Basic messages and asking for help | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Bitte sagen Sie es noch einmal.

   Please say it again.

   Bitte

   please

   sagen

   say

   Sie

   you (formal)

   es

   it

   noch einmal

   again

   More detail

   Bitte means “please” here and makes the request polite. It can also be used independently as “please” when asking someone to repeat or respond. sagen is the base form meaning “to say” or “to tell.” In this request, it appears as the infinitive in the polite imperative pattern Verb + Sie: Sagen Sie ... means “Please say ...” The infinitive is also used after modal verbs, for example: Sie können es sagen. — “You can say it.” Sie is the capitalized formal second-person pronoun, “you.” In this sentence it addresses one or more people; the form itself does not identify whether the addressee is singular or plural. The capital letter distinguishes formal Sie from lowercase sie, which has other pronoun functions. With formal Sie, the verb uses the same form as for third-person plural: Sie sagen — “you say” or “they say,” with capitalization and context helping distinguish them. es is an accusative pronoun meaning “it” here. It refers to the content that should be said again, but the supplied sentence does not identify that content. German pronouns have grammatical forms: es is the neuter nominative and accusative form, while a masculine or feminine singular referent would use a different accusative form. noch einmal is a reusable expression meaning “again” or “once more.” noch contributes the idea of “still/yet” or an additional occurrence, and einmal means “once,” but together this expression means that the action is to happen one more time. Example: Bitte lesen Sie den Satz noch einmal. — “Please read the sentence again.” Together, Bitte sagen Sie es noch einmal uses the polite request pattern Bitte + infinitive + Sie + object + repetition expression. The word order puts sagen before the formal subject Sie, and es is what is to be said. The complete meaning is: “Please say it again.”

2. Bitte schreiben Sie es auf.

   Please write it down.

   Bitte

   please

   schreiben … auf

   write down

   Sie

   formal you

   es

   it

   More detail

   Bitte is a polite word meaning “please.” It can soften a request and can be used with other requests as well. schreiben ... auf comes from the separable verb aufschreiben, “to write down.” In this sentence, schreiben carries the verb form and auf appears at the end of the clause. The separated pattern is schreiben Sie ... auf. schreiben is the base form “to write.” Here, schreiben Sie is the formal polite imperative: the verb is followed by formal Sie. In a statement, the related form is Sie schreiben (“you write / you are writing”); in this request, the verb-first order marks the imperative. Sie is the formal “you” used for one or more people. It is written with a capital letter, unlike informal sie, which can have other functions. In this utterance, Sie is the person being asked to write something down. es is the pronoun “it” here. Its specific referent is supplied by the situation rather than named in this sentence. As a reusable example, Ich lese es. means “I am reading it.” Together, Bitte schreiben Sie es auf. means “Please write it down.” The request uses the polite marker Bitte, the formal imperative schreiben Sie, the pronoun es for the thing to be written, and the separated prefix auf to complete aufschreiben. Because auf is separated in this imperative structure, it stands at the end.

3. Bitte zeigen Sie es mir.

   Please show me.

   Bitte

   please

   zeigen

   show

   Sie

   you (formal)

   es

   it

   mir

   to me

   More detail

   Bitte means “please” here and softens the request. It can occur at the beginning or end of a request. Example: Bitte warten Sie. — “Please wait.” zeigen means “to show.” Its useful base form is zeigen; in this formal request, it appears as zeigen rather than a finite form because the formal imperative uses the infinitive together with Sie. zeigen commonly takes the thing shown as an accusative object and the person shown it as a dative object. Example: Zeig mir den Weg. — “Show me the way.” Sie is the formal second-person pronoun, “you.” It is capitalized and is used for one or more people in formal address; the form itself does not show whether the addressee is singular or plural. In this sentence it is the subject of the request. The formal imperative pattern is Verb + Sie, as in Kommen Sie. — “Come.” es is the accusative form of the third-person singular neuter pronoun, “it,” and is the thing being shown here. The related nominative form is also es, while other pronoun genders have different forms. Example: Ich sehe es. — “I see it.” mir means “to me.” It is the dative form of the first-person singular pronoun: ich is the subject form, mich the accusative form, and mir the dative form. Example: Sie hilft mir. — “She helps me.” Together, Bitte zeigen Sie forms a polite formal request: “Please show.” es identifies what is to be shown, and mir identifies the person who should be shown it. The complete utterance therefore means “Please show it to me.”

