Using paper in class | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich habe vergessen, mein Notizbuch mitzubringen.

   I forgot to bring my notebook.

   Ich habe

   I have

   vergessen

   forgotten

   mein

   my

   Notizbuch

   notebook

   mitzubringen

   to bring along

   More detail

   Ich habe uses habe, the first-person singular present form of haben, as the auxiliary for the perfect tense. Here, Ich habe vergessen means “I forgot,” referring to a completed past event. The subject form Ich means “I”; it is not the object of the action. For comparison, second-person singular uses du hast. vergessen is both the infinitive “to forget” and the past participle used in this perfect construction. A useful form chain is vergessen (infinitive) – vergisst (third-person singular present) – hat vergessen (perfect). Example: Sie hat den Termin vergessen. — “She forgot the appointment.” mein means “my” and agrees with the noun it determines. Here it is used with the neuter noun Notizbuch in the accusative: mein Notizbuch. In German, this possessive determiner changes according to the noun’s grammatical gender, case, and number; the neuter nominative and accusative forms are both mein. Notizbuch means “notebook.” It is a neuter noun, so its article is das: das Notizbuch. In this sentence, it is the accusative object of bringing—the thing that was not brought. Its plural is Notizbücher. mitzubringen is the zu-infinitive of mitbringen, meaning “to bring along” or “to bring with one.” With a separable verb such as mitbringen, zu is inserted between the prefix and the main verb in this form: mitzubringen. Example: Ich versuche, Wasser mitzubringen. — “I am trying to bring water along.” Together, Ich habe vergessen supplies the perfect-tense meaning “I forgot,” and mein Notizbuch mitzubringen names the action that was forgotten: bringing my notebook along. The complete utterance therefore means “I forgot to bring my notebook.”

2. Du kannst dieses Papier benutzen.

   You can use this paper.

   Du kannst

   you can

   dieses

   this

   Papier

   paper

   benutzen

   use

   More detail

   Du kannst combines Du, the informal singular “you,” with kannst, the present-tense second-person singular form of the modal verb können (“can; be able to”). The form changes with the subject: ich kann, du kannst, er/sie/es kann. A modal verb is followed by another verb in the infinitive, which appears at the end of this sentence. Example: Du kannst warten. — “You can wait.” This uses the same reusable pattern: subject + form of können + infinitive. dieses means “this” here and modifies Papier. It is the neuter singular accusative form of the demonstrative determiner dies-: dieser (masculine nominative), diese (feminine or plural in several common cases), and dieses (neuter nominative/accusative). The form is selected because Papier is neuter singular and is the object of benutzen; the determiner agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case. dieses identifies the paper as a particular paper understood in the situation. Papier means “paper.” Its base form is also Papier; it is a neuter noun, so it takes das in the singular. In this sentence, Papier is the accusative object, but its form is unchanged from the nominative singular. Its plural is Papiere. Example: Ich kaufe dieses Papier. — “I am buying this paper.” Here dieses Papier is again a neuter singular noun phrase functioning as the object. benutzen means “to use.” This is the infinitive required after kannst. Its present-tense forms include ich benutze, du benutzt, and er/sie/es benutzt; the infinitive itself stays at the end after a modal verb. Example: Sie kann den Computer benutzen. — “She can use the computer.” The subject and object differ, but the modal-plus-infinitive pattern is the same. Together, Du kannst expresses the ability or permission conveyed by “you can,” dieses Papier identifies the object as “this paper,” and benutzen supplies the action. The complete meaning is: “You can use this paper.”

3. Danke. Ich möchte die neuen Wörter schreiben.

   Thank you. I want to write the new words.

   Danke

   Thank you

   Ich möchte

   I want

   neuen

   new

   Wörter

   words

   schreiben

   write

   More detail

   Danke is the usual short way to say “Thank you.” It is useful as a complete expression of thanks and does not need an explicit subject here. Ich möchte means “I want” in this sentence. Ich is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” möchte is the first-person singular form used for expressing a wish or desire; it comes from the form mögen, but here it does not mean simply “like.” The pattern Ich möchte + infinitive is reusable: Ich möchte lesen. — “I want to read.” neuen means “new” and describes Wörter. Its base form is neu. In this phrase, neuen has the ending required after the definite article die in the plural accusative phrase die neuen Wörter; the adjective itself, not the noun, carries this ending. Compare the basic forms neu, neue, and neuen in different grammatical environments rather than treating neuen as a separate base word. Wörter means “words.” It is the plural of Wort; the umlaut and the ending are part of the plural form. Here it is the direct object of schreiben, so die neuen Wörter means “the new words.” schreiben is the infinitive “to write.” After möchte, the lexical verb remains in the infinitive and comes at the end of this main clause. The reusable pattern is Ich möchte + object + infinitive: Ich möchte den Brief schreiben. — “I want to write the letter.” Together, Ich möchte die neuen Wörter schreiben means “I want to write the new words.” The subject is Ich, the desire is expressed by möchte, die neuen Wörter is the object, and schreiben names the intended action. Danke. is a separate sentence of thanks.

