Reviewing words with cards | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich möchte diese Wörter wiederholen.

   I want to review these words.

   Ich möchte

   I want to

   diese

   these

   Wörter

   words

   wiederholen

   review; repeat

   More detail

   Ich möchte means “I want to” here. möchte is the first-person singular form used to express a wish or want; it comes from mögen, but in this construction it does not mean simply “like.” The subject Ich is “I.” With a following infinitive, the pattern is Ich möchte + infinitive: Ich möchte lernen. — “I want to learn.” diese means “these” and points to multiple items. Here it agrees with the plural noun Wörter and marks the direct object in the sentence. In the plural, diese has the same form in the nominative and accusative: Diese Wörter sind neu. — “These words are new”; Ich lese diese Wörter. — “I read these words.” Wörter means “words” here. Its base singular form is das Wort, and its plural is die Wörter; the umlaut and plural ending are part of this plural form. Wort can also have the plural Worte in certain fixed or more abstract uses, but Wörter is the ordinary plural for individual words such as vocabulary items. wiederholen is the infinitive meaning “to repeat” or, in this learning context, “to review.” It is a regular verb, and its infinitive appears after möchte without zu: Ich möchte den Satz wiederholen. — “I want to repeat the sentence.” Together, Ich möchte + diese Wörter + wiederholen forms “I want to review these words.” The German places the infinitive wiederholen at the end of this clause, while diese Wörter identifies what the speaker wants to review.

2. Lass uns diese Wortkarten benutzen.

   Let's use these word cards.

   Lass uns

   Let's

   diese

   these

   Wortkarten

   word cards

   benutzen

   use

   More detail

   Lass uns is the reusable German pattern for “let’s …” when speaking informally to one person. Lass is the imperative singular of lassen (“let”); uns means “us” and is the object pronoun here. With a plural addressee, German normally uses Lasst uns … instead. diese means “these” here and refers to multiple items. It is a demonstrative determiner: its plural form is diese, and it agrees with Wortkarten. The form is also used for plural subjects, so the verb and the sentence’s role establish that the cards are the object here. Wortkarten means “word cards.” It is the plural of Wortkarte; the singular is die Wortkarte, and the plural is die Wortkarten. The compound combines Wort (“word”) and Karte (“card”), but the complete noun is what names the cards in this sentence. benutzen is the infinitive “to use.” After Lass uns, the main verb stays in the infinitive: Lass uns lesen means “Let’s read,” and Lass uns üben means “Let’s practise.” Together, Lass uns introduces a suggestion addressed to the listener, diese Wortkarten is the object being used, and benutzen supplies the suggested action. The complete meaning is “Let’s use these word cards.”

3. Ich kann mich an dieses Wort nicht erinnern.

   I can't remember this one.

   Ich kann

   I can

   mich an … erinnern

   remember ...

   dieses

   this

   Wort

   word

   nicht

   not

   More detail

   Ich kann introduces the speaker as the subject and uses the first-person singular form of können (“can, be able to”). With another subject, the form changes: du kannst, sie können. In this sentence, kann is a modal verb, so the other verb remains in the infinitive and moves to the end. mich an ... erinnern is the reusable German reflexive construction meaning “to remember ...”. The reflexive form mich matches the first-person singular subject ich; compare du erinnerst dich an ... (“you remember ...”). The preposition an belongs to this construction, and the remembered thing is introduced here by an plus an accusative noun phrase. The infinitive erinnern is the base form. Example: Ich erinnere mich an den Namen. — “I remember the name.” dieses is the demonstrative form meaning “this” in the noun phrase here. It has the form required before Wort: Wort is singular, neuter, and accusative in this construction. The demonstrative therefore agrees with that noun in gender, number, and case. For comparison, the feminine singular accusative form is diese, as in Ich erinnere mich an diese Geschichte. — “I remember this story.” Wort means “word”. Its plural is Wörter when referring to separate words or vocabulary items; Worte is also used in particular contexts, especially for connected words or a statement. Here the singular form refers to one word, while the fixed translation renders it naturally as “this one.” nicht supplies the negation. Together with the modal construction, kann ... nicht erinnern says that the speaker is unable to remember the item. The placement of nicht before the final infinitive is part of how this sentence forms the negative verb phrase; it does not belong to the meaning of Wort alone. Assembled from left to right, Ich kann gives “I can,” mich an dieses Wort erinnern gives “remember this word,” and nicht negates that ability. The complete meaning is “I can't remember this one.”

