Own

How do you translate these sentences into English?

Es ist schön, ein eigenes Auto zu haben.
Die eigenen Ziele sind manchmal unrealistisch.

Typical errors made by speakers of German are: It's nice to have an own car. The own goals are sometimes unrealistic. The English adjective "own" — unlike the German "eigen" — can only be used after a possessive word, like "my own computer", "their own flat", "John's own ideas". Here are several translation options:

1. In formal language, use "one's": It's nice to have one's own car. One's own goals are sometimes unrealistic.
2. To sound less formal, use "your": It's nice to have your own car. Your own goals are sometimes unrealistic.
3. To be more concrete, say: I like having my own car. Here at the company, our own goals are sometimes unrealistic.
4. Use "own" without a following noun like this: It's nice to have a car of your own. I don't buy pies, I bake my own.

One exception: "an own goal" is "ein Eigentor"! — Now do a quick exercise.

Anne Hodgson
based on Robert Parr's column in Spotlight