Deciding what to do next | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Was sollen wir jetzt machen?

   What should we do now?

   Was

   what

   sollen wir

   should we

   jetzt

   now

   machen

   do

   More detail

   Was asks for an unspecified thing or action: “what?” It is the question word used when the answer is expected to identify what is to be done. Compare wer (“who?”), which asks about a person. Example: Was liest du? — “What are you reading?” sollen wir combines the modal verb sollen with wir (“we”). In this sentence, sollen expresses what the group is advised or expected to do, so the intended meaning is “should we.” The finite form is sollen, used with first-person plural wir; the infinitive is also sollen. Example: Sollen wir warten? — “Should we wait?” jetzt means “now” and places the proposed action at the present time. It can also appear in statements, as in Wir beginnen jetzt. — “We are starting now.” machen means “do” or “make”; here it means “do.” Its base form is the infinitive machen. Because sollen is the finite modal verb, machen remains in the infinitive and appears at the end of this question. Example: Was sollen sie machen? — “What should they do?” Together, Was asks which action is meant, sollen wir asks about the action the group ought to choose, jetzt specifies the present time, and machen names the action. The whole utterance therefore means: “What should we do now?” The pattern is Was + modal verb + subject + time expression + infinitive?.

2. Fangen wir mit der kurzen Liste an.

   Let's start with the short list.

   Fangen … an

   start/begin

   kurzen

   short

   Liste

   list

   More detail

   Fangen ... an is the split form of anfangen, “to start” or “to begin.” Here, fangen is the present-tense form used with wir, and the separable prefix an appears at the end: Wir fangen an = “We start.” In the verb-first pattern Fangen wir ... an!, wir makes the suggestion inclusive: “Let’s start ...”. Example: Fangen wir an! — “Let’s start!” kurzen is an inflected form of the adjective kurz, “short.” It describes Liste. The ending -en is used here because the adjective follows the feminine definite article der in the dative phrase mit der kurzen Liste. The adjective’s base form is kurz; kurzen is the form required in this noun phrase. Example: mit dem kurzen Text — “with the short text.” The adjective still means “short,” while its ending reflects the form of the surrounding noun phrase. Liste means “list.” It is a feminine noun and is capitalized in German. After mit, this noun phrase is in the dative: mit der Liste = “with the list.” The chunk mit der kurzen Liste means “with the short list.” mit introduces the starting point, and der kurzen Liste is the dative noun phrase that follows it. Combining that chunk with Fangen wir ... an gives the whole meaning: “Let’s start with the short list.”

3. Sollen wir sie fertig machen, bevor wir die Datei ansehen?

   Should we finish it before reviewing the file?

   Sollen wir

   Should we…?

   sie

   it

   fertig machen

   finish

   bevor

   before

   Datei

   file

   ansehen

   review; look at

   More detail

   Sollen wir contains the first-person plural form of sollen, used here to make a suggestion or ask about a shared action: “Should we…?” The subject is wir (“we”), so sollen is the form used with first-person plural. Compare Soll ich …? (“Should I …?”) for a suggestion involving only the speaker. sie means “it” here and is the accusative object of fertig machen. The fixed translation supports a singular intended object; in German, this form is used for a feminine singular referent in the accusative. The utterance does not name the specific noun that sie refers to, so its grammatical form and its exact referent should be kept separate. fertig machen means “to finish” in this context. It is a separable verb phrase: in a main clause, Wir machen die Aufgabe fertig. means “We finish the task.” After the modal sollen, the verb phrase appears at the end of the main clause as fertig machen. bevor introduces a time clause meaning “before.” In a German subordinate clause, the finite verb normally goes to the end. A reusable pattern is bevor + subject + … + finite verb, as in Bevor wir gehen, … (“Before we leave, …”). Datei is the feminine noun “file.” Here it forms the noun phrase die Datei, with the feminine singular article die. Datei itself is the noun; its plural is Dateien. ansehen means “to look at” or, here, “to review.” It is separable. In bevor wir die Datei ansehen, ansehen is the present-tense form used with wir; it is identical in spelling to the infinitive. In a main clause, the corresponding pattern is Wir sehen die Datei an. (“We look at/review the file.”) Together, Sollen wir sie fertig machen asks whether the speaker and listener should finish the understood object. bevor wir die Datei ansehen places that finishing action before the reviewing of the file. The whole utterance therefore means: “Should we finish it before reviewing the file?”

