Preparing for a meeting | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Sind die Besprechungsnotizen fertig?

   Are the meeting notes ready?

   Sind

   are

   Besprechungsnotizen

   meeting notes

   fertig

   ready

   More detail

   Sind is the form of sein used with a plural subject in the present tense; here it means “are.” The same verb has forms such as ich bin (“I am”), du bist (“you are”), and sie sind (“they are”). In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes first: Sind ...? Compare the reusable pattern Sind die Schlüssel da? — “Are the keys there?” Besprechungsnotizen means “meeting notes.” It is a compound noun: Besprechung means “meeting” and Notizen is the plural of Notiz (“note”). The observed compound is plural, which is why sind agrees with it. German nouns are capitalized, and the plural ending belongs to Notizen, the second part of the compound. A reusable example is Die Unterrichtsnotizen sind vollständig. — “The class notes are complete.” fertig means “ready” here. It is an adjective used after sein, so it describes the subject without an ending: Die Notizen sind fertig. — “The notes are ready.” The adjective can also be used before a noun with an ending, as in fertige Notizen — “ready notes”; this is a different position and grammatical pattern. Together, the question pattern Sind + plural subject + adjective? asks whether the plural subject has the stated property. Thus Sind die Besprechungsnotizen fertig? means “Are the meeting notes ready?”

2. Sie liegen auf meinem Schreibtisch.

   They are on my desk.

   Sie

   they

   liegen

   lie; are lying

   auf

   on

   meinem

   my

   Schreibtisch

   desk

   More detail

   Sie means “they” here, as fixed by the translation. In German, sie can have other functions, including “she” or a lowercase “they,” while capitalized Sie can also be the formal “you”; the intended meaning in this utterance is the plural third-person pronoun “they.” liegen is the present-tense plural form of liegen, “to lie” or “to be lying.” Here it describes a stationary position, not an action of putting something somewhere. German contrasts liegen (“be lying”) with legen (“put/place”): Die Bücher liegen auf dem Tisch. — “The books are on the table.” auf means “on” in this location expression. For a stationary location, auf takes the dative; for movement onto a surface, it takes the accusative. Compare Die Bücher liegen auf dem Tisch. — “The books are on the table” with Ich lege die Bücher auf den Tisch. — “I put the books on the table.” meinem is the dative masculine singular form of the possessive determiner mein, “my.” Its form reflects the dative role and the gender and number of the noun it accompanies. With the masculine noun Schreibtisch, mein becomes meinem after the location use of auf. Schreibtisch means “desk,” literally a writing desk. It is a masculine noun: der Schreibtisch; its dative singular form is dem Schreibtisch. The compound is built from Schreib- (“writing”) and Tisch (“table”), but it is learned and used as one noun. Together, Sie liegen says that they are lying or located somewhere, auf introduces the stationary location, and meinem Schreibtisch means “my desk” in the required dative form. The whole utterance therefore means: “They are on my desk.”

3. Gibt es eine Kopie für mich?

   Is there a copy for me?

   Gibt es

   is there

   eine

   a/an

   Kopie

   copy

   für mich

   for me

   More detail

   Gibt es is the common German pattern for asking whether something exists or is available: Gibt es ...? means “Is there ...?” Here, gibt is the third-person singular present form of geben (“to give”), but in this fixed construction the whole expression means “there is/are” rather than literally “gives.” The es is an impersonal subject; it does not identify a particular person or object. Example: Gibt es hier WLAN? — “Is there Wi-Fi here?” eine is the indefinite article used with the feminine singular noun Kopie in this sentence. It does not by itself assert a numerical count; it introduces an unspecified copy. The form eine is also used with feminine singular nouns in the nominative, while masculine and neuter forms differ in some cases. Example: eine Tasche — “a bag.” Kopie means “copy.” It is a feminine noun, and its plural is Kopien: eine Kopie — “a copy”; zwei Kopien — “two copies.” The noun is the thing whose existence or availability is being asked about. für mich means “for me.” für is a preposition that takes the accusative case, and mich is the accusative form of the first-person pronoun ich (“I”). Compare ich as the subject in Ich komme (“I am coming”) with mich after für: Das ist für mich — “That is for me.” Together, Gibt es asks about existence or availability, eine Kopie names the item, and für mich specifies the intended recipient. The whole utterance therefore means “Is there a copy for me?”

4. Hier ist eine.

   Here is one.

   Hier ist

   Here is

   eine

   one

   More detail

   Hier ist combines hier (“here”) with ist, the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). Together, the pattern Hier ist ... presents or points out something: “Here is ...”. sein has the useful present-tense forms ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist; the form ist is selected here because the presented item is singular. eine is the feminine singular form used independently here, with the noun understood rather than repeated. In the supplied context, it refers to one copy: die Kopie becomes eine when the noun is omitted. The form belongs to the indefinite-article/indefinite-pronoun system; its form reflects the understood feminine singular noun, not a stated numerical count by itself. Compare eine Kopie (“a copy”) with ein Buch (“a book”). The complete utterance is Hier ist + eine: “Here is one.” In context, the omitted noun is understood as one copy, so the sentence offers or points out a copy without repeating Kopie.

5. Was besprechen wir heute?

   What are we discussing today?

