Checking a Message Before Sending | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kannst du diese Nachricht prüfen?

   Can you check this message?

   Kannst du

   can you

   diese

   this

   Nachricht

   message

   prüfen

   check

   More detail

   Kannst du contains the conjugated modal verb können (“can, be able to”) in the second-person singular form kannst, together with du (“you”). In a German yes/no question, the conjugated verb comes first: Kannst du ...? means “Can you ...?” The other verb stays in the infinitive and appears later in the clause. For comparison, Ich kann ... means “I can ...”, while du kannst ... means “you can ...”. diese means “this” here and agrees with the noun it determines. In this sentence it is the feminine singular accusative form, because Nachricht is feminine and is the direct object of prüfen. The corresponding nominative form is diese, as in Diese Nachricht ist wichtig (“This message is important”); the form happens to be identical here, but its accusative function is shown by the object role. Nachricht means “message”. It is a feminine noun: die Nachricht in the singular and die Nachrichten in the plural. In the sentence, diese Nachricht is the thing being checked. Example: Ich lese eine Nachricht. — “I am reading a message.” prüfen is the infinitive meaning “to check” or “to examine”. It is the lexical verb selected by können; after a modal verb, German uses the infinitive, so the form remains prüfen rather than being conjugated. Example: Ich prüfe den Text. — “I am checking the text.” Together, Kannst du forms the yes/no question about ability, diese Nachricht identifies the message as the direct object, and prüfen supplies the action. The complete utterance therefore means “Can you check this message?”

2. Ich kann sie jetzt lesen.

   I can read it now.

   Ich kann

   I can

   sie

   it

   jetzt

   now

   lesen

   read

   More detail

   Ich kann combines the subject Ich (“I”) with kann, the present-tense form of können (“can; be able to”) for the first-person singular. With a lexical verb, this expresses present ability or possibility: Ich kann warten. — “I can wait.” In this sentence, kann is the finite verb, so it carries the sentence’s person and tense. sie means “it” here. The fixed translation and the context identify it as the message, which is feminine in German (die Nachricht), so the pronoun is the feminine singular accusative form. German sie can also have other functions in other contexts, including “she” or plural “they/them”; the surrounding meaning determines which one applies. jetzt means “now” and places the reading ability at the present time. It can be reused in sentences such as Ich arbeite jetzt. — “I am working now.” lesen means “to read.” Its base form is lesen; after the modal verb können, it remains an infinitive and appears at the end of this main clause. Compare Ich kann die Nachricht lesen. — “I can read the message.” The form lesen itself does not show the subject here; kann does that. Together, Ich kann gives the ability, sie gives the thing being read, jetzt adds the time, and lesen names the action. The whole utterance therefore means “I can read it now.”

3. Ist die Nachricht klar?

   Does it look clear?

   Ist

   is

   Nachricht

   message

   klar

   clear

   More detail

   Ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes first: Ist ...? means “Is ...?” Here it combines with klar to ask whether the message is clear. The subject is die Nachricht, so the singular form ist is used; sind would be used with a plural subject. Nachricht means “message” here. Its base form is singular, and the feminine article is die: die Nachricht. The plural is die Nachrichten. The article identifies the noun’s grammatical gender and number; it does not by itself add a separate meaning such as “one.” klar is an adjective meaning “clear” or “easy to understand” in this sentence. It can also be used predicatively after sein, as in Die Erklärung ist klar. — “The explanation is clear.” The adjective itself does not take an ending here because it follows sein rather than standing directly before the noun. Together, Ist die Nachricht klar? uses the pattern Ist + subject + adjective? to ask about the subject’s state or quality. Literally, it asks whether the message is clear. The fixed translation, “Does it look clear?”, expresses the same intended question in natural English; German ist ... klar does not itself add a separate visual verb.

4. Der wichtigste Punkt ist leicht zu verstehen.

   The main point is easy to understand.

   wichtigste

   most important

   Punkt

   point

   leicht

   easy

   zu verstehen

   to understand

   More detail

   wichtigste means “most important” here. It is the superlative form of wichtig: wichtig = important, wichtiger = more important, am wichtigsten = most important when used independently, and der wichtigste = the most important when describing a noun. In this sentence, the adjective describes Punkt; Der and the masculine singular nominative form give the attributive adjective the ending in wichtigste. Punkt means “point” here, as in a point or central idea. Its plural is Punkte. Together, der wichtigste Punkt means “the main point” or literally “the most important point.” leicht means “easy” in this sentence. As a predicate adjective after ist, it does not take an ending: Der Punkt ist leicht = “The point is easy.” zu verstehen is the infinitive “to understand.” The base verb is verstehen; with zu, it forms zu verstehen. German commonly uses sein + adjective + zu + infinitive to express that something is easy, difficult, or possible to do. For example: Der Text ist schwer zu verstehen. — “The text is difficult to understand.” The verb ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). It links Der wichtigste Punkt with the description leicht zu verstehen. The whole sentence is assembled as Der wichtigste Punkt (“The main point”) + ist (“is”) + leicht zu verstehen (“easy to understand”). Thus, Der wichtigste Punkt ist leicht zu verstehen. means “The main point is easy to understand.”

5. Siehst du Fehler?

   Do you see any mistakes?