4. Bitte helfen Sie mir.

   Please help me.

   Bitte

   please

   helfen

   help

   Sie

   formal you

   mir

   me

   More detail

   Bitte makes the request polite: “please.” It can also be used in other polite requests, for example: Bitte warten Sie. — “Please wait.” helfen means “to help.” In this sentence it is the infinitive used with the formal Sie request pattern: Bitte + infinitive + Sie .... Sie is the formal second-person pronoun, written with a capital letter. With formal Sie, the verb has the same form as third-person plural: Sie helfen — “you help.” This is distinct from informal singular du: Du hilfst — “you help.” mir means “to me” or “me” in this context. It is the dative form of ich (“I”), used because German helfen takes a dative person: Ich helfe dir. — “I help you.” Here, mir identifies the person receiving the help; the fixed translation supports “me.” Together, Bitte helfen Sie mir forms a polite formal request: “Please help me.” The verb helfen expresses the action, formal Sie identifies the person being addressed, and mir identifies the person to whom the help is given.

5. Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?

   How can I help?

   Wie

   how

   kann ich

   can I

   Ihnen

   you (formal)

   helfen

   help

   More detail

   Wie means “how” and asks about the manner or way of doing something. It is also used in reusable questions such as Wie geht es Ihnen? — “How are you?” kann ich combines the modal verb können (“can, be able to”) with ich (“I”). Here, kann is the first-person singular present form of können; the infinitive is können, not kann. In a German question, the conjugated verb comes before the subject: Kann ich helfen? — “Can I help?” With a question word, the order is question word + conjugated verb + subject, as in Wie kann ich ...? Ihnen is the formal second-person pronoun meaning “you” in the dative case. The capitalization marks the formal form. The dative is used here because helfen takes the person being helped in the dative: Ich helfe Ihnen. — “I help you.” The formal pronoun has the same form for singular and plural addressees in this case, so the sentence alone does not specify how many people are being addressed. helfen means “to help.” It is the infinitive of helfen; after the modal verb kann, the infinitive stays at the end of the question. Its present-tense forms include ich helfe (“I help”) and Sie helfen (“you help,” formally, to one or more people). The lowercase form sie helfen can mean “they help.” Example: Kann ich Ihnen helfen? — “Can I help you?” Together, Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen? asks “How can I help you?” The question word Wie asks for the way or kind of assistance, kann ich expresses the speaker’s ability or offer, Ihnen identifies the person addressed formally as the recipient of help, and final helfen completes the modal-verb construction. This is a polite, reusable way to offer assistance.

6. Bitte rufen Sie mich später an.

   Please call me later.

   Bitte

   please

   rufen … an

   call

   Sie

   you (formal)

   mich

   me

   später

   later

   More detail

   Bitte politely softens the request and means “please” here. It can also be used in other polite requests, such as Bitte warten Sie. — “Please wait.” rufen ... an is the separable verb anrufen, “to call” someone by phone. In the formal imperative, its parts are separated: Rufen Sie mich an. — “Call me.” The verb stem appears as rufen at the beginning, while the prefix an moves to the end. Do not treat an here as an independent meaning-bearing word; together, rufen and an form anrufen. Sie is the formal “you” used for one or more people. It is capitalized and is the subject of the request. The formal imperative uses Sie after the verb: Warten Sie. — “Please wait.” mich is the first-person singular object form, “me.” It is the accusative form corresponding to the subject form ich (“I”): Sie sehen mich. — “You see me.” später means “later,” referring to a time after the current or relevant time. It is an adverb, so it does not change for person or number. For example, Ich komme später. means “I’ll come later.” Together, Bitte makes the request polite, rufen Sie ... an expresses the formal imperative “call,” mich identifies the person to be called, and später specifies when. The complete meaning is: “Please call me later.”