   Was

   what

   besprechen

   discuss

   wir

   we

   heute

   today

   More detail

   Was asks for an unspecified thing: “what.” In this sentence it is the object of the discussion. German question words such as was usually come first in a question. Compare Wer? (“Who?”), which asks about a person. besprechen means “to discuss” or “to talk something over.” The form shown is also the base form. With wir, German uses the present-tense form besprechen: wir besprechen = “we discuss” or, in a suitable context, “we are discussing.” Unlike an English progressive, German present tense can cover an action happening now. The verb takes the topic as its object: Wir besprechen den Plan. — “We are discussing the plan.” wir is the first-person plural pronoun “we.” It refers to the speaker together with at least one other person. Its verb form here is besprechen, as in wir besprechen; the verb does not take a singular ending for this subject. heute means “today,” a time word that places the discussion on the current day. It can be used in other statements as well: Wir lernen heute. — “We are studying today.” The sentence uses the question pattern question word + finite verb + subject + time word: Was besprechen wir heute? The object being asked about, Was, comes first; the finite verb besprechen follows it, and the subject wir comes after the verb. Together, the sentence means “What are we discussing today?”

6. Wir besprechen den neuen Plan.

   We will discuss the new plan.

   Wir

   we

   besprechen

   discuss

   neuen

   new

   Plan

   plan

   More detail

   Wir means “we”: the speaker refers to themself together with at least one other person. It is the first-person plural personal pronoun. Compare ich (“I”) for one speaker and wir (“we”) for a group. besprechen means “to discuss” and is the base form (infinitive). In the sentence, besprechen is the present-tense form for wir; German present tense can also refer to a planned future event when the context makes that clear. Example: Wir besprechen den Bericht morgen. — “We will discuss the report tomorrow.” The verb is used directly with the topic being discussed, without a preposition here. neuen means “new” in this sentence. Its base form is neu. As an adjective placed before a noun, it takes an ending that reflects the surrounding noun phrase. Here, den marks masculine accusative singular, and the adjective has the weak ending -en: den neuen .... Example: Ich lese den neuen Bericht. — “I am reading the new report.” Plan means “plan.” It is a masculine noun: der Plan; its plural is die Pläne. In this sentence, den Plan is the accusative object of besprechen, the thing being discussed. Example: Der Plan ist klar. — “The plan is clear.” Together, Wir besprechen identifies the group as the subject and expresses the discussion, while den neuen Plan names the specific object of that discussion. The complete utterance therefore means “We will discuss the new plan.”

7. Lass mich die Notizen lesen, bevor wir anfangen.

   Let me read the notes before we start.

   Lass mich

   Let me

   Notizen

   notes

   lesen

   read

   bevor

   before

   anfangen

   start

   More detail

   Lass mich is a reusable way to ask or allow the speaker to do something: “let me …”. Lass is the informal singular imperative of lassen (“to let” or “to allow”), and mich is the accusative form of ich (“me”). The following action is expressed with an infinitive: Lass mich warten means “Let me wait.” This construction does not itself specify whether the request is especially formal or urgent; the situation supplies that nuance. Notizen means “notes” here. It is the plural of the feminine noun die Notiz (“note”). The plural form is useful in patterns such as Ich lese die Notizen (“I am reading the notes”) and Ich mache Notizen (“I take notes”). lesen means “to read”. It is the infinitive used after Lass mich, so the speaker is asking to be allowed to perform that action. Its present-tense forms include ich lese (“I read”), du liest (“you read”), and wir lesen (“we read”); the vowel change in liest belongs to the verb, not to the object. bevor introduces a time clause meaning “before”. In a German clause introduced by bevor, the finite verb normally comes at the end. For example, Bevor ich gehe, rufe ich dich an means “Before I leave, I call you.” anfangen means “to start” or “to begin”. It is a separable verb: in a main clause, wir fangen an means “we start”, while after bevor its infinitive form remains together at the end: bevor wir anfangen. The subject wir means “we”; the fixed translation identifies this as the group that is going to start. Together, Lass mich die Notizen lesen means “Let me read the notes”. The clause bevor wir anfangen adds the time relation “before we start”. Thus the whole utterance means: “Let me read the notes before we start.”

8. Nimm dir eine Minute, bevor wir anfangen.

   Take a minute before we begin.

   Nimm dir

   take for yourself

   Minute

   minute

   bevor

   before

   anfangen

   begin

   More detail

   Nimm dir is the informal singular imperative of nehmen (“take”), used with the dative reflexive pronoun dir. Here, the construction means “allow yourself” or “set aside for yourself,” rather than simply taking an object. For a formal addressee, use Nehmen Sie sich ...; for an informal plural addressee, use Nehmt euch .... Minute is the feminine noun die Minute, “minute.” In eine Minute, the noun phrase is accusative because it is what is being set aside or taken; eine is the feminine accusative form of the indefinite article. Example: Ich brauche eine Minute. — “I need a minute.” bevor introduces a clause for an event that happens earlier than another event: “before.” In its clause, the finite verb comes at the end. Example: Bevor du gehst, ruf mich an. — “Before you leave, call me.” anfangen means “to begin” or “to start.” It is a separable verb: in a finite main clause, its parts separate, as in Wir fangen an. In bevor wir anfangen, the verb is finite present-tense anfangen for wir; this form looks identical to the infinitive, but it is not an infinitive here. The subordinate-clause word order keeps the complete verb form at the end. Together, Nimm dir eine Minute means “Take a minute for yourself,” and bevor wir anfangen means “before we begin.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Take a minute before we begin.”