Fixing a project tool login problem | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich kann mich nicht beim Projekttool anmelden.

   I cannot log in to the project tool.

   Ich kann

   I can

   mich

   myself

   nicht

   not

   beim

   at the

   Projekttool

   project tool

   anmelden

   log in

   More detail

   Ich kann is the first-person singular form of können (“can; be able to”). With a following infinitive, it expresses ability or possibility: Ich kann warten. = “I can wait.” The subject is Ich, and kann is the finite modal verb. mich is the accusative reflexive pronoun corresponding to ich. It refers back to the subject: the speaker cannot log in themself. The basic pair is ich → mich in this role; other persons use forms such as du → dich. nicht negates the ability expressed by kann ... anmelden, so the meaning is “cannot log in,” not merely “can log in, but not in some other way.” beim is the contraction of bei dem. Here, bei takes the dative, and dem is the dative masculine/neuter definite article. The phrase beim Projekttool identifies the tool or service at which the login is attempted. Projekttool is a compound noun meaning “project tool”; German nouns are capitalized. anmelden is the infinitive meaning “to log in” in this sentence. Its useful base form is sich anmelden, a reflexive verb. In a main clause without a modal, the separable prefix normally moves to the end: Ich melde mich an. = “I log in.” After a modal such as kann, the full infinitive stays together at the end: Ich kann mich anmelden. Together, Ich kann ... nicht ... anmelden forms a modal negation: “I cannot log in.” mich marks the person logging in, and beim Projekttool specifies where the attempted login occurs. The complete utterance therefore means: “I cannot log in to the project tool.”

2. Welche Fehlermeldung siehst du?

   What error message do you see?

   Welche

   which

   Fehlermeldung

   error message

   siehst

   see

   du

   you

   More detail

   Welche is an interrogative determiner meaning “which” and agrees with the noun it accompanies. Here it is feminine singular and belongs to Fehlermeldung; because that noun is the direct object of sehen, the phrase is accusative. The feminine singular form happens to be welche in both nominative and accusative. Compare welcher Fehler? (“which error?”) and welches Problem? (“which problem?”). Fehlermeldung means “error message.” It is the feminine noun die Fehlermeldung, plural die Fehlermeldungen. The word is a compound of Fehler (“error”) and Meldung (“message” or “notification”), but its grammatical gender is feminine, as shown by die and welche. Example: Ich lese die Fehlermeldung. — “I am reading the error message.” siehst is the second-person singular present form of sehen (“to see”): du siehst. The vowel changes from e to ie in this present-tense form; this change belongs to the verb, not to the noun. Example: Du siehst den Bildschirm. — “You see the screen.” du is the informal singular pronoun for “you.” It is the subject here, while Fehlermeldung is the thing being seen. The verb form siehst shows the same singular second-person agreement. German uses Sie instead for formal “you,” with the verb form sehen: Sehen Sie die Meldung? — “Do you see the message?” Together, Welche Fehlermeldung asks the listener to identify one error message, and siehst du asks what the listener sees. In this question, the interrogative phrase comes first, followed by the finite verb and then the subject: Welche Fehlermeldung siehst du? means “What error message do you see?”

3. Da steht, dass meine Sitzung abgelaufen ist.

   It says my session has expired.

   Da steht

   It says / It is written there

   dass

   that

   Sitzung

   session

   abgelaufen

   expired

   More detail

   Da steht is a common German way to refer to information written or displayed at a relevant place: “It says” or “It is written there.” Here da means “there,” referring to the relevant displayed location in the situation; it does not itself mean “the message.” steht is the present-tense form of stehen (“to stand”), but in this expression it refers to written information rather than a person physically standing. dass introduces a subordinate clause meaning “that.” In a German dass clause, the conjugated verb normally moves to the end. A reusable pattern is Es steht, dass ... or Da steht, dass .... meine means “my” here and agrees with the noun it modifies. Sitzung is a feminine noun: die Sitzung, “the session.” In this sentence, meine Sitzung is the subject of the subordinate clause, so it is nominative feminine singular and uses meine. The possessive determiner changes according to the noun’s grammatical features; for example, nominative masculine singular is mein in mein Browser (“my browser”). abgelaufen means “expired” here. It is the past participle of ablaufen, which can mean “to expire” or “to run out” for a session, deadline, or validity period. The useful forms are ablaufen (base form), läuft ab (third-person singular present, with a separable prefix), and ist abgelaufen (perfect construction). Example: Die Frist ist abgelaufen. — “The deadline has expired.” ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). Together, ist abgelaufen expresses the completed expiry and its current result. Because dass places the conjugated verb at the end, the subordinate-clause order is abgelaufen ist, not ist abgelaufen. Putting the parts together, Da steht, dass introduces information shown at the relevant location, and meine Sitzung abgelaufen ist states what that information reports. The whole utterance means: “It says my session has expired.”

4. Versuch, den Browser zu schließen, und öffne ihn dann wieder.

   Try closing the browser, then open it again.