4. Schau dir den Beispielsatz an.

   Look at the example sentence.

   Schau dir … an

   look at

   Beispielsatz

   example sentence

   More detail

   Schau dir … an is the informal singular imperative of sich etwas anschauen, meaning to look at or examine something. anschauen is a separable verb: in this imperative, Schau comes first and the prefix an moves to the end. dir is the dative reflexive pronoun for du in this construction; the thing being viewed is expressed separately. The alternative imperative Schaue … an is also possible, but Schau … an is common and concise. Beispielsatz means “example sentence.” It is a masculine compound noun formed from Beispiel (“example”) and Satz (“sentence”). In the complete sentence, the article is den, showing the accusative form required for the thing being looked at: den Beispielsatz. Together, Schau dir + den Beispielsatz + an produces the direct informal instruction “Look at the example sentence.” The reusable pattern is Schau dir [something] an.

5. Der Satz hilft mir, mich an das Wort zu erinnern.

   The sentence helps me remember it.

   Der Satz

   the sentence

   hilft

   helps

   mir

   me

   mich

   myself

   an das Wort

   the word

   zu erinnern

   to remember

   More detail

   Der Satz means “the sentence.” Satz is a masculine noun, so its definite article is der in the subject form (nominative). The same noun can appear with other forms, for example ein Satz (“a sentence”) and die Sätze (“the sentences”). hilft is the present-tense third-person singular form of helfen (“to help”): helfen → er/sie/es hilft. Here, helfen takes the person receiving help in the dative and can be followed by a zu-infinitive. Example: Der Text hilft mir zu lernen. — “The text helps me study.” mir is the first-person singular dative pronoun, “to me.” It identifies the person who receives the help. The corresponding first-person singular accusative form is mich, used for a direct object or a reflexive object. mich means “myself” here. It is the first-person singular accusative reflexive pronoun. In mir ... mich ... zu erinnern, the person being helped, mir, is understood as the subject of the infinitive phrase; mich refers to that same person as the object of erinnern. The matrix subject Der Satz is not the referent of mich. The reflexive forms change with the subject: ich erinnere mich, du erinnerst dich, er erinnert sich. an das Wort means “the word” in the construction sich an etwas erinnern (“to remember something”). This construction uses an with the accusative. Wort is a neuter noun, and das has the same form in nominative and accusative: das Wort. Example: Ich erinnere mich an den Namen. — “I remember the name.” zu erinnern is the infinitive “to remember” with zu. Together with the preceding reflexive and prepositional parts, it forms mich an das Wort zu erinnern, “to remember the word.” The whole pattern is Der Satz hilft mir, mich an das Wort zu erinnern. The subject is “the sentence”; hilft mir says that it helps me; and the zu-infinitive phrase names the action that I am helped to perform. Thus the complete meaning is “The sentence helps me remember the word.”

6. Versuch eine andere Karte und schau zuerst auf den Beispielsatz.

   Try another card and check the example first.

