Asking for help with a task | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich brauche Hilfe bei dieser Aufgabe.

   I need help with this task.

   Ich

   I

   brauche

   need

   Hilfe

   help

   bei

   with; for

   dieser

   this

   Aufgabe

   task

   More detail

   Ich means “I” here and is the first-person singular subject. German personal pronouns change with their grammatical role: ich is the subject form, while mich is used for a direct object. Example: Ich lerne. — “I am learning.” brauche is the first-person singular present form of brauchen, “to need.” The ending -e marks the ich form here: ich brauche. Example: Ich brauche Zeit. — “I need time.” Hilfe is a feminine noun meaning “help.” In this sentence it is an uncounted amount of help, so it appears without an article. The same word can also refer to help or assistance more generally. Example: Danke für deine Hilfe. — “Thank you for your help.” bei is a preposition that takes the dative case in this use. It can introduce the situation or matter connected with something, often translated as “with” or “for” in English. Example: Bei dieser Aufgabe brauche ich Ruhe. — “For this task, I need quiet.” dieser means “this” and is the feminine singular dative form of the demonstrative dies-. Its form is required because it describes the feminine noun Aufgabe after dative-taking bei. The forms change with grammatical case and gender: for example, diese Aufgabe is nominative or accusative feminine, while bei dieser Aufgabe is dative feminine. Aufgabe is a feminine noun meaning “task” or “assignment.” Its base form is die Aufgabe; after bei, the feminine singular form of the noun phrase is dieser Aufgabe. Example: Diese Aufgabe ist leicht. — “This task is easy.” Together, Ich brauche Hilfe means “I need help.” The chunk bei dieser Aufgabe specifies what the help concerns: “with this task” or “for this task.” Thus the complete utterance is “I need help with this task.”

2. Welcher Teil ist schwierig?

   Which part feels difficult?

   Welcher

   which (masculine singular)

   Teil

   part

   schwierig

   difficult

   More detail

   Welcher means “which” here and stands before the noun it determines. Its form agrees with Teil: masculine singular nominative. The useful pattern is welcher + masculine singular noun, as in Welcher Weg ist richtig? — “Which route is correct?” Other forms are chosen for different grammatical gender, number, or case; welcher is not a general-purpose form for every noun. Teil means “part” or “section.” Its base form is der Teil; the plural is die Teile. In this question, Teil is singular and is the subject of ist, which is why the noun appears in the nominative. Example: Der zweite Teil ist kurz. — “The second part is short.” schwierig is an adjective meaning “difficult” here. After ist, it is used as a predicate adjective and therefore has no ending: Der Teil ist schwierig. — “The part is difficult.” Before a noun, the form can carry an ending, for example ein schwieriger Teil — “a difficult part.” Its useful opposite is leicht — “easy.” Together, Welcher Teil asks the listener to identify one part, and ist schwierig asks which identified part is difficult. The complete meaning is “Which part feels difficult?” More literally, the German says “Which part is difficult?”

3. Der erste Teil ist unklar.

   The first part is unclear.

   erste

   first

   Teil

   part

   ist

   is

   unklar

   unclear

   More detail

   erste means “first” here. It is the ordinal form of eins and comes before the noun. In der erste Teil, it has the ending -e because it is an attributive adjective after the definite article der, with masculine singular nominative Teil. Compare der zweite Teil (“the second part”). Teil means “part” or “section.” Its base form is Teil; the plural is Teile. The same word is useful for dividing a text, task, or whole into sections. Example: Dieser Teil ist wichtig. — “This part is important.” ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). The form used with ich is bin, and with wir it is sind. Example: Der Abschnitt ist kurz. — “The section is short.” unklar means “unclear” in this sentence. As a predicate after ist, it does not take an adjective ending: Der Teil ist unklar. Its useful opposite is klar (“clear”). Example: Die Erklärung ist klar. — “The explanation is clear.” Together, der erste Teil identifies the first section, and ist unklar describes its state. The complete meaning is: “The first part is unclear.”