   Siehst

   see

   du

   you

   Fehler

   mistakes

   More detail

   Siehst is the second-person singular present-tense form of sehen (“to see”). The stem vowel changes in this form: sehen → du siehst; the ending -st marks informal singular “you” here. Example: Du siehst den Fehler. — “You see the mistake.” du is the informal singular second-person pronoun, “you,” and it is the subject of the question. German also has ihr for informal plural “you” and Sie for formal “you,” but those are different forms with different verb agreement. Fehler means “mistakes” here. It can refer to one mistake or several because its singular and plural forms are identical: der Fehler (one mistake), die Fehler (several mistakes). In this question, the bare plural after the verb expresses the general idea of “any mistakes”; the form does not state a particular number. Example: Ich sehe einen Fehler. — “I see a mistake.” Together, Siehst du forms a yes-or-no question: the conjugated verb comes before the subject. Fehler is what is being seen. The complete utterance therefore means “Do you see any mistakes?”

6. Ich sehe gegen Ende einen kleinen Rechtschreibfehler.

   I see one small spelling mistake near the end.

   sehe

   see

   gegen Ende

   near the end

   kleinen

   small

   Rechtschreibfehler

   spelling mistake

   More detail

   sehe is the first-person singular present form of sehen (“to see”): ich sehe. The form changes with the subject, for example du siehst means “you see”; siehst is not the base form. gegen Ende is a time phrase meaning “near/toward the end.” Here gegen has a temporal meaning, not its other common meaning “against.” Ende is the noun das Ende; after gegen, it is in the accusative, but this neuter singular form looks the same as the nominative form. Example: gegen Mittag means “around noon.” kleinen means “small” here. Its base form is klein. The ending -en appears because klein modifies Rechtschreibfehler, which is masculine singular in the accusative noun phrase einen kleinen Rechtschreibfehler. Thus the ending reflects the adjective’s grammatical environment; it is not a form of the noun. Compare the basic form ein kleiner Fehler (“a small mistake”) with the object form Ich sehe einen kleinen Fehler (“I see a small mistake”). Rechtschreibfehler is a compound noun: Rechtschreibung (“spelling”) plus Fehler (“mistake/error”), written as one German noun. Its article is masculine: der Rechtschreibfehler. The plural has the same visible form: die Rechtschreibfehler. In this sentence, einen and the fixed translation identify one such spelling mistake; the indefinite article alone should not automatically be treated as a numerical count in every context. Putting the parts together, Ich sehe means “I see,” and einen kleinen Rechtschreibfehler is the object, “one small spelling mistake.” gegen Ende locates it near the end. The complete meaning is: “I see one small spelling mistake near the end.”

7. Ich werde das jetzt korrigieren.

   I will fix that now.

   Ich werde

   I will

   das

   that

   jetzt

   now

   korrigieren

   fix

   More detail

   Ich werde means “I will” here. Ich is the first-person singular subject (“I”), and werde is the first-person singular form of werden. With an infinitive later in the clause, werden forms the future: Ich werde ... korrigieren = “I will ... fix.” The infinitive stays at the end in this main clause. Example: Ich werde morgen anrufen. — “I will call tomorrow.” das is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It is the accusative object of korrigieren, so it names what will be fixed. The form das itself does not identify the referent; the fixed translation establishes the intended meaning as “that.” Do not confuse this pronoun with the definite article das before a noun; its role here is independent because it stands alone. jetzt is an adverb meaning “now.” It places the planned action at the current time. Example: Ich mache das jetzt. — “I am doing that now.” korrigieren is the infinitive “to fix” or “to correct.” In this sentence it follows werde and carries the main action, while werde marks the future. Its base form is korrigieren; the first-person present form is ich korrigiere. Example: Ich korrigiere den Fehler. — “I am correcting the mistake.” Together, Ich werde marks a future action by the speaker, das is the thing being acted on, jetzt specifies the time, and korrigieren names the action. The complete utterance is: “I will fix that now.”

8. Danach sollte sie zum Senden bereit sein.

   After that, it should be ready to send.

   Danach

   after that

   sollte sie

   it should

   zum Senden

   for sending

   bereit sein

   be ready

   More detail

   Danach means “after that” and points back to the earlier event or state. It is an adverb, so it does not change form. Example: Danach gehen wir nach Hause. — “After that, we go home.” sollte sie combines sollte with the subject sie. sollte is the third-person singular form of sollen; it can be the past form or the identical subjunctive form, but here the fixed translation supports the modal meaning “should.” In this sentence, sie is the feminine-singular nominative pronoun form. The English translation uses “it,” which is compatible with the intended referent; English “it” does not make the German pronoun a neuter form. The modal verb comes before the other verb in this clause, while the infinitive sein appears at the end. Example: Sie sollte bald kommen. — “She should come soon.” zum Senden means “for sending.” zum is the contraction of zu dem. Senden is a nominalized infinitive: the verb senden (“to send”) is used as a noun, which is why it is capitalized. In this construction, zu plus the nominalized activity expresses purpose or intended use. Example: Das Gerät ist zum Senden bereit. — “The device is ready for sending.” bereit sein means “to be ready.” bereit is an adjective, and sein is its infinitive form, used here with the modal verb. The adjective describes the subject’s state; it does not inflect in this phrase. Example: Ich bin bereit zu gehen. — “I am ready to go.” Together, Danach sets the time reference, sollte expresses the expectation or appropriateness of the state, and sie ... bereit sein says that the subject is ready. zum Senden specifies what it is ready for. The whole utterance therefore means: “After that, it should be ready to send.”