Signing up for a walking event | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Wie viel kostet die Teilnahme an der Walking-Veranstaltung?

   How much does it cost to join the walking event?

   Wie viel

   how much

   kostet

   costs

   Teilnahme

   participation

   an der

   in the

   Walking-Veranstaltung

   walking event

   More detail

   Wie viel asks for an amount. With a price or cost, the reusable pattern is Wie viel kostet ...? = “How much does ... cost?” Wie viel is not a statement of a specific quantity; the amount is what the question requests. kostet is the present-tense third-person singular form of kosten (“to cost”). The subject here is the singular noun phrase die Teilnahme an der Walking-Veranstaltung, so the verb is kostet. Compare: Was kostet das? = “What does that cost?” Teilnahme means participation or taking part. Its base form is the noun Teilnahme; it is feminine, as shown by die in die Teilnahme. A useful pattern is Teilnahme an + dative: die Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung = “participation in the event.” an der combines the preposition an with the feminine dative article der. In the pattern Teilnahme an ..., an introduces the event or activity participated in, and der marks the dative form of feminine die. Together, Teilnahme an der ... expresses participation in the event. Walking-Veranstaltung is a compound noun meaning walking event. Veranstaltung means event, and the compound is capitalized because it is a German noun. In an der Walking-Veranstaltung, der is the dative article form used with the feminine noun Veranstaltung; the case comes from the Teilnahme an ... pattern. Together, die Teilnahme an der Walking-Veranstaltung means “participation in the walking event.” The sentence asks for its cost: Wie viel kostet die Teilnahme an der Walking-Veranstaltung? = “How much does it cost to join the walking event?”

2. Für Einwohner der Stadt ist es kostenlos.

   It is free for city residents.

   Für

   for

   Einwohner

   residents

   Stadt

   city

   ist es

   it is

   kostenlos

   free

   More detail

   Für introduces the people or group for whom the statement applies. It takes the accusative in German; here Einwohner is a plural form that looks the same in the accusative as in the nominative. A reusable pattern is für + noun: Das ist für Kinder. — “That is for children.” Einwohner means “resident” or “inhabitant.” In this sentence, the translation shows that it is plural: “residents.” Its singular is Einwohner, and its plural is also Einwohner; the form changes in some cases, for example mit Einwohnern — “with residents.” Stadt means “city” or “town.” In der Stadt, it is singular feminine, and der Stadt expresses the relation “of the city” here. The pattern Einwohner der Stadt means “residents of the city.” Example: Die Einwohner der Stadt feiern. — “The residents of the city are celebrating.” ist es combines ist, the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”), with es, a pronoun functioning as the grammatical subject. The form es does not identify a person, and the supplied sentence does not specify a more precise referent for it. sein has the present-tense chain ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist. kostenlos is an adjective meaning “free of charge.” It describes something that requires no payment. A close alternative is gratis, also meaning “free,” often in a more informal style. Example: Die Teilnahme ist kostenlos. — “Participation is free.” Together, Für Einwohner der Stadt sets the group for whom the condition applies, ist es states the condition, and kostenlos gives that condition. The complete meaning is: “It is free for city residents.”

3. Wir möchten uns zusammen anmelden.

   We would like to sign up together.

   Wir möchten

   we would like

   uns

   ourselves

   zusammen

   together

   anmelden

   to sign up

   More detail

   Wir möchten: Wir means “we” and is the first-person plural subject. möchten is the polite/wish form used here for “would like”; it is the subjunctive II form of mögen, but in this expression it normally introduces something desired rather than meaning simple liking. The same pattern is reusable: Ich möchte ... = “I would like ...”, Wir möchten ... = “We would like ...”. uns: This is the first-person plural reflexive pronoun, referring back to the subject Wir. With sich anmelden, it marks that the people who register are the people represented by wir. The corresponding singular form is sich with er/sie, while ich uses mich: Ich möchte mich anmelden. = “I would like to sign up.” zusammen: This adverb means that the action is done together by the members of the “we” group. It can be reused in other sentences, for example: Wir lernen zusammen. = “We study together.” anmelden: The base form is the separable verb anmelden, “to register” or “to sign up.” With a reflexive pronoun, sich anmelden means “to register oneself” or “to sign up.” In an ordinary finite clause, the prefix separates: Wir melden uns an. = “We sign up.” After the modal-like form möchten, the verb stays in the infinitive at the end: Wir möchten uns anmelden. = “We would like to sign up.” Together, Wir möchten expresses the group’s wish, uns anmelden expresses that the group wants to register itself, and zusammen specifies that they want to do so together. The complete utterance therefore means: “We would like to sign up together.”

4. Bitte schreiben Sie Ihre Namen, Adressen und Telefonnummern auf dieses Formular.

   Please write your names, addresses, and phone numbers on this form.