4. Ich kann es dir erklären.

   I can walk you through it.

   Ich kann

   I can

   es

   it

   dir

   to you

   erklären

   explain

   More detail

   Ich kann combines the first-person pronoun Ich with the present-tense form kann of können. Here it expresses ability: “I am able to …”. The infinitive that describes the ability comes later in the clause. Compare ich kann “I can” with du kannst “you can”; the modal form changes with the subject. Example: Ich kann dir helfen. — “I can help you.” The modal kann remains near the beginning, while the infinitive helfen is at the end. es is a neuter singular personal pronoun functioning here as the object of erklären. The fixed translation identifies its intended meaning as “it”, but does not uniquely identify what “it” refers to. German object pronouns have forms such as es for a neuter singular object and sie for a feminine singular or plural object; the appropriate form depends on the grammatical properties of the referent. dir is the dative form of the second-person singular pronoun du. It marks the person who receives the explanation: “to you”. Its base pronoun is du, but after a verb that assigns the dative, the form is dir. Compare Ich helfe dir. — “I help you.” erklären is the infinitive meaning “to explain”. Its base form is already the infinitive, and after the modal kann it stays in that form rather than being conjugated. The separable verb aufklären is a different word, so it should not be treated as a form of erklären. Together, Ich kann es dir erklären means “I can explain it to you,” naturally rendered by the fixed translation as “I can walk you through it.” The structure is reusable as Ich kann [object] [person in the dative] [infinitive]: Ich kann das dir erklären is possible with emphasis on “to you”, while the natural neutral order is Ich kann dir das erklären — “I can explain that to you.”

5. Soll ich mit dieser Datei anfangen?

   Should I start with this file?

   Soll ich

   Should I …?

   mit

   with

   dieser

   this

   Datei

   file

   anfangen

   start; begin

   More detail

   Soll ich combines sollen with ich to ask whether the speaker ought to do something or whether the listener wants the speaker to do it. In this sentence, it is a neutral “Should I …?” question. sollen is a modal verb: ich soll means “I should / am supposed to,” while du sollst means “you should.” In a question, the finite modal verb comes first: Soll ich warten? — “Should I wait?” mit means “with” and introduces the thing used as a starting point here. It requires the dative case. This is different from für (“for”), which expresses a different relation: mit der Datei — “with the file.” dieser means “this” here and agrees with Datei in feminine singular dative. The form changes with grammatical case and gender: diese Datei is nominative or accusative, while mit dieser Datei is dative because of mit. This form does not by itself identify a person; it points to the intended file in the situation. Datei is a feminine noun meaning “file.” Its plural is Dateien: die Datei — “the file”; die Dateien — “the files.” In the fixed sentence, the noun is singular and appears in the dative phrase mit dieser Datei. anfangen means “to start” or “to begin.” It is a separable verb: in a main clause without a modal, the prefix separates, as in Ich fange mit der Datei an. — “I start with the file.” After the modal verb soll, however, anfangen remains together as an infinitive at the end: Soll ich mit der Datei anfangen? The present-tense form fange ... an comes from the base verb anfangen. Together, Soll ich makes the question, mit dieser Datei identifies the file used as the starting point, and anfangen supplies the action. The complete utterance means: “Should I start with this file?”

6. Fang dort an und zeig mir dann, was du hast.

   Start there, then show me what you have.

