Basic health and temperature | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Es ist zu heiß.

   It is too hot.

   Es ist

   it is

   zu

   too

   heiß

   hot

   More detail

   Es ist combines es (“it”) with ist, the 3rd-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). In this sentence, es is the impersonal subject used to describe the surrounding condition; the sentence does not identify a specific object as “it.” The reusable pattern is Es ist + adjective, as in Es ist kalt. — “It is cold.” zu comes before the adjective and means “too” here: it marks a degree that is excessive for the relevant situation. Compare sehr heiß (“very hot”), which only intensifies the description, with zu heiß (“too hot”), which says the heat exceeds a suitable limit. The pattern zu + adjective is reusable: Es ist zu kalt. — “It is too cold.” heiß is the adjective “hot.” Its useful comparison forms are heißer (“hotter”) and am heißesten (“hottest”); the adjective, not Es ist, carries this comparison. For example, Heute ist es heißer. means “Today it is hotter.” Together, Es ist supplies the impersonal “it is,” zu marks excessive degree, and heiß describes the condition. The complete meaning is “It is too hot.”

2. Es ist zu kalt.

   It is too cold.

   Es ist

   it is

   zu

   too

   kalt

   cold

   More detail

   Es ist means “it is” here. ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”): ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist. In this sentence, es is the impersonal subject used to describe the weather; it does not identify a particular person or thing. Example: Es ist warm. — “It is warm.” zu means “too” when it comes before an adjective. It marks an excessive degree: zu kalt means that the cold is beyond the desirable or workable level. This is different from sehr (“very”), which increases the degree without necessarily saying that it is excessive. Example: Der Kaffee ist zu heiß. — “The coffee is too hot.” kalt means “cold.” It is the base form of the adjective. Its comparison forms are kälter (“colder”) and am kältesten (“the coldest”). Example: Heute ist es kälter. — “Today it is colder.” Together, Es ist + zu + kalt produces the complete meaning “It is too cold.” The sentence uses the impersonal weather pattern Es ist followed by the degree expression zu and the adjective kalt.

3. Ich bin sehr müde.

   I am very tired.

   Ich bin

   I am

   sehr

   very

   müde

   tired

   More detail

   Ich bin means “I am.” Ich is the first-person singular pronoun, and bin is the present-tense first-person singular form of sein (“to be”): ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist. Here, bin links the speaker to a current condition; it does not indicate gender. sehr means “very.” It is an adverb that strengthens the following description. For example, sehr kalt means “very cold.” müde means “tired.” Its base form is müde; in Ich bin müde, it is a predicate adjective after sein, so it has no adjective ending. Compare the related condition in an example: Sie ist müde. — “She is tired.” Together, Ich bin + sehr + müde gives “I am very tired.” The sentence describes the speaker’s current state, with sehr intensifying müde.

4. Ich habe großen Hunger.

   I am very hungry.

   Ich habe

   I have

   großen

   great

   Hunger

   hunger

   More detail

   Ich habe is the first-person singular present form of haben: “I have.” In this utterance, German uses haben with Hunger to express a physical state, so the natural meaning is “I am hungry,” not possession. The same reusable pattern appears in Ich habe großen Durst (“I am very thirsty”). großen comes from the adjective groß (“big; great”). Here it means “strong” or “intense,” giving the natural translation “very hungry.” The ending -en is an inflection on the adjective itself: Hunger is masculine singular, and haben takes it as a direct object in the accusative, so the adjective has the form großen. Compare the basic form groß with this form in the phrase großen Hunger. Hunger is a masculine noun meaning “hunger.” In the fixed expression Hunger haben, German commonly expresses being hungry with haben. For example: Das Kind hat Hunger. — “The child is hungry.” The noun is capitalized because German nouns are capitalized. Together, Ich habe großen Hunger means literally “I have great/intense hunger,” but its natural English meaning is “I am very hungry.” The pattern is subject + haben + adjective + noun, with the adjective agreeing with the noun in the required case and form.

5. Ich habe großen Durst.

   I am very thirsty.

   Ich habe

   I have

   großen

   great / strong

   Durst

   thirst

   More detail

   Ich habe means “I have” here, but with Durst it forms the common German expression Durst haben, “to be thirsty.” habe is the first-person singular present form of haben (“to have”): ich habe, du hast, er/sie hat. The same pattern is reusable with other states, for example: Ich habe großen Hunger. — “I am very hungry.” großen comes from the adjective groß (“great” or “strong”). In großen Durst, it describes the intensity of the thirst and contributes to the idiomatic meaning “very thirsty.” The ending -en shows that groß is inflected for masculine accusative singular in this phrase; the noun carrying the relevant gender and case is Durst, not the adjective’s base form. Compare the basic adjective forms groß, große, and großen in different grammatical environments. Durst is the masculine noun “thirst.” In the expression Durst haben, German uses the noun with haben, whereas English normally uses the adjective “thirsty.” A useful contrast is Ich habe Durst. — “I am thirsty,” and Ich habe keinen Durst. — “I am not thirsty.” Together, Ich habe großen Durst literally presents the speaker as having strong thirst, and the natural meaning is “I am very thirsty.”

6. Ich fühle mich krank.

   I am feeling sick.

   Ich

   I

   fühle

   feel

   mich

   myself

   krank

   sick

   More detail

   Ich is the first-person singular pronoun, meaning “I.” It is the subject: the speaker is the person experiencing the condition. A useful contrast is ich “I” versus du “you” when addressing one other person. fühle is the present-tense first-person singular form of fühlen, “to feel.” The ending marks the subject: ich fühle “I feel,” while du fühlst means “you feel.” In this sentence, fühle is used with the reflexive pronoun mich in the construction sich fühlen (“to feel” in a particular state). mich is the first-person singular accusative reflexive pronoun corresponding to ich. With ich, the reflexive pair is ich ... mich; for example, Ich fühle mich gut. means “I feel good.” The form changes with the person: du fühlst dich means “you feel,” and er fühlt sich means “he feels.” krank means “sick” or “ill” here. It is a predicative adjective after fühlen and therefore has no adjective ending in this sentence. The related opposite is gesund, “healthy”: Ich fühle mich gesund. means “I feel healthy.” Together, Ich fühle mich krank. follows the reusable pattern subject + fühlen + reflexive pronoun + adjective: Ich identifies the experiencer, fühle mich expresses the speaker’s felt state, and krank names that state. The complete meaning is “I am feeling sick.”