   Bitte

   please

   schreiben Sie

   write (formal)

   Ihre

   your

   Namen

   names

   Adressen

   addresses

   Telefonnummern

   phone numbers

   auf

   onto

   dieses

   this

   Formular

   form

   More detail

   Bitte is the polite word “please.” It commonly softens a request or instruction and can stand at the beginning of a sentence. Example: Bitte warten Sie. — “Please wait.” schreiben Sie means “write” in this formal instruction. schreiben is the base form “to write.” In the formal imperative, German uses this infinitive form together with formal Sie, normally in the order Schreiben Sie .... Formal Sie can address one person or more than one person; the form itself does not show the number. Ihre means “your” here, addressed formally. Its capital letter marks formal Sie address; informal plural ihr has the possessive form eure, while informal singular du has deine. In this sentence, Ihre agrees grammatically with the plural noun phrase that follows, but the possessive meaning is determined by the addressee. Namen means “names.” Its singular base form is der Name, and its plural is die Namen; Namen is also the accusative plural form after the writing instruction. Example: Schreiben Sie Ihren Namen. — “Write your name.” Here Ihren is the corresponding formal possessive form before the masculine singular accusative noun Namen. Adressen means “addresses.” The base form is die Adresse, with plural die Adressen. The ending -n is part of this plural form. Example: Bitte prüfen Sie die Adressen. — “Please check the addresses.” Telefonnummern means “phone numbers.” The singular is die Telefonnummer, and the plural is die Telefonnummern. The word combines Telefon (“telephone”) and Nummer (“number”), but the reusable form here is the complete noun Telefonnummer. auf means “onto” in this sentence because the writing is directed onto a surface or document. With a two-way preposition such as auf, German uses the accusative for movement or placement toward a destination, but the dative for a fixed location. Compare: auf dieses Formular schreiben — “write onto this form” and auf diesem Formular stehen — “be on this form.” dieses means “this” and is the neuter singular accusative form of the demonstrative dies-. It agrees with das Formular, which is neuter, and the accusative is required here after directional auf. The related form dieser is used in some masculine or feminine contexts, so the form is selected by gender, case, and number rather than by the meaning “this” alone. Formular means “form.” Its base form is das Formular, and its plural is die Formulare. In dieses Formular, it is singular, neuter, and accusative. Example: Füllen Sie dieses Formular aus. — “Fill out this form.” Together, Bitte schreiben Sie gives the polite instruction “Please write.” Ihre Namen, Adressen und Telefonnummern is the coordinated list of what should be written: the addressee’s names, addresses, and phone numbers. auf dieses Formular specifies the destination, “onto this form.” The complete meaning is therefore: “Please write your names, addresses, and phone numbers on this form.”

5. Sollten wir auch eine E-Mail-Adresse angeben?

   Should we add an email address too?

   Sollten wir

   should we

   auch

   also; too

   eine E-Mail-Adresse

   an email address

   angeben

   provide; give

   More detail

   Sollten wir asks for a suggestion: “Should we …?” sollten is the Konjunktiv II form of sollen for wir; here it makes the proposal less direct than a plain statement. The subject form is wir (“we”). Compare the reusable pattern Sollten wir + infinitive? — “Should we + verb?” auch means “too” or “also” and adds this item to something already being considered. In this sentence, it asks whether an email address should be included in addition to the information already mentioned. eine E-Mail-Adresse means “an email address.” E-Mail-Adresse is a compound noun, and Adresse is feminine, so the indefinite article is eine. The phrase is the accusative object of angeben; the article form therefore also fits the feminine accusative. The compound is written with a hyphen: E-Mail-Adresse. angeben means “to provide” or “to give” information. It is a separable verb in other sentence structures: Wir geben unsere Adressen an. — “We provide our addresses.” In the question, the infinitive stays at the end after the modal-like verb form: Sollten wir ... angeben? Together, Sollten wir + auch + eine E-Mail-Adresse + angeben? forms the reusable question pattern “Should we also provide an email address?” The question proposes adding that information; it does not state that the address has already been provided.

6. Dieser Teil ist optional.

   That part is optional.

   Dieser

   that

   Teil

   part

   optional

   optional

   More detail

   Dieser means “that” here and is the masculine singular nominative form of the demonstrative determiner dies-. It agrees with the masculine noun Teil because that noun is the subject. The form changes with grammatical gender, case, and number: for example, diese Frage means “this question,” while diese Teile means “these parts.” Teil means “part” here. Its plural is Teile. The noun can refer to a section or portion of something, as in Dieser Teil ist wichtig. — “This part is important.” ist is the third-person singular present form of sein, “to be.” The pattern X ist Y states that X has the property or identity expressed by Y. Other present forms include ich bin (“I am”) and wir sind (“we are”). optional is an adjective meaning “optional”: it describes something that is not required. It has the same form here as in Die Angaben sind optional. — “The details are optional.” Together, Dieser Teil is the subject “that part,” ist supplies “is,” and optional describes that part. The complete utterance therefore means “That part is optional,” matching the fixed translation. In German, the demonstrative and noun identify the subject, followed by the present-tense form of sein and the adjective.

