Warming Up at Home | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Mir ist jetzt kalt.

   I feel cold now.

   Mir ist

   I feel / it is to me

   jetzt

   now

   kalt

   cold

   More detail

   Mir ist is a useful German pattern for describing a personal state or sensation: literally, the state is “to me.” Mir is the dative form of ich (“I”), used for the person experiencing the sensation. ist is the present-tense third-person singular form of sein (“to be”). In this impersonal sensation pattern, the verb is singular; mir is not the subject, and kalt does not make the verb agree with the speaker. Compare Ich bin müde. — “I am tired,” which uses ich as the subject, while Mir ist kalt. presents “me” as the experiencer. Example: Mir ist warm. — “I feel warm.” jetzt means “now” and places the sensation at the present time. It can be moved for emphasis without changing the basic meaning: Jetzt ist mir kalt. — “Now I feel cold.” kalt means “cold.” Here it describes the speaker’s physical sensation. As an adjective after sein, it appears in its basic form: kalt; it is not inflected for the speaker’s gender or number in this construction. Its opposite is warm: Mir ist warm. — “I feel warm.” Together, Mir ist kalt expresses the state experienced by the speaker, and jetzt specifies that the feeling is occurring now. Thus the whole utterance means “I feel cold now.”

2. Wickle dich in diese warme Decke.

   Wrap yourself in this warm blanket.

   Wickle

   wrap

   dich

   yourself

   in

   into

   diese

   this

   warme

   warm

   Decke

   blanket

   More detail

   Wickle is the singular informal imperative of wickeln, “to wrap.” The ending -e is a common form of the imperative addressed to one person: Wickle ...! means “Wrap ...!” The command is directed at the listener. dich is the accusative reflexive pronoun meaning “yourself” when the addressed person is one informal singular du. It shows that the person being wrapped is also the person carrying out the action. Compare mich “myself” for “I” and dich “yourself” for “you.” in means “in” here and introduces the place or covering into which someone is wrapped. With a change of position or movement into something, German uses in with the accusative: in die Decke means “into the blanket.” By contrast, a location without movement uses the dative, as in in der Decke (“in the blanket,” describing position). diese means “this” and refers to one feminine singular noun in this sentence. Decke is feminine, and the demonstrative has the form diese in both feminine nominative and feminine accusative singular. Its form here is therefore determined by the noun’s gender and the accusative role after movement with in. warme is the adjective warm, “warm,” describing the blanket. The adjective has the ending -e because it follows the demonstrative diese and agrees with feminine singular accusative Decke: diese warme Decke. The base form is warm; for example, eine warme Decke means “a warm blanket.” Decke is a feminine noun meaning “blanket” in this sentence. Its definite article is die: die Decke means “the blanket.” The same word can have other context-dependent meanings, but the fixed translation identifies the covering meaning here. Together, Wickle dich gives the reflexive command “wrap yourself.” in diese warme Decke specifies movement into or covering by “this warm blanket.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Wrap yourself in this warm blanket.”

3. Meine Hände sind auch kalt.

   My hands are cold too.

   Meine

   my

   Hände

   hands

   sind

   are

   auch

   too

   kalt

   cold

   More detail

   Meine means “my” here and agrees with the plural noun Hände. It is the inflected form of mein; in the nominative plural, the determiner is meine. The same form can also occur with a feminine singular noun, so the noun and verb establish the plural reading here. Hände means “hands.” It is the plural of Hand, with the vowel change a → ä: die Hand → die Hände. The plural noun is the subject of the sentence. sind is the present-tense form of sein (“to be”) for sie meaning “they,” and it agrees with plural Hände. A useful contrast is ist with a singular subject and sind with a plural subject: Die Hand ist kalt. — “The hand is cold.” auch adds “too” or “also.” In this sentence it says that the hands share the property of being cold; its exact position can vary depending on what is being emphasized. kalt means “cold.” It is a predicate adjective after sein, so it has no adjective ending here. Before a noun, the form can be marked for the noun phrase instead: kalte Hände — “cold hands.” Together, Meine Hände is the subject, sind links that subject to the description, and auch kalt adds the shared property. The whole utterance means: “My hands are cold too.”