   Versuch

   try

   andere

   another; different

   Karte

   card

   schau

   look; check

   zuerst

   first

   auf den

   at the

   Beispielsatz

   example sentence

   More detail

   Versuch is the informal singular imperative of versuchen (“to try”). The subject du is understood, so the sentence addresses one person informally. The regular present-tense form is du versuchst; the imperative removes the subject and uses Versuch! (the variant Versuche! is also possible). Example: Versuch es noch einmal. — “Try it again.” andere means “another” here and describes Karte. It is the feminine accusative singular form of ander-, because Karte is feminine and is the direct object after eine: eine andere Karte. This adjective changes with the noun and determiner; it is not the noun’s base form. Example: Ich nehme eine andere Route. — “I’ll take another route.” Karte means “card” in this utterance. Its plural is Karten. The form after eine is singular accusative: eine andere Karte. Example: Die Karte ist neu. — “The card is new.” schau is the informal singular imperative of schauen (“to look”). In auf etwas schauen, the preposition auf expresses what someone looks at, and this use takes the accusative: auf den Beispielsatz. Example: Schau auf die Anzeige. — “Look at the display.” zuerst means “first” or “before doing the other step.” It is an adverb, so it does not inflect. Here it orders the checking step before any later action. Example: Lies zuerst die Frage. — “Read the question first.” auf den is the preposition auf together with the masculine accusative article den. In this construction, auf governs the accusative because the meaning is directing one’s attention toward something, not describing a static location. Beispielsatz is masculine, so its accusative article is den: auf den Beispielsatz. Beispielsatz means “example sentence.” It is a compound noun: Beispiel + Satz, and the compound is masculine, with plural Beispielsätze. Example: Der Beispielsatz ist kurz. — “The example sentence is short.” Together, Versuch eine andere Karte gives the first informal command: “Try another card.” und schau zuerst auf den Beispielsatz adds a second command: “and first check the example sentence.” The two imperatives share the understood informal subject du, and the complete utterance is: “Try another card and check the example first.”

7. Ich versuche jetzt die nächste Karte.

   I will try the next card now.

   Ich

   I

   versuche

   try

   jetzt

   now

   nächste

   next

   Karte

   card

   More detail

   Ich means “I” here: it is the first-person singular subject pronoun, used for the speaker. For comparison, du means “you” to one person. Example: Ich lerne. — “I am learning.” versuche is the first-person singular present form of versuchen (“to try”). The ending -e marks the present-tense form with ich: ich versuche. German present tense can refer to an action happening now and, with context, to a near-future action. Here it expresses the speaker’s intention to try the card now. With an activity, versuchen commonly appears with zu plus an infinitive, as in Ich versuche zu lesen. — “I try to read.” Here the thing being tried is expressed directly as die nächste Karte. jetzt means “now” and places the action at the present moment. It is an adverb, so it does not take the noun-related inflections seen in nächste. nächste means “next” in this sentence. Its base form is the adjective nächst-; the ending changes according to the noun phrase. In die nächste Karte, it has the feminine singular accusative form after the definite article die, because Karte is the direct object of versuche. Compare die nächste Karte — “the next card” with die nächste Frage — “the next question.” Karte means “card” here. It is a feminine noun: die Karte; its plural is die Karten. In this sentence, Karte is the direct object—the card the speaker will try—and the article-adjective-noun group is die nächste Karte. Together, Ich versuche gives “I try / I will try,” die nächste Karte identifies what the speaker will try, and jetzt places the action now. The complete meaning is: “I will try the next card now.”

8. Lies zuerst den Satz und sag dann das Wort.

   Read the sentence first, then say the word.

   Lies

   read

   zuerst

   first

   den Satz

   the sentence

   sag

   say

   dann

   then

   das Wort

   the word

   More detail

   Lies is the informal singular imperative of lesen (“to read”). The vowel changes from e to ie in this form: lesen → du liest (present tense) → Lies! (imperative). Example: Lies das Buch! — “Read the book!” zuerst means “first” in the time sequence. It tells the listener that reading comes before the next action. Example: Zuerst lerne ich die Wörter. — “First I learn the words.” den Satz means “the sentence.” Satz is a masculine noun, and den is the masculine accusative form of the definite article. The accusative marks Satz as the direct object of lesen. The noun’s base form is der Satz; its plural is die Sätze. Example: Ich lese den Satz. — “I read the sentence.” Sag is the informal singular imperative of sagen (“to say” or “to tell”). The subject du is understood and normally omitted in this imperative: du sagst → Sag! Example: Sag das Wort laut! — “Say the word aloud!” dann means “then,” referring to the next point in the sequence. Together with zuerst, it helps organize two actions: first one action, then another. Example: Lies den Text und antworte dann. — “Read the text and then answer.” das Wort means “the word.” Wort is a neuter noun, so the definite article is das in both nominative and accusative singular; here, the phrase is the direct object of sag. Its plural is commonly die Wörter when referring to separate words. Example: Ich kenne das Wort. — “I know the word.” The conjunction und links the two commands. In the first part, Lies zuerst den Satz means “Read the sentence first.” In the second part, sag dann das Wort means “then say the word.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Read the sentence first, then say the word.”