7. Was schicken Sie, wenn wir eine E-Mail-Adresse angeben?

   What will you send if we add one?

   Was

   what

   schicken

   send

   Sie

   you (formal singular or plural)

   wenn

   if

   wir

   we

   eine E-Mail-Adresse

   an email address

   angeben

   provide; enter

   More detail

   Was asks for the thing being sent: “what”. It is an interrogative pronoun, so it can stand in place of the unknown object. Compare Was lesen Sie? — “What are you reading?” schicken means “send” here. In Sie schicken, it is the present-tense form used with formal Sie; in wir schicken, it is the present-tense form used with wir. German present tense can refer to a future action when the context makes that clear; the fixed translation expresses that future reading as “will send”. Example: Wir schicken die Unterlagen morgen. — “We will send the documents tomorrow.” Sie is the capitalized formal second-person pronoun. It can address one person or more than one person; its form does not show singular versus plural. Here it is the subject of schicken, while the exact number of people addressed is not specified. wenn introduces a condition, meaning “if” here. In a wenn clause, the finite verb normally goes to the end of the clause. Example: Ich helfe, wenn Sie fragen. — “I help if you ask.” wir means “we” and is the first-person plural subject. It is the group that performs the action in the conditional clause. The related singular form is ich, “I”; for example, Wenn wir angeben ... means “If we provide ...”, whereas Wenn ich angebe ... means “If I provide ...”. eine E-Mail-Adresse means “an email address”. E-Mail-Adresse is a feminine compound noun; the indefinite article is eine in both nominative and accusative for this noun, so its form alone does not state a numerical count beyond the indefinite reference. In this sentence, the noun phrase is the object of angeben. angeben means “provide” or “enter” information. It is a separable verb whose base form is angeben, built from an and geben. In a main clause, the prefix separates: Wir geben eine E-Mail-Adresse an. — “We provide an email address.” In this wenn clause, the finite verb is angeben at the end, with the prefix joined to the verb as is normal in a subordinate clause. With wir, the present-tense form is wir geben ... an in a main clause and wir ... angeben in this subordinate-clause structure. The form angeben is not the same as aufgeben, which has a different meaning. Together, Was schicken Sie asks what the addressed person will send. wenn wir eine E-Mail-Adresse angeben adds the condition “if we provide an email address”. Thus the whole utterance means: “What will you send if we add one?” The “one” in the fixed translation refers to the email address expressed by eine E-Mail-Adresse; the German sentence itself uses the noun phrase rather than an English-style replacement pronoun.

8. Wir schicken den Zeitplan für die nächste Veranstaltung.

   We will send the schedule for the next event.

   Wir

   we

   schicken

   send

   Zeitplan

   schedule

   nächste

   next

   Veranstaltung

   event

   More detail

   Wir means “we”: it is the first-person plural subject pronoun, so it presents the speakers and possibly others as the people doing the sending. Compare ich (“I”) for one speaker. Example: Wir lernen Deutsch. — “We are learning German.” schicken means “send.” Here it is the present-tense form for wir; the infinitive and dictionary form is also schicken. German present tense can refer to a future action when the context makes that clear, so this form corresponds here to “will send.” Example: Wir schicken die Datei morgen. — “We will send the file tomorrow.” The verb takes the thing being sent as its direct object. Zeitplan means “schedule” or “timetable.” It is a masculine compound noun: der Zeitplan; its plural is die Zeitpläne. In this sentence, den Zeitplan is the direct object of schicken, so the masculine definite article changes from nominative der to accusative den. The compound combines Zeit (“time”) and Plan (“plan”), but the useful meaning of the whole noun is “schedule.” nächste means “next” here. It is the adjective form agreeing with the feminine noun Veranstaltung after the definite article die; the ending -e is part of its inflection in this phrase. The adjective identifies the event as the one that comes next in the relevant sequence. Example: Wir treffen uns nächste Woche. — “We will meet next week.” Veranstaltung means “event.” It is a feminine noun: die Veranstaltung; its plural is die Veranstaltungen. After für, German uses the accusative, but the feminine article remains die: für die nächste Veranstaltung. The noun can refer to an organized event or occasion, such as a meeting, show, or conference, depending on context. Together, Wir schicken gives the subject and the sending action, while den Zeitplan names what is sent. für die nächste Veranstaltung specifies that the schedule is intended for the next event. Thus the complete utterance means: “We will send the schedule for the next event.”