4. Halte diese warme Tasse eine Weile.

   Hold this warm cup for a while.

   Halte

   hold

   diese

   this

   warme

   warm

   Tasse

   cup

   eine Weile

   for a while

   More detail

   Halte is the imperative form of halten (“to hold”). It addresses one person informally; the subject “you” is understood rather than written. The imperative is useful for direct requests or instructions. Compare Halt die Tasse! (“Hold the cup!”) with the polite plural/formal request Halten Sie die Tasse!. diese means “this” here and points to one specific feminine noun, Tasse. Its form agrees with that noun in the sentence. The demonstrative system includes forms such as dieser, diese, and dieses; the choice depends on the noun’s grammatical gender, number, and case, not on physical proximity alone. warme is the adjective warm (“warm”) with an inflectional ending. In diese warme Tasse, the adjective describes Tasse, and the ending reflects its position after the demonstrative in this noun phrase. The base form is warm; for comparison, wärmer means “warmer” and am wärmsten means “warmest.” Tasse is a feminine noun meaning “cup.” Its plural is Tassen. For example: Die Tasse ist warm. — “The cup is warm.” eine Weile is a time expression meaning “for a while.” It names a period of time without specifying its exact length. A reusable pattern is etwas eine Weile tun (“do something for a while”), as in Warte eine Weile. — “Wait for a while.” Together, Halte gives the direct instruction, diese warme Tasse identifies what should be held, and eine Weile specifies the duration. The complete meaning is: “Hold this warm cup for a while.”

5. Das hilft ein bisschen.

   That helps a little.

   Das

   that

   hilft

   helps

   ein bisschen

   a little

   More detail

   Das is the subject meaning “that” here. As a demonstrative pronoun, it points to something already identifiable in the situation; its form is neuter singular. German also uses das as a neuter definite article, but here it stands on its own rather than introducing a noun. Compare Das hilft. — “That helps.” hilft is the present-tense third-person singular form of helfen (“to help”). The stem vowel changes from e to i in this form: helfen → er/sie/es hilft. The subject Das supplies the third-person singular agreement. For example, Die Übung hilft. means “The exercise helps.” ein bisschen is a compact expression meaning “a little” or “to a small extent.” It qualifies the amount of help; it does not say that there is one countable object. For example, Warte ein bisschen. means “Wait a little.” Together, Das hilft ein bisschen. means “That helps a little.” The demonstrative identifies what is helping, hilft says that it has a helpful effect, and ein bisschen limits the extent of that effect.

6. Setz dich auf das Sofa und ruh dich aus.

   Sit on the sofa and rest.

   Setz

   sit down

   auf

   onto; on

   Sofa

   sofa

   ruh dich aus

   rest

   More detail

   Setz is the informal singular imperative of setzen in the reflexive pattern sich setzen, meaning “sit down.” The form is addressed to one person; setzen describes moving into a seated position, while sitzen describes already being seated. Example: Setz dich hierhin. — “Sit down here.” auf introduces the destination here: the speaker directs someone onto a surface. With this movement meaning, auf takes the accusative, so das Sofa remains das Sofa in this sentence. Sofa is a neuter noun; its plural is Sofas. Example: Sie legt das Buch auf das Sofa. — “She puts the book on the sofa.” ruh dich aus is the informal singular imperative of the separable reflexive verb sich ausruhen, “to rest.” In the imperative, the reflexive pronoun is dich, and the separable part aus moves to the end: Ruh dich aus! The verb is not simply ruhen in this construction; sich ausruhen expresses taking rest or recovering. Example: Ruh dich nach der Arbeit aus. — “Rest after work.” Together, Setz dich auf das Sofa tells one person to sit down onto the sofa, and ruh dich aus then tells the same person to rest. The whole utterance is therefore: “Sit on the sofa and rest.”