   Versuch

   try

   Browser

   browser

   zu schließen

   to close

   öffne

   open

   ihn

   it (the browser)

   dann wieder

   then again

   More detail

   Versuch is the informal singular imperative of versuchen (“to try”). German uses this form when addressing one person familiarly. A reusable pattern is Versuch, ...!, meaning “Try ...!” den Browser: Browser is a masculine noun here, and den marks it as the accusative object of schließen. The phrase refers to the browser identified in the fixed translation. With a masculine noun, compare der Browser as subject and den Browser as direct object. zu schließen means “to close”. schließen is the base verb; zu plus the infinitive forms a clause dependent on Versuch: Versuch, [etwas] zu schließen = “Try to close [something].” Example: Versuch, die Tür zu schließen. — “Try to close the door.” öffne is the informal singular imperative of öffnen, “to open”. The subject “you” is understood in this imperative, so German does not need a separate subject pronoun here. Example: Öffne das Fenster. — “Open the window.” ihn is the masculine accusative form of the personal pronoun meaning “him” or, as here, “it”. It refers back to the masculine noun Browser; the pronoun replaces the repeated object den Browser. The masculine forms contrast as er (subject) and ihn (accusative object). dann wieder combines dann (“then”) with wieder (“again”), giving the sequence “then again”. Together with öffne ihn, it tells the listener to open the browser again after trying to close it. The utterance has two coordinated imperatives: Versuch, den Browser zu schließen means “Try closing the browser,” and öffne ihn dann wieder means “then open it again.” und connects these actions in order. The complete meaning is: “Try closing the browser, then open it again.”

5. Wenn es immer noch nicht funktioniert, soll ich den Support kontaktieren?

   If it still fails, should I contact support?

   Wenn

   if

   immer noch

   still

   funktioniert

   works

   soll ich

   should I …?

   Support

   support

   kontaktieren

   contact

   More detail

   Wenn introduces a condition: “if …”. In a German subordinate clause introduced by wenn, the finite verb normally comes at the end. A reusable pattern is Wenn [condition], …. immer noch means “still” and marks a situation that continues. It is different from simply immer (“always”): immer noch funktionieren means that something continues to work, or—as in this sentence with negation—continues not to work. funktioniert comes from funktionieren (“to work; function”). It is the present-tense third-person singular form, used here with impersonal es: es funktioniert means “it works” or “it is functioning”. With nicht, es funktioniert nicht means “it does not work” or “it fails”. The form funktioniert itself carries the verb inflection; es is the subject form used in this construction. soll ich uses the modal verb sollen with the first-person singular subject ich. In a yes/no question, the finite modal verb comes first: Soll ich …? means “Should I …?” or “Am I supposed to …?” The following verb stays in the infinitive. Compare Soll ich warten? — “Should I wait?” Support is a noun meaning “support”, often customer or technical support. In this sentence it is den Support, because it is the direct object of kontaktieren; the masculine noun takes the accusative article den here. The article is not expressing a numeric count. kontaktieren means “to contact”. It is an infinitive after the modal verb soll: Soll ich den Support kontaktieren? The infinitive remains unchanged, while soll carries the person and tense. For example, Ich soll den Support kontaktieren. means “I am supposed to contact support.” Together, Wenn es immer noch nicht funktioniert means “If it still does not work”, and soll ich den Support kontaktieren? asks whether contacting support is the appropriate action. The complete utterance therefore means: “If it still fails, should I contact support?”

6. Schick ihnen die Fehlermeldung und was du ausprobiert hast.

   Send them the error message and what you tried.

   Schick

   send

   ihnen

   to them

   Fehlermeldung

   error message

   was du ausprobiert hast

   what you tried

   More detail

   Schick is the informal singular imperative of schicken (“to send”). It tells one person to do something now; the subject du is understood rather than stated. Compare Schickt for an informal plural addressee and Schicken Sie for a formal singular or plural addressee. Example: Schick mir die Datei. — “Send me the file.” ihnen is the dative form meaning “to them” here. It names the recipient of the sending, while Fehlermeldung is the thing being sent. The form ihnen is lowercase in this use and refers to a plural recipient; it is distinct from capitalized Ihnen, the formal “to you.” Fehlermeldung is a feminine noun meaning “error message.” It is a compound of Fehler (“error”) and Meldung (“message” or “report”), but its grammatical gender is that of the final element: die Meldung, therefore die Fehlermeldung. Example: Ich schicke die Fehlermeldung. — “I am sending the error message.” was du ausprobiert hast means “what you tried.” Here was introduces the content being sent: the things the listener tried. du is the informal singular “you.” The verb is ausprobieren (“to try out”); its past participle is ausprobiert. In this subordinate clause, the finite auxiliary hast appears at the end, while the participle comes before it: du hast ... ausprobiert in a main clause, but was du ausprobiert hast in this embedded clause. The perfect form presents the attempts as completed or relevant by now. Together, Schick ihnen gives the instruction “Send to them,” and die Fehlermeldung is the direct object. The coordinated second object, was du ausprobiert hast, adds the information about what was tried. The whole utterance therefore means: “Send them the error message and what you tried.”

7. Ich starte zuerst den Browser neu.

   I will restart the browser first.

   Ich

   I

   starte

   start

   zuerst

   first

   Browser

   browser

   neu

   anew

   More detail

   Ich is the first-person singular subject: the speaker is the person carrying out the action. The form is nominative; compare du for “you” and er/sie for “he/she” when the subject changes. starte comes from starten (“to start”). It is the present-tense first-person singular form: ich starte. German present tense can describe a planned or imminent action, so here it is naturally translated as “I will restart,” especially in this sequence of instructions. The verb itself does not mark future time in this form. zuerst means “first” in the sense of doing something before the other relevant actions. It is an adverb and does not change form. Example: Ich lese zuerst die Nachricht. — “I read the message first.” Browser is the noun “browser.” In this sentence it is the direct object, so the masculine singular article appears as den: der Browser (nominative) but den Browser