Feeling nervous before class | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Vor dem Unterricht bin ich nervös.

   I feel nervous before class.

   Vor

   before

   Unterricht

   class

   bin ich

   I am

   nervös

   nervous

   More detail

   Vor means “before” here and introduces a time reference. In this temporal use, vor takes the dative: der Unterricht becomes dem Unterricht. Example: Vor dem Essen trinke ich Wasser. — “Before the meal, I drink water.” Unterricht means “class” or “lesson” in this context. It is a masculine noun: der Unterricht; after vor, the dative form is dem Unterricht. German commonly uses this uncountable-looking noun for attending or having instruction, rather than treating it as a plural count of classes. bin ich contains bin, the first-person singular present form of sein (“to be”), and ich, “I.” The order is useful: when a time phrase comes first, German keeps the finite verb in second position, so Vor dem Unterricht bin ich ... has the verb before the subject. Compare Ich bin vor dem Unterricht nervös. — “I am nervous before class.” nervös means “nervous” here. It is a predicative adjective after sein, so it does not receive an ending in this sentence. German also uses sein with this adjective: Ich bin nervös, literally “I am nervous,” corresponding naturally to “I feel nervous” in the fixed translation. Together, Vor dem Unterricht sets the time, bin ich says “I am,” and nervös describes the speaker’s state. The complete meaning is: “I feel nervous before class.”

2. Dieses Gefühl ist normal. Die Gruppe ist freundlich.

   That feeling is normal. The group is friendly.

   Dieses

   this

   Gefühl

   feeling

   normal

   normal

   Gruppe

   group

   freundlich

   friendly

   More detail

   Dieses means “this” here and points to a specific feeling. It is the neuter singular nominative form of the demonstrative word dies-, matching Gefühl. Other forms include dieser for masculine singular nominative and diese for feminine singular or plural nominative. Gefühl means “feeling.” Its base form is the singular noun Gefühl; the plural is Gefühle. In this sentence, it is the subject of the first clause. Example: Das Gefühl ist stark. — “The feeling is strong.” normal describes the feeling as ordinary or expected. Here it is a predicative adjective after ist, so it has no adjective ending. The adjective remains normal in examples such as Die Reaktion ist normal. — “The reaction is normal.” Gruppe means “group.” It is a feminine singular noun; its plural is Gruppen. In the second clause, it is the subject. Example: Die Gruppe wartet. — “The group is waiting.” freundlich describes the group as kind or amicable. Like normal, it follows ist in a predicative use and therefore appears without an adjective ending. Example: Die Lehrerin ist freundlich. — “The teacher is friendly.” The verb ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). In the first clause, Dieses Gefühl is the subject and normal is its description: “This feeling is normal.” In the second, Die Gruppe is the subject and freundlich is its description: “The group is friendly.” Together, the utterance says: “That feeling is normal. The group is friendly.”

3. Ich freue mich, das zu hören.

   I am glad to hear that.

   Ich freue mich

   I am glad

   das

   that

   zu hören

   to hear

   More detail

   Ich freue mich means “I am glad” here. The verb is freuen; in this pattern, the subject experiences happiness about something, so German uses the reflexive pronoun mich: ich freue mich. The form freue is the present-tense form for ich. Compare Du freust dich (“You are glad”) and Wir freuen uns (“We are glad”): both the verb and the reflexive pronoun agree with the subject. das is a neuter singular demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It points to the content being heard, while its specific external referent is not identified more precisely in the fixed sentence. As a demonstrative, it can also appear as an article before a noun, as in das Buch (“that book”); here it stands on its own. zu hören is an infinitive phrase meaning “to hear”. The base verb is hören (“to hear”), and zu marks this infinitive in the construction sich freuen, ... zu .... Example: Ich freue mich, dich zu sehen. — “I am glad to see you.” The infinitive phrase describes what causes the speaker’s gladness. Together, Ich freue mich + das zu hören gives “I am glad to hear that.” The comma separates the main clause from the infinitive clause. The reusable pattern is Ich freue mich, [something] zu [verb]: Ich freue mich, wieder hier zu sein. — “I am glad to be here again.”