4. Wir schaffen die Liste schnell, wenn wir die Arbeit teilen.

   We can get through it quickly if we split the work.

   Wir

   we

   schaffen

   manage; get through

   Liste

   list

   schnell

   quickly

   wenn wir

   if we

   Arbeit

   work

   teilen

   split; share

   More detail

   Wir means “we” here: it is the nominative subject, referring to the speaker together with at least one other person. German subject pronouns include ich “I,” du “you” (singular), and wir “we.” Example: Wir arbeiten zusammen. — “We work together.” schaffen means “manage” or “get through” in this sentence. Its infinitive is also schaffen; with wir in the present tense, the finite form is schaffen. Here it takes die Liste as its object: the group manages to complete or get through the list. This is distinct from the sense “create,” which can also be expressed by schaffen in other contexts. die Liste means “the list.” Liste is a feminine noun, and its plural is Listen (“lists”). The feminine singular definite article is die; the article is not what makes the noun plural here, since die also marks feminine singular in the nominative and accusative. schnell means “quickly” here and describes how the group gets through the list. The same form can be an adjective meaning “quick” before a noun, as in ein schneller Zug — “a fast train.” In this sentence it functions adverbially, so it does not receive an adjective ending. wenn wir introduces the condition “if we …”. wenn starts a subordinate clause, and German normally places that clause’s finite verb at the end. wir is again the subject, but the pronoun itself does not identify exactly which people are included beyond the supported “we.” Example: Wenn wir teilen, geht es schneller. — “If we divide things, it goes faster.” die Arbeit means “the work.” Arbeit is a feminine noun; its plural is Arbeiten, used when referring to separate pieces or kinds of work. In this sentence, die marks the accusative object of teilen, the work being divided. teilen means “divide” or “share.” In wir ... teilen, it is the present-tense finite form for wir, and it has the same written form as the infinitive teilen. Here the intended action is dividing the work among the people involved, rather than merely sharing an object. Together, Wir schaffen die Liste schnell says “We get through the list quickly.” The conditional clause wenn wir die Arbeit teilen adds the condition “if we divide the work.” Thus the complete meaning is: “We can get through it quickly if we split the work.” The word order in the conditional clause places teilen at its end, as is typical for a German subordinate clause.

5. Dann übernehme ich den ersten Teil.

   Then I'll take the first part.

   Dann

   then

   übernehme

   take on; handle

   ich

   I

   ersten

   first

   Teil

   part

   More detail

   Dann means “then” here: it places the action after the previously mentioned situation. It can also introduce a consequence or next step. Example: Dann beginnen wir. — “Then we’ll begin.” übernehme is the first-person singular present form of übernehmen (“to take over,” “to handle,” or “to take responsibility for”). Here it means that the speaker will handle the first part. German present tense can refer to a planned near-future action when the time is clear from context. Example: Ich übernehme die Aufgabe. — “I’ll handle the task.” ich means “I” and identifies the speaker as the person taking responsibility for the action. Its related object form is mich, as in Er sieht mich. — “He sees me.” ersten is the form of the ordinal adjective erste (“first”) used before the masculine accusative noun Teil with the definite article den. The relevant pattern is den ersten ...: Ich nehme den ersten Zug. — “I’ll take the first train.” Teil means “part” or “section.” Its base noun is der Teil; in this sentence it is the direct object, so the masculine accusative form of the article is den: den Teil. Example: Dieser Teil ist kurz. — “This part is short.” Together, den ersten Teil means “the first part.” The verb phrase ich übernehme den ersten Teil means “I’ll handle the first part,” and Dann connects that decision to the preceding plan: Dann übernehme ich den ersten Teil. — “Then I’ll take the first part.”

6. Ich übernehme den Rest.

   I'll handle the rest.

