What German phrase did you have in mind? Because the idiomatic translation of "to pay attention" is "aufpassen", which literally translates to something like "pass on" or "fit on".

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fainpul 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

You can't rip apart that word into "auf" and "passen" and then individually translate them literally. The result seems nonsensical. I would say "aufpassen" is literally "be attentive" / "be watchful".

Edit: "to pay attention" is literally "Aufmerksamkeit zollen"

	▲	lisper 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		> You can't rip apart that word into "auf" and "passen" and then individually translate them literally. Sure, just like you can't separate "pay attention". Both are idiomatic. But you can separate "aufpassen" into "Paß auf". (For the benefit of non-German lurkers, "Paß auf" is a command to pay attention.)

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1718627440 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I would translate "aufpassen" more with "to attend" or "to watch over".

The literal analogue to "pass on" or "fit on" is "anpassen"; "auf" generally means "over", "on/to the top of".

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epaga 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

"jemandem Aufmerksamkeit schenken", "Aufmerksamkeit auf etwas richten"