7. Der Raum fühlt sich jetzt wärmer an.

   The room feels warmer now.

   Raum

   room

   fühlt … sich … an

   feels

   jetzt

   now

   wärmer

   warmer

   More detail

   Raum means “room” here. Its base form is der Raum; the plural is die Räume (with an umlaut). In this sentence, Der Raum is the subject, and the masculine nominative article der agrees with it. fühlt sich an is the separable reflexive expression sich anfühlen, “to feel” in the sense of having a perceptible quality. The form fühlt is the present-tense third-person singular form of fühlen, while the prefix an appears at the end of the clause. sich is part of this expression, not a separate object identified by the translation. For example: Der Stoff fühlt sich weich an. — “The fabric feels soft.” jetzt means “now” and places the feeling in the present situation. It can also contrast the current state with an earlier one: Jetzt ist es ruhig. — “Now it is quiet.” wärmer is the comparative form of the adjective warm (“warm”): warm → wärmer → am wärmsten (“warm” → “warmer” → “warmest”). Here it says that the room feels warmer than before or than some understood reference point; the sentence does not state a specific comparison. The comparative adjective agrees with neither Raum nor Der; it describes the perceived temperature. Together, Der Raum identifies the subject, fühlt sich ... an expresses how it seems to the senses, wärmer describes the current temperature relative to an understood earlier or other state, and jetzt locates that assessment in the present: “The room feels warmer now.”

8. Ich schließe das Fenster. Dann bleibt es so.

   I'll close the window so it stays that way.

   Ich

   I

   schließe

   close

   das

   the

   Fenster

   window

   Dann

   then

   bleibt

   stays

   es

   it

   so

   that way

   More detail

   Ich means “I” here and is the first-person singular subject. German uses ich with the first-person singular verb form. For example, Ich lerne. means “I am learning.” schließe is the present-tense first-person singular form of schließen, “to close”: ich schließe. In this sentence, the German present tense describes the intended immediate action, so the fixed translation naturally uses “I’ll close.” The verb takes the thing being closed as its object. The forms ich schließe and du schließt show the change for different subjects. das is the definite article “the” here. It marks Fenster as a neuter singular noun in the accusative object phrase. For a neuter noun, the definite article is das in both nominative and accusative; the case is identified here by the noun’s role as what is being closed, not by a visible article change. Fenster means “window.” Its base form is Fenster; the plural is also Fenster, usually distinguished by the article or surrounding grammar: das Fenster means “the window,” while die Fenster means “the windows.” The complete object phrase is das Fenster, “the window.” Dann means “then” and places the next event after the closing action. It is an adverb and does not itself mark tense. For example, Dann gehe ich nach Hause. means “Then I go home.” bleibt is the present-tense third-person singular form of bleiben, “to stay” or “to remain.” The useful form chain is ich bleibe, du bleibst, er/sie/es bleibt. In this sentence, bleibt says that something remains in its current condition rather than changes. es means “it” here and functions as the subject of bleibt. Its specific grammatical class is a third-person singular pronoun; the fixed translation supports the English reading “it,” while the sentence does not require naming a more specific noun as its referent. In German, es can refer to a situation or state as well as to a neuter noun, depending on context. so means “that way” here. It describes the condition that remains unchanged. The phrase so bleiben is a reusable pattern meaning “to stay/remain that way.” For example, Alles bleibt so. means “Everything stays that way.” Together, Ich schließe das Fenster means “I’ll close the window.” Dann links that action to the following result or continuation: bleibt es so, “it stays that way.” The complete utterance therefore means “I’ll close the window so it stays that way.” The two German sentences use present-tense forms, with Dann organizing the sequence of actions and the resulting state.