I need a German translation

Neither. It's funf und zwanzig, as far as I recall. :-)

then what do Jahre and Jahren mean?

He's pulling your leg..

I'm reaching back 30 years, so this may not be exactly right, but both Jahre and Jahren mean years. You use Jahre when it is a direct object and Jahren when it is an indirect object. If you want to say 'He's 25 years old.' it would be 'Er ist 25 Jahre alt.' If you want to say 'I haven't seen him in 25 years.' it would be 'Ich habe er seit 25 Jahren nicht gesehen.' (Literally 'I have him since 25 years not seen.')

him translates as "ihn", so "Ich habe _ihn_ seit 25 Jahren nicht gesehen" would be right.

Das Jahr is singular. "Jahre" is plural, unless it's in the dative case, then it's "Jahren". If you have basic knowledge of German grammar you'll understand the distinction.

Yep, you're right. I warned you I was rusty.

Well.....I have ZERO knowledge of German grammar.....ZERO!......to be honest sometimes my English grammar is lacking.......

the reason I'm asking for this is that I'm involved in an event that is a 25 year anniversary of the event. We're producing a logo that on one side has the event name and on the other side will have the words "25 Years" ...... none of the people on the event committee know anything about the German language. One guy came up with the phrase "25 Jahre" and I wasn't 100% sure if he was using the right word....which is why I'm asking..

In this context, should we use:

Tom

If it's just the words "25 Years", then "25 Jahre" is probably appropriate. Give me the entire context of the logo and I could perhaps be more helpful.

You should have given the whole sentence/context in the first place and arrived at your destination/answer much quicker. Translations are always fraught.

I am curious. Why insert German when the event seems to have nothing to do with it? Anniversary of an event connected with Germany/Austria/CH?

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

Here's the whole story behind the 25 Jahre logo........

The St. Louis BMW Club is hosting a BMW event called Gateway Tech. It's a National BMW Club technical event being held here next Spring (March 23-26, 2006). The logo is a square containing a picture of a guy on a horse (Saint Louis) and at the bottom of the square are the words "Gateway Tech". Vertically along the right hand side of the square is the phrase "25 Jahre". This event started here in St. Louis 25 years ago in 1981, was held here for 20 years, went to different cities for 4 years, and is coming back here for the 25th anniversary. St. Louis is known as the "Gateway to the West"..... we have the "Gateway Arch".....you get the idea...."Gateway Tech". When it was in different cities around the US, it was known as "Tech Fest".....but since it's coming back, it's "Gateway Tech" again.

That's it. Simple logo.

I just wanted to make sure (using some of our German speaking friends here), that we were using the right word.....I would hate to accidently use the wrong word and be saying "25 Chickens" or something more bizzare.

Thanks for your help.

I'll post more information here as the details of the Gateway Tech event unfolds.....it's a 4 day deal all about BMW's. Lots of vendors, lots of displays (tire manufacturers, BMW NA, BMW aftermarket parts vendors, etc.), and technical presentations every hour. We'll have different technical themes for those interested in:

Racing (rollbars, seats, track tuning, tires, driver training, etc) Performance (intake, exhaust, chips, tuning, etc) Technology (sound systems, Bluetooth, stability control, etc.) Appearance (detailing your car, aerodynamics, tinting windows, angel eye install, etc.)

All, 100%, bar-none, every inch ...... BMW related!

And, Dori, that's the link to German, the BMW's....hence "25 Jahre".

The above list of technical presentations is just starting to take shape but these are some of the ideas being thrown around by the event organizers.

Danke. (see, I'm starting to learn)

Tom Allen President St. Louis BMW Club