92.4 Asking somebody else to do something
The most common way of saying that somebody else is charged with something is to
use lassen as a modal verb:See also^35 (p. 74) and 77.4a (p. 268) for other uses of lassen.
(a) Having something done to oneself:Er lässt sich die Haare jede Woche schneiden.
He has his hair cut every week.(b) Having something done by somebody else:Sie ließ die ganze Geschichte von einem Journalisten ausarbeiten
und veröffentlichen.
She had a journalist write up and publish the whole story.(c) Ordering somebody else to do something:Die Polizei ließ alle Papiere überprüfen.
The police had all documents checked.(d) Letting somebody else do something (without interfering):Wir ließen den neuen Chef mal machen.
We let the new boss get on with it (without giving him support).A more bureaucratic way of asking somebody to do something is implied when using
an*weisen ‘to instruct’:Sie wies das Personal an, die Kunden freundlicher zu behandeln.
She instructed her personnel to treat the clients in a more friendly
manner.The verb instruieren for an*weisen does exist but is now rarely used. Rather more
common would be Instruktionen geben/hinterlassen ‘to give/leave instructions’:Ich hatte Instruktionen hinterlassen, dass das Essen um 1 Uhr fertig
sein sollte.
I had left instructions that lunch was to be ready at 1 o’clock.93 Expressing needs, wishes and desires
See^104 (p. 369) for expressing likes and preferences;^113 (p. 404) for conveying hopes, wishes
and disappointment.93.1 The obvious verbs to express needs and wishes are brauchen ‘need’, möchte ‘would
like (now)’, mögen ‘to like to (generally)’ and sich (= dat.) wünschen ‘to wish (for)’.
Both möchte and mögen can be reinforced by using gern(e) ‘a lot’:
In Deutschland brauchen Sie im Winter Winterreifen.
In Germany you need winter tyres in winter.Meine amerikanischen Freunde mögen am liebsten Jacobs Kaffee.
My American friends like Jacob’s coffee best.93
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