   Fang … an

   start

   dort

   there

   und

   and

   zeig

   show

   mir

   to me

   dann

   then

   was

   what

   du

   you

   hast

   have

   More detail

   Fang ... an is the informal singular imperative of anfangen (“to start”). This is a separable verb: in the imperative, fang comes first and an appears at the end of its verb phrase. The pattern is Fang [somewhere or with something] an! — “Start [somewhere or with something]!” For example: Fang mit der Aufgabe an! — “Start the task!” dort means “there,” referring to a place identified by the situation. It is an adverb, so it does not change form for person or number. hier (“here”) is a useful contrast. und joins the two instructions: “and.” It does not itself indicate tense or who performs the action. zeig is the informal singular imperative of zeigen (“to show”). The infinitive is zeigen; the imperative form addresses one person directly. For example: Zeig mir das Buch! — “Show me the book!” mir means “to me.” It is the first-person singular dative pronoun, used here for the person receiving or being shown something. The corresponding accusative pronoun is mich (“me”) in contexts where “me” is the direct object. dann means “then,” marking the second instruction as occurring after the first one. The sequence is therefore “start there, and then show me ...,” not two simultaneous actions. was means “what” here and introduces the content of what is to be shown. In was du hast, it begins a subordinate clause meaning “what you have.” du is the informal singular “you,” the subject of the subordinate clause. It is distinct from plural or formal forms such as ihr and Sie. hast is the second-person singular present form of haben (“to have”): ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat. In the subordinate clause introduced by was, the finite verb comes at the end: was du hast. Together, Fang dort an means “Start there.” und zeig mir dann adds “and then show me,” while was du hast specifies the thing to be shown: “what you have.” The complete meaning is “Start there, then show me what you have.”

7. Ich probiere das jetzt.

   I'll try that now.

   Ich

   I

   probiere

   try

   das

   that

   jetzt

   now

   More detail

   Ich means “I” and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It identifies the speaker as the actor. German pronouns change with grammatical case; ich is the nominative form used for a subject. Example: Ich lerne. — “I am learning.” probiere comes from the verb probieren, “to try.” Here it is the present-tense first-person singular form: ich probiere. The ending -e marks this subject-verb combination in the present tense. Example: Ich probiere es. — “I’ll try it.” German present tense can express an action understood as happening now or as an immediate intention, as in the fixed translation. das means “that” here. It is a demonstrative pronoun pointing to something understood from the situation; the sentence itself does not identify more specifically what it is. In this form, das is neuter in the accusative role after probieren; its form is also identical to the neuter nominative form. Example: Ich nehme das. — “I’ll take that.” jetzt means “now” and places the trying at the present time. It is an adverb and does not change for person or number. Example: Ich komme jetzt. — “I’m coming now.” Together, Ich probiere das jetzt. has the pattern subject + verb + object + time adverb: “I’ll try that now.” Ich supplies the actor, probiere expresses the speaker’s present-time trying or immediate intention, das identifies the thing being tried, and jetzt specifies when it will happen.

8. Danach kann ich deine Arbeit prüfen.

   I can check your work after that.

   Danach

   after that

   kann ich

   I can

   Arbeit

   work

   prüfen

   check

   More detail

   Danach means “after that” and refers here to a point after the action already mentioned. It is a useful time adverb and can also be placed elsewhere in a German sentence, but at the beginning it occupies the first position. kann ich combines kann, the first-person singular present form of the modal verb können (“can, be able to”), with ich (“I”). The form kann is used with ich here; other subjects use forms such as du kannst and sie können. German main clauses normally have the finite verb in the second position, so beginning with Danach gives Danach kann ich ..., not a second-position subject before the verb. Arbeit is the feminine noun “work.” In this sentence it is the object of prüfen, so it is in the accusative; feminine singular die Arbeit and deine Arbeit have the same visible form in the nominative and accusative. The possessive form deine means “your” for one informal du possessor and agrees with the feminine singular noun Arbeit. prüfen is the infinitive “to check” or “to examine.” With a modal verb such as können, the second verb stays in the infinitive and normally goes to the end of the main clause: Ich kann die Arbeit prüfen — “I can check the work.” Together, Danach sets the time, kann ich expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility, deine Arbeit identifies the thing being checked, and prüfen supplies the action. The complete meaning is: “I can check your work after that.”