Taking a screen break for tired eyes | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Meine Augen sind müde.

   My eyes are tired.

   Meine

   my

   Augen

   eyes

   sind

   are

   müde

   tired

   More detail

   Meine means “my” here and agrees with the plural noun Augen. The possessive determiner comes from mein; before a nominative plural noun, this form is meine. For example: Meine Hände sind kalt. — “My hands are cold.” Augen means “eyes.” It is the plural of Auge; the vowel changes in the plural, so the reusable pair is das Auge / die Augen. Here Augen is the subject of the sentence. For example: Die Augen sind offen. — “The eyes are open.” sind is the present-tense form of sein (“to be”) for sie meaning “they” and for Sie meaning “you” in the formal form. In this sentence it agrees with the plural subject Augen: Meine Augen sind .... Compare Mein Auge ist müde. — “My eye is tired.” The singular form is ist, while the plural form is sind. müde means “tired.” It is an adjective used after sein to describe the subject, so it does not receive an ending here. The same adjective can describe a singular or plural subject in this position: Ich bin müde. — “I am tired.” Together, Meine Augen means “my eyes,” sind connects that subject with its description, and müde describes their condition. The complete utterance is: “My eyes are tired.”

2. Mach eine kurze Pause vom Bildschirm.

   Take a short break from the screen.

   Mach

   take / make

   eine

   a

   kurze

   short

   Pause

   break

   vom

   from the

   Bildschirm

   screen

   More detail

   Mach is the singular informal imperative of machen (“to do; to make”). Here it gives the instruction “take/make,” as in Mach eine Pause! — “Take a break!” The form addresses one person using informal du; the subject is normally understood rather than stated. eine is the feminine accusative form of the indefinite article. It marks Pause as the direct object of Mach and introduces a non-specific break; the article itself does not assert a numerical count. The masculine and neuter accusative forms are einen and ein, respectively, depending on the noun's gender. kurze is the adjective form of kurz (“short”). It describes Pause and has the ending -e because it is feminine singular accusative after eine: eine kurze Pause. For comparison, kurz means “short,” kürzer means “shorter,” and am kürzesten means “the shortest.” Example: eine kurze Antwort — “a short answer.” Pause is a feminine noun meaning “break” or “pause.” Its plural is Pausen: Wir machen Pausen. — “We take breaks.” In this utterance, it is the thing the listener is instructed to take. vom is the contraction of von dem, meaning “from the” here. The preposition von takes the dative in this use. Contractions such as vom are normal in everyday German; the uncontracted form von dem is also possible when the article is being emphasized. Bildschirm is a masculine noun meaning “screen.” After von, it appears as dative singular: von dem Bildschirm, contracted here to vom Bildschirm. Its plural is Bildschirme. Example: Ich sitze vor dem Bildschirm. — “I am sitting in front of the screen.” Together, Mach eine kurze Pause means “Take a short break,” and vom Bildschirm specifies that the break is from the screen. The complete utterance is therefore “Take a short break from the screen.”

3. Wie lange soll ich wegschauen?

   How long should I look away?

   Wie lange

   how long

   soll ich

   should I

   wegschauen

   look away

   More detail

   Wie lange asks about duration: “for how long?” It is reusable with an activity or state, for example: Wie lange bleibst du? — “How long are you staying?” Here it asks for the length of time, not for a specific clock time. soll ich combines sollen (“should / be supposed to”) with ich (“I”). soll is the first-person singular present form of sollen; the subject is ich, and the modal verb expresses the recommended or expected action. In a yes/no question, German can place the finite modal first (Soll ich warten? — “Should I wait?”). With a duration question, the question phrase comes first: Wie lange soll ich warten? — “How long should I wait?” wegschauen means “to look away.” It is a separable verb: in a clause without another infinitive, the finite form separates (Ich schaue weg. — “I look away.”). After the modal soll, the verb remains as the infinitive at the end: Ich soll wegschauen. — “I should look away.” The form wegschauen is the infinitive; it is not a form of sollen. Together, Wie lange asks for the duration, soll ich marks the action as something the speaker should do, and wegschauen names that action. The complete utterance therefore means: “How long should I look away?”

