Freelance technical translator/interpreter
Born in Scotland, but half French. Bilingual in Standard English and French from infancy. Became trilingual (adding High German) from mid-teens/early twenties, kick-started by full immersion in German family including attendance in different schools. Added Spanish by working in Spain for a while. Can read other Germanic and Romance European languages. Also reasonably knowledgeable about Scottish and German dialects.
Background in science and engineering through school, university, vocational and professional experience.
I only comment when I feel I have anything sensible to say.
Do “meinen” and “bedeuten” have the same meaning in German? What’s their use in everyday conversation?
Q: “Do “meinen” and “bedeuten” have the same meaning in German? What’s their use in everyday conversation?”
To add to Philip Newton’s excellent explanation, I’ll address the second part of the question about their use in everyday conversation.
Meinen can also mean “think” or “have an opinion”.
If you are discussing a problem, you might turn to someone and ask “Was meinst du/meinen Sie?”(What do you think? / What’s your opinion?)
Or when reporting what someone else said, you could say “Das wird schweirig, meinte er zumindest.” This would translate as “that will be difficult, or at least that’s what he said / or at least that’s what he thinks”. As in English, this can be uttered neutrally, but if the “er” is emphasized, it may mean the person reporting is doubtful as to whether the other person is correct.
This ties in with the meaning of the noun Meinung = opinion.
If you think back to C18 and C19 English literature, this use of meinen also ties in with the alternative to he or she “said” in dialogue sequences: “opined”.
Bedeuten can also mean “to have implications” as in “Was bedeutet das für uns?”, which is a question often posed after unexpected events or changes of policy or management. Basically, it can be translated as “How will that affect us?”.
When bedeuten is used with a human subject or indirect object, we move into the realm of emotions or importance of things or people on an emotional level. “Was bedeutet es dir?” is a way of asking someone how they feel about something - a profession, a hobby, an object, for example. “Was bedeutet er/sie dir?” is a way of asking how someone feels about another person or how they view that person in terms of human relationships (friend, lover, mentor, fatherly or motherly figure, etc.)