   Ich

   I

   übernehme

   take care of; handle

   Rest

   rest; remainder

   More detail

   Ich means “I” and identifies the speaker as the subject. German personal pronouns change with grammatical case; ich is the nominative form used for the subject. Example: Ich komme. — “I’m coming.” übernehme comes from the verb übernehmen, “to take over” or “to handle.” In this sentence, it is the first-person singular present form: ich übernehme. The prefix über- is not separated in this verb. The meaning here is responsibility for dealing with something, not physical taking. Example: Ich übernehme die Aufgabe. — “I’ll handle the task.” den Rest means “the rest” or “the remainder.” The noun is der Rest; here it appears as den Rest because it is the masculine accusative object of übernehme. The article and noun show this case: der Rest (nominative), den Rest (accusative). Example: Sie erledigt den Rest. — “She takes care of the rest.” Together, Ich übernehme den Rest. has the pattern subject + verb + object: “I’ll handle the rest.” German present tense can express a planned or imminent action when the situation makes that meaning clear. Here, übernehme presents the speaker’s commitment to handle the remaining part.

7. Danach können wir alles prüfen, was unklar ist.

   After that, we can review anything unclear.

   Danach

   after that

   können wir

   we can

   alles

   everything

   prüfen

   check; review

   unklar

   unclear

   More detail

   Danach is a temporal adverb meaning “after that” or “afterwards.” It points back to an earlier event or step; here it introduces the review step that follows it. können wir means “we can.” können is the modal verb können (“can; be able to”), and wir is the first-person plural subject (“we”). With a modal verb, German normally places the other verb in the infinitive at the end of the clause: Wir können das prüfen. — “We can check that.” alles means “everything” or, in this context, “anything [relevant].” It is the object of prüfen; its form is the same for nominative and accusative because it is a neuter pronoun. The following clause specifies which part of everything is meant: was unklar ist — “that is unclear.” prüfen is the infinitive of the regular verb prüfen, “to check” or “to review.” Useful forms include ich prüfe (“I check”), ich prüfte (“I checked”), and geprüft (“checked”). The infinitive appears at the end because können is the finite modal verb: Wir können alles prüfen. — “We can review everything.” unklar is an adjective meaning “unclear” or “not clear.” Here it is used predicatively after ist, so it has no adjective ending: was unklar ist literally describes what is unclear. Its useful opposite is klar (“clear”): Die Anweisung ist klar. — “The instruction is clear.” Together, Danach sets the time, können wir expresses the possibility or ability to act, alles prüfen gives the review action and its object, and was unklar ist limits that object to whatever is unclear. The whole utterance means: “After that, we can review anything that is unclear.”

8. Ich öffne die Datei, wenn die Liste fertig ist.

   I'll open the file when the list is done.

   öffne

   open

   Datei

   file

   wenn

   when

   Liste

   list

   fertig

   finished; done

   More detail

   öffne is the form of öffnen (“to open”) used with ich in the present tense: ich öffne. In this sentence it states the planned action “I’ll open,” while German present tense can refer to a future action when the time condition makes the timing clear. Example: Ich öffne das Fenster. — “I open / I’ll open the window.” Datei means “file,” especially a computer file in this context. The noun is feminine, so the phrase uses die Datei. Its plural is die Dateien: zwei Dateien — “two files.” The article and noun together form the object of öffne. wenn introduces the time condition “when.” It starts a subordinate clause, and in this clause the finite verb goes to the end. A useful pattern is wenn ... , ... or ... , wenn ...: Ich komme, wenn du Zeit hast. — “I’ll come when you have time.” Liste means “list.” It is feminine, as shown by die Liste; its plural is Listen: die Listen — “the lists.” Here it is the subject of the subordinate clause, not the object of öffne. fertig means “finished” or “done.” It is an adjective used after the linking verb sein: Die Liste ist fertig. — “The list is done.” In this predicative position, fertig has no ending. The form ist is the third-person singular present form of sein, agreeing with the singular noun die Liste. The main clause is Ich öffne die Datei: Ich is the actor, öffne is the action, and die Datei is what is opened. The comma introduces the time clause wenn die Liste fertig ist. Because wenn makes that clause subordinate, ist appears at its end. Together, the sentence means “I’ll open the file when the list is done.”