4. Am Anfang machen wir es langsam.

   We take things slowly at first.

   Am Anfang

   at first

   machen

   do; make

   wir

   we

   es

   it; things

   langsam

   slowly

   More detail

   Am Anfang means “at first” or “in the beginning.” It is a shortened form of an dem Anfang: am combines an and the dative article dem, while Anfang is a masculine noun and is capitalized. This phrase places the action at the beginning of a process or period. Example: Am Anfang war es schwer. — “At first, it was difficult.” machen is the verb machen, “to do” or “to make.” Here it is the present-tense form used with wir; in a normal main clause, the finite verb is in the second position: Wir machen ... (“We do/make ...”). Example: Wir machen eine Pause. — “We are taking a break.” wir means “we,” the first-person plural subject. It identifies the speaker together with at least one other person. The verb form agrees with this subject: wir machen, not singular ich mache (“I do/make”). es is the third-person singular neuter pronoun, literally “it.” In this sentence, it is the object of machen in the broad expression es langsam machen; the fixed translation conveys this as “take things slowly.” The form es itself does not identify a particular object here. Example: Wir machen es später. — “We’ll do it later.” langsam means “slowly” here and describes how the action is carried out. German uses the same form langsam as an adjective (“slow”) and as an adverb (“slowly”); an adverb does not change to agree with a noun. Example: Bitte sprich langsam. — “Please speak slowly.” Together, machen wir es langsam literally presents the group as doing “it” slowly, while the established expression es langsam machen means to proceed slowly or take things slowly. With Am Anfang placed first, the sentence says: “At first, we take things slowly.” The initial phrase occupies the first position, so the finite verb machen comes before the subject wir: Am Anfang machen wir .... This is a neutral, reusable way to describe a gradual start.

5. Das klingt gut.

   That sounds good.

   Das

   that/it

   klingt

   sounds

   gut

   good

   More detail

   Das is a standalone demonstrative pronoun here, meaning “that” or, in this translation, “it.” Its specific referent is supplied by the situation rather than by the word itself. Unlike a demonstrative used with a noun, it stands on its own as the subject. klingt comes from klingen, “to sound.” It is the present-tense form for a third-person singular subject: das klingt = “that/it sounds.” The verb can describe the impression produced by something, not only a literal sound. For example: Das klingt interessant. — “That sounds interesting.” gut means “good” here and describes how something sounds. After klingen, this adjective appears without an ending: gut klingen = “to sound good.” Compare Das klingt schlecht. — “That sounds bad.” Together, Das klingt gut. means “That sounds good.” The demonstrative subject is evaluated through klingt, and gut gives the positive assessment. This is a short, reusable way to respond positively to a suggestion, plan, or piece of information.

6. Der erste Teil ist einfach.

   The first part is easy.

   erste

   first

   Teil

   part

   ist

   is

   einfach

   easy

   More detail

   erste means “first” here and is the ordinal adjective based on erst. In der erste Teil, it describes the part’s position in an order. The phrase is nominative masculine singular: der is the definite article for the subject, and the adjective therefore has the ending -e: der erste Teil. Example: Das ist der erste Schritt. — “That is the first step.” Teil means “part” or “section.” Its plural is Teile: ein Teil — “a part,” zwei Teile — “two parts.” The noun is masculine, which is reflected by the article der in this sentence. Example: Der zweite Teil ist länger. — “The second part is longer.” ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). It is used with a singular subject such as der Teil: Der Teil ist ... — “The part is ...” Other present forms include ich bin (“I am”) and wir sind (“we are”). einfach means “easy” in this sentence. It is an adjective describing the part’s difficulty. As a predicate adjective after ist, it does not take an ending: Der Teil ist einfach. Example: Die Aufgabe ist einfach. — “The task is easy.” In comparisons, einfach can form einfacher (“easier”) and am einfachsten (“easiest”): Dieser Teil ist einfacher. — “This part is easier.” Together, Der erste Teil identifies a particular part by its position in an order, ist links that subject to a description, and einfach gives the description. The complete utterance means “The first part is easy.”