Getting Ready for Cold Weather | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Draußen fühlt es sich kalt an.

   It feels cold outside.

   Draußen

   outside

   fühlt es sich … an

   feels

   kalt

   cold

   More detail

   Draußen means “outside” and is an adverb of place. It can set the location at the beginning: Draußen ist es warm. — “It is warm outside.” fühlt es sich … an comes from the separable verb sich anfühlen, “to feel.” In this sentence, fühlt is the present-tense third-person singular form, and the prefix an appears at the end of the main clause. The reflexive pronoun belongs to the verb construction and changes with the subject: Die Jacke fühlt sich weich an. — “The jacket feels soft.” kalt is an adjective meaning “cold.” Here it describes the sensation, rather than directly asserting a property of a named object. It has no ending because it is used predicatively after sich anfühlen; predicative adjectives in this pattern do not agree with a noun through an adjective ending. Das Wasser fühlt sich kalt an. — “The water feels cold.” Together, Draußen gives the location, fühlt es sich … an expresses the sensation, and kalt names that sensation. The whole utterance means: “It feels cold outside.”

2. Trag deinen Schal.

   Wear your scarf.

   Trag

   wear

   deinen

   your

   Schal

   scarf

   More detail

   Trag is the informal singular imperative of tragen, “to wear/carry.” The form addresses one person directly: du trägst is the present-tense form, while the command is Trag! (a fuller variant is Trage!). Here it means “wear,” because the object is clothing. Example: Trag eine Jacke. — “Wear a jacket.” deinen means “your” here. It is the possessive form agreeing with the thing owned, not with the person who owns it. Because Schal is masculine singular and is the direct object of the command, the masculine singular accusative form is deinen; compare nominative dein Schal (“your scarf”) with accusative deinen Schal. Schal is the masculine noun “scarf.” Its plural is Schals: zwei Schals — “two scarves.” The noun is the item being worn. Together, Trag + deinen Schal forms a direct command to one person: “Wear your scarf.” The possessive phrase is the direct object of tragen, and the imperative supplies the instruction.

3. Brauche ich auch Handschuhe?

   Do I need gloves too?

   Brauche

   need

   ich

   I

   auch

   too; as well

   Handschuhe

   gloves

   More detail

   Brauche is the present-tense first-person singular form of brauchen, “to need.” In a statement, the same form appears as ich brauche (“I need”); German does not add a separate ending here to mark a question. Example: Ich brauche Wasser. — “I need water.” ich means “I” and identifies the speaker as the person who needs something. In this question, it is placed after the verb because German commonly puts the conjugated verb first in a yes/no question: Brauche ich ...? (“Do I need ...?”). Compare the statement order Ich brauche ... with the question order Brauche ich ...?. auch means “too” or “as well.” Here it adds gloves to the things under consideration; it does not itself express the need. Its position between ich and Handschuhe is natural in this question. Example: Brauche ich auch Wasser? — “Do I need water too?” Handschuhe means “gloves.” It is the plural form of der Handschuh (“glove”); the plural form is appropriate because the utterance refers to gloves in the plural. Example: Die Handschuhe sind warm. — “The gloves are warm.” Together, Brauche ich forms a first-person yes/no question, auch adds the meaning “too,” and Handschuhe names what is needed. The whole utterance therefore means: “Do I need gloves too?”

4. Sie halten deine Hände warm.

   They'll keep your hands warm.

   Sie

   they

   halten

   keep

   deine

   your

   Hände

   hands

   warm

   warm

   More detail

   Sie means “they” here, as fixed by the translation. At the beginning of a sentence, German capitalizes sie as Sie, so capitalization alone does not establish the meaning; here the intended meaning is the plural third-person subject “they.” halten is the present-tense form of halten with sie meaning “they keep.” The same form also occurs with formal Sie (“you”), so the subject and context determine the reading. Example: Sie halten die Tür offen. — “They keep the door open.” deine is the informal possessive determiner “your,” used when addressing one person. Its ending agrees with the possessed noun’s grammatical gender, number, and case, not with the possessor. With plural Hände, the form is deine; the same form also occurs with a feminine singular noun, as in deine Hand (“your hand”). Hände means “hands.” Its base singular form is Hand; the plural is Hände, with an umlaut and the ending -e. Here Hände is the object of halten. The plural form is identical in the relevant nominative and accusative forms. Example: Ich wasche meine Hände. — “I wash my hands.” warm is the adjective “warm.” After halten, it describes the condition in which the hands are kept, so it has no adjective ending: etwas warm halten means “to keep something warm.” Example: Wir halten das Essen warm. — “We keep the food warm.” Together, Sie halten gives the subject and verb, deine Hände gives the object “your hands,” and warm states the resulting condition. German uses the present tense here; with the fixed translation and context, the utterance means “They’ll keep your hands warm.”

5. Wo sind meine Handschuhe?

   Where are my gloves?

