entered by:	Anne Schulz

16:28 Dec 11, 2018

German to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

German term or phrase: keine roten Faden hinbekommen

This phrase is referring to the patient struggling in the workplace following brain trauma and lacking concentration and focus.

What is the best English phrase as "couldn't find any common thread" doesn't work here.

Thanks in advance

Leila

Leila Howden KudoZ activity Questions: 63 (none open) (4 closed without grading) Answers: 0 United Kingdom
Local time: 04:07

not able to follow things through

Explanation:
May be an option.

Selected response from:

Anne Schulz
Germany
Local time: 05:07

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +5

not able to follow things through

Anne Schulz

4 +3

impose a clear structure on

Michael Martin, MA

4 +1

inability to string things together

David Hollywood

has concentration deficits / lacks concentration and focus of mind

Ellen Kraus

Discussion entries: 10

Björn Vrooman

17:04 Dec 12, 2018

E.g.

"After a while we lose the ability to focus and that's why we start to face concentration problems even while we are working in our quiet offices."
https://www.mentalup.co/blog/solving-focus-and-concentration...

"...limit your ability to notice things that are going on around you or interfere with your ability to focus on a task..."
https://www.verywellmind.com/learning-difficulties-in-ptsd-2...

This works well with "unkoordiniert."

Björn Vrooman

No comment...

17:00 Dec 12, 2018

...on the asker's question? I quote:
"as 'couldn't find any common thread' doesn't work"

"An idea or theme that is consistently present in several different areas or things. What is the common thread in these three novels?"
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/common thread

Roter Faden, as explained by a kids' show:
https://kinder.wdr.de/tv/wissen-macht-ah/bibliothek/kuriosah...

I quote:
"Jemanden, der oft gewinnt, immer gute Laune hat, und dem alles leicht von der Hand geht, nennt man einen Glückspilz. Oder man sagt: das Glück zieht sich wie ein roter Faden durch sein Leben. Der rote Faden ist also etwas, das immer wiederkehrt oder da ist, wie ein Leitmotiv oder eine typische Besonderheit."

That's not even a match. Faden and roter Faden are often confused in German, too, IMO. I think this is about Faden verlieren:
https://die-ratgeber.info/arbeit/konzentration-nie-wieder-de...
https://www.pflegen-online.de/tipp-6-vier-wege-zu-mehr-achts...
https://editionf.com/Fokussieren-Tipps-Konzentration

[...]

Steffen Walter

Germany

@ Phil

09:12 Dec 12, 2018

I wouldn't categorise this question as "Other", which should be avoided as far as possible anyway, because this is still a medical context. I'd thus change it back to "Medical" if you agree.

Leila Howden

United Kingdom

ASKER

09:06 Dec 12, 2018

Thanks everyone and yes will do Stefan :)

Steffen Walter

Germany

Support request

09:04 Dec 12, 2018

Submit a support request to ProZ.com staff and have the entry corrected by them.

https://www.proz.com/support?mode=ask&sp_sub_mode=ticket_sub...

Kim Metzger

Mexico

01:35 Dec 12, 2018

It can be changed when you close the question and enter the terms in the glossary.

Anne Schulz

Germany

17:48 Dec 11, 2018

AFAIK it can't be changed (unless you'd want to close/delete this query and put up another one including the n). Just add the n in the glossary entry.

Leila Howden

United Kingdom

ASKER

16:40 Dec 11, 2018

I have noticed I missed the "n" in the kudoZ entry but not sure how to change it

Leila Howden

United Kingdom

ASKER

16:37 Dec 11, 2018

Sure Phil.
An der Arbeit habe er "keinen roten Faden hinbekommen", sei unkoordiniert gewesen, habe es einfach nicht so geschafft". Seiner Freundin seien Kurzzeitgedächtnisprobleme aufgefallen.

philgoddard

United States

16:31 Dec 11, 2018

Please could we have the rest of the sentence, and the ones before and after it.

Answers

42 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

impose a clear structure on

Explanation:
his work/paper etc.

That's a common expression in German. Compare with source below:

"Kein roter Faden in deiner Bachelorarbeit?! 4 Last-Minute-Mittel, um sie trotzdem noch zu retten."
https://studierenmitgrips.com/kein-roter-faden-in-deiner-bac...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 44 mins (2018-12-11 17:13:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, forgot there was a negative:

"unable to impose a clear structure on his work"

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 23:07
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German,

English
PRO pts in category: 63

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

not able to follow things through

Explanation:
May be an option.

Anne Schulz
Germany
Local time: 05:07
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

3 hrs confidence:

has concentration deficits / lacks concentration and focus of mind

Explanation:
Lack of Concentration and Focus of Mind - Success Consciousness
https://www.successconsciousness.com/.../concentration.../la...
Diese Seite übersetzen
Lack of concentration affects work, relationships, school, and almost ... The ability to focus the mind can be developed like any other skill, and is of great

Ellen Kraus
Austria
Local time: 05:07
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 12

11 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

inability to string things together

Explanation:
I would suggest

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2018-12-12 04:30:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

idiomatic and catches the drift

David Hollywood
Local time: 00:07
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47

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keine roten Faden hinbekommen

English translation: not able to follow things through, inability to string things together, inable to impose a clear structure on

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keine roten Faden hinbekommen

English translation: not able to follow things through, inability to string things together, inable to impose a clear structure on

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