4. Schau eine Minute weg.

   Look away for a minute.

   Schau … weg

   look away

   Minute

   minute

   More detail

   Schau … weg is the split imperative of the separable verb wegschauen, “to look away.” Schau is the informal singular command form addressed to one person; weg moves to the end of the clause. In a reusable pattern, separable verbs can split in a main-clause command: Schau weg! — “Look away!” Minute means “minute.” The phrase eine Minute uses the feminine noun Minute with the indefinite article eine; here the whole phrase gives a duration, “for one minute.” German can express a short duration with an accusative time expression without a separate word meaning “for.” Example: Warte zehn Minuten. — “Wait for ten minutes.” Together, Schau eine Minute weg. means “Look away for a minute.” The command is directed at one informal singular person, and eine Minute specifies how long the looking-away should last.

5. Ich kann mich ausruhen und dabei etwas Wasser trinken.

   I can drink some water while I rest.

   Ich kann

   I can

   mich ausruhen

   rest

   und dabei

   and while doing so

   etwas

   some

   Wasser

   water

   trinken

   drink

   More detail

   Ich kann means “I can.” kann is the first-person singular present form of können (“to be able to; can”). With this modal verb, the other verb normally appears as an infinitive at the end of its clause: Ich kann bleiben = “I can stay.” Here Ich is the subject, so kann agrees with first-person singular. mich ausruhen means “rest.” ausruhen is a reflexive verb: for the first-person subject, its reflexive form is mich. In a finite clause, the separable verb appears as Ich ruhe mich aus (“I am resting”); after kann, the infinitive stays together as ausruhen. The reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject here. und dabei joins the two activities and means “and while doing so.” dabei is an adverb referring to the activity already expressed, so it presents drinking as happening during the resting rather than as an unrelated second situation. A reusable pattern is Ich ... und dabei ... = “I ... and while doing so ...”. etwas means “some” in this sentence: it indicates an unspecified amount. It does not by itself state a numeric quantity. With a mass noun, etwas Wasser means “some water.” Wasser means “water.” It is a noun and is capitalized in German. As a mass noun, it commonly combines with amount expressions such as etwas Wasser (“some water”) or viel Wasser (“a lot of water”). trinken means “drink.” This is the infinitive form of the verb; after the modal kann, it remains in the infinitive. For example, Ich kann Tee trinken means “I can drink tea.” Together, Ich kann introduces an ability or possibility. mich ausruhen supplies the first activity, and und dabei etwas Wasser trinken adds a simultaneous activity: “and while doing so, drink some water.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I can drink some water while I rest.”

6. Das sollte deinen Augen guttun.

   That should help your eyes feel better.

   Das

   that

   sollte

   should

   Augen

   eyes

   guttun

   do good; help

   More detail

   Das is used here as a standalone demonstrative pronoun meaning “that.” Its exact referent is not identified by the sentence itself, but its grammatical form is singular neuter. Do not confuse it with dass, which introduces a subordinate clause. sollte is the form of sollen used here to express an expectation or recommendation: “should.” The useful pattern is sollte + infinitive, as in Das sollte helfen. — “That should help.” The infinitive comes at the end of this main clause. Depending on context, sollte can also refer to something that was supposed to happen, but the fixed translation supports the expectation meaning here. Augen is the plural of Auge, “eye.” In this sentence, deinen Augen means “your eyes”; Augen is the noun, while deinen marks the possessive phrase as dative plural. The construction jemandem guttun uses the person or body part helped in the dative: Ruhe tut mir gut. — “Rest does me good.” guttun is an infinitive meaning “to do good to” or “to benefit.” It is written as one word in the infinitive, but it is separable when conjugated: Das tut meinen Augen gut. — “That does my eyes good.” In the fixed sentence, sollte carries the finite verb position and guttun remains at the end. Together, Das sollte deinen Augen guttun has the structure That should benefit your eyes: Das identifies the subject, sollte expresses the expected benefit, and deinen Augen names who or what benefits from guttun. The natural meaning is “That should help your eyes feel better.”