4. Gute Idee. Ich schreibe sie auch.

   Good idea. I will write them too.

   Gute

   good

   Idee

   idea

   Ich

   I

   schreibe

   write

   sie

   them

   auch

   too

   More detail

   Gute describes Idee in the opening noun phrase. Its base form is gut (“good”); here it has the attributive form gute, agreeing with the feminine singular noun Idee in this phrase. Compare gute Idee (“good idea”) with the base form in a predicative sentence such as Die Idee ist gut (“The idea is good”). Idee means “idea” and is a feminine noun: die Idee. The phrase Gute Idee is a concise exclamation meaning “Good idea!”; the omitted article is part of this concise exclamatory style, not a statement that there is a particular numerical quantity. Ich is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” It is the subject of the second sentence. The form does not change for grammatical gender because it refers to the speaker here. schreibe is the first-person singular present form of schreiben, “to write”: ich schreibe = “I write” or “I am writing.” German present tense can also express a planned future action when the context makes that clear. Here, together with the fixed translation and the preceding wish to write the words, ich schreibe means “I will write.” sie means “them” here. It is the accusative plural personal pronoun, referring to the new words mentioned in the preceding sentence; the following question uses the same intended plural object. The lowercase form sie can have other grammatical uses in German, but its role here is the plural object of schreibe. auch means “too” or “also.” It adds this writing action to the earlier intention to write the new words; it does not itself express the future time. Together, Ich schreibe sie auch follows the reusable pattern Ich + present-tense verb + object pronoun + auch: “I will write them too.” The first sentence, Gute Idee, expresses approval, and the second sentence says that the speaker will also write the words.

5. Können wir sie nach dem Unterricht prüfen?

   Can we check them after class?

   Können wir

   Can we…?

   sie

   them

   nach dem Unterricht

   after class

   prüfen

   check; examine

   More detail

   Können wir combines the modal verb können with the subject pronoun wir. können is the first-person plural present form of können and expresses ability or possibility here: “are we able/allowed to…?” In a question, the conjugated modal comes first, while the other verb stays in the infinitive at the end. Compare the reusable pattern Können wir ...? — “Can we ...?” Example: Können wir morgen anfangen? — “Can we start tomorrow?” sie means “them” here. It is the accusative plural personal pronoun, used for the people or things being checked; the supplied translation and context support this plural object reading. German sie can have other functions in other contexts, but this form is the object of prüfen here. Example: Ich sehe sie. — “I see them.” nach dem Unterricht means “after class.” The preposition nach takes the dative in this time expression. Unterricht is a masculine noun, so its singular dative article is dem: der Unterricht → dem Unterricht. The noun means organized teaching or a class/lesson period; the phrase refers to the time after that period. prüfen is the infinitive meaning “to check” or “to examine.” Its base form is prüfen; the form does not change here because it follows the modal können. With a modal, German places the lexical verb in the infinitive at the end: Wir können sie prüfen. — “We can check them.” Together, Können wir frames a possibility question, sie identifies the plural object, nach dem Unterricht sets the time, and prüfen supplies the action. The complete utterance therefore means: “Can we check them after class?”

6. Wir können sie zusammen lesen.

   We can read them together.

   Wir können

   we can

   sie

   them

   zusammen

   together

   lesen

   read

   More detail

   Wir können means “we can” here. wir is the first-person plural subject, “we”. können is the present-tense form of können for wir; the verb expresses ability or possibility. With a modal verb such as können, German normally places the other verb as an infinitive at the end: Wir können ... lesen = “We can read ...”. sie means “them” here, as confirmed by the fixed translation. In this use it is the third-person plural accusative pronoun, the object of lesen. The same spelling can have other grammatical functions in German, so its role here comes from its position and the meaning of the complete sentence, not from the spelling alone. zusammen means “together”. It is an adverb and describes how the reading takes place. A reusable pattern is etwas zusammen machen (“do something together”), for example: Wir lernen zusammen. — “We study together.” lesen means “read”. This is the infinitive form, used after können; it remains in the infinitive rather than taking a present-tense ending. Its present-tense forms include ich lese (“I read”) and wir lesen (“we read”) when it is the finite verb. Here, however, können carries the finite verb form and lesen stays at the end as the required infinitive. Together, Wir können sie zusammen lesen. forms the modal pattern [subject] können [object] [adverb] [infinitive]: “We can read them together.” The subject is “we”, sie is the thing being read, zusammen adds the shared manner, and lesen names the action.