   Wo

   where

   sind

   are

   meine

   my

   Handschuhe

   gloves

   More detail

   Wo asks about a place or position: “where.” It is useful for locating people or things. Example: Wo ist der Mantel? — “Where is the coat?” With a plural subject, the verb is plural: Wo sind die Schuhe? — “Where are the shoes?” sein is the verb “to be”; sind is its present-tense form for sie (“they”), Sie (“you” formal), and plural subjects. Here, Handschuhe is plural, so German uses sind, not singular ist. Example: Die Schlüssel sind hier. — “The keys are here.” meine means “my” here and agrees with the plural noun Handschuhe. The possessive form changes with the grammatical features of the noun phrase: compare mein Mantel (“my coat,” masculine singular) and meine Handschuhe (“my gloves,” plural). The form meine does not itself indicate how many gloves there are; the plural form of Handschuhe does. Handschuhe is the plural of Handschuh, meaning “glove.” German compound nouns are written as one word: Hand (“hand”) + Schuh (“shoe”) forms Handschuh, but Handschuh is the established noun for “glove,” not a phrase to translate word by word. Example: Meine Handschuhe sind warm. — “My gloves are warm.” Together, Wo asks for a location, sind agrees with the plural subject, and meine Handschuhe identifies the thing being located. The complete utterance means: “Where are my gloves?”

6. Sie liegen neben deinem Mantel.

   They're next to your coat.

   Sie

   they

   liegen

   lie; are located

   neben

   next to

   deinem

   your

   Mantel

   coat

   More detail

   Sie means “they” here: it is the subject pronoun for a plural group, referring in context to the gloves. The capital S is required because it begins the sentence; German Sie can also mean formal “you,” but that is not the reading in this utterance. liegen is the present-tense plural form of liegen (“to lie” or “be located”). With objects, it commonly describes their position: Die Bücher liegen auf dem Tisch. — “The books are on the table.” The plural subject Sie matches liegen; the singular form is liegt. neben means “next to” and expresses a position beside something. In this location use, it takes the dative case: neben dem Fenster — “next to the window.” deinem means “your” here and agrees with the noun it determines, not with the plural subject. It is the dative masculine singular form of the possessive determiner dein, because Mantel is masculine and follows dative neben. Compare dein Mantel (“your coat,” nominative) with neben deinem Mantel (“next to your coat,” dative). Mantel means “coat.” It is a masculine noun: der Mantel. German nouns are capitalized. Its plural is Mäntel (“coats”), but the form here is singular because the sentence refers to one coat. Together, Sie liegen says “they are located,” neben deinem Mantel specifies the position “next to your coat.” The complete utterance therefore means “They’re next to your coat.”

7. Ich ziehe sie an, bevor ich rausgehe.

   I'll put them on before I go.

   ziehe … an

   put ... on

   sie

   them

   bevor

   before

   rausgehe

   go out

   More detail

   ziehe … an: These two separated parts belong to the verb anziehen, “to put on” clothing. ziehe is the first-person singular present form of ziehen used with the separable prefix an; in a main clause, the prefix moves to the end: Ich ziehe die Jacke an. — “I put on the jacket.” Here, sie is placed between the verb parts. sie: Here this is the plural object pronoun “them,” referring to the items being put on. It is the object of anziehen, not the subject. The same form can have other functions in German, but the fixed translation establishes the plural-object reading here. bevor: This conjunction means “before” and introduces a subordinate clause. It places the action in that clause earlier than the action in the main clause. A subordinate clause introduced by bevor normally has its finite verb at the end: Bevor ich esse, wasche ich meine Hände. — “Before I eat, I wash my hands.” rausgehe: This is the first-person singular present form of rausgehen, “to go out.” raus is the colloquial form of heraus; in this verb it functions as a separable prefix. In the bevor subordinate clause, the finite verb stays together at the end: bevor ich rausgehe. In a main clause, the prefix separates: Ich gehe raus. — “I’m going out.” Together, Ich ziehe sie an means “I’ll put them on” in this context. bevor ich rausgehe means “before I go out.” German uses the present forms ziehe and rausgehe here; the future meaning is understood from the intended sequence, just as the fixed translation expresses it. The complete utterance is therefore: “I’ll put them on before I go.”

8. Dann bist du bereit für die Kälte.

   Then you'll be ready for the cold.

   Dann

   then

   bist du

   you are

   bereit

   ready

   für

   for

   Kälte

   cold

   More detail

   Dann means “then” here, linking this statement to a time or condition already understood from context. It can also appear at the start of other main clauses: Dann gehe ich. — “Then I’ll go.” bist du contains the verb sein (“to be”) in the present tense: du bist = “you are.” bist is the second-person singular form, used with du; it is not the base form. German main clauses normally place the finite verb in the second position, so putting Dann first gives Dann bist du ..., while Du bist ... is also possible. The subject remains du (“you”). bereit means “ready” and is an adjective. The useful pattern is bereit sein (“to be ready”). With an intended purpose or object, German commonly uses bereit für + an accusative noun: Sie ist bereit für den Test. — “She is ready for the test.” für means “for” in this sense and requires the accusative case. With a feminine noun, the definite article has the same form in the nominative and accusative (die), so the case is not visible in die Kälte. Kälte is the feminine noun meaning “cold,” referring to cold as a condition rather than to a cold object. Its definite form here is die Kälte. The noun is capitalized because German capitalizes nouns. Together, Dann bist du bereit für die Kälte. means “Then you’ll be ready for the cold.” German uses the present form bist here; the future meaning is supplied by the context and the English translation, rather than by a separate future marker. The reusable structure is Dann bist du bereit für ... — “Then you’ll be ready for ...”.