7. Dann kann ich die Aufgabe fertig machen.

   Then I can finish the task.

   Dann

   then

   kann ich

   I can

   die Aufgabe

   the task

   fertig machen

   finish

   More detail

   Dann means “then” here, referring to the time or sequence indicated by the surrounding context. When it is placed first, German commonly puts the finite verb before the subject: Dann kann ich ... (“Then can I ...”), not the English-like order with the subject immediately after Dann. kann ich expresses “I can.” kann is the first-person singular present form of können (“can; be able to”): ich kann, du kannst, er/sie kann. With a modal verb such as können, the other verb goes to the end in its infinitive form. Example: Ich kann heute kommen. — “I can come today.” die Aufgabe means “the task.” Aufgabe is a feminine noun, and its plural is Aufgaben. In this sentence, die Aufgabe is the definite noun phrase receiving the action, so it is in the accusative; for a feminine noun, the definite article is die in both the nominative and accusative. Example: Ich mache die Aufgabe. — “I do the task.” fertig machen means “to finish” or “to complete” something in this context. It is a separable verb: without a modal, the parts can separate in a main clause, as in Ich mache die Aufgabe fertig. — “I finish the task.” After kann, however, the infinitive phrase stays at the end: Ich kann die Aufgabe fertig machen. Here fertig contributes the idea of bringing the task to completion; in other contexts, fertig can also mean “finished” or “ready.” Together, Dann places the action next in the sequence, kann ich says that the speaker is able to do it, die Aufgabe identifies the task being acted on, and fertig machen gives the action. The complete utterance therefore means: “Then I can finish the task.”

8. Mach zuerst die Pause, dann mach die Aufgabe fertig.

   Take the break first, then finish the task.

   Mach

   take/do

   zuerst

   first

   Pause

   break

   dann

   then

   mach … fertig

   finish

   Aufgabe

   task

   More detail

   Mach is the singular informal imperative of machen (“to do” or “to make”). Here, with die Pause, it means “take/do the break” in the practical expression eine Pause machen. Example: Mach eine Pause. — “Take a break.” The imperative addresses one person informally; a polite or plural command uses a different form. zuerst means “first,” marking what should happen before the next step. It is useful for ordering actions: Zuerst lerne ich, dann spiele ich. — “First I study, then I play.” die Pause means “the break.” Pause is a feminine noun, so its definite article here is die; the article is not what expresses the command. Its plural is Pausen: Wir machen zwei Pausen. — “We take two breaks.” dann means “then,” introducing the later action in the sequence. The pair zuerst … dann … is a reusable way to organize instructions: Zuerst essen, dann arbeiten. — “First eat, then work.” mach … fertig is the separable verb construction fertig machen, meaning “to finish” something. In this sentence, mach is again the singular informal imperative of machen, while fertig appears at the end of the clause. The fixed context also shows the infinitive pattern fertig machen: Ich kann die Aufgabe fertig machen. — “I can finish the task.” In a main clause, the finite verb and the separable part can split: Ich mache die Aufgabe fertig. — “I finish the task.” die Aufgabe means “the task.” Aufgabe is a feminine noun, and its plural is Aufgaben: Die Aufgaben sind kurz. — “The tasks are short.” The definite article die agrees with the singular feminine noun here; it does not indicate how many tasks there are beyond the singular form of the noun. Together, Mach zuerst die Pause gives the first instruction, “Take the break first.” dann mach die Aufgabe fertig gives the next one, “then finish the task.” The two imperatives are linked by zuerst … dann …, so the utterance instructs one person informally to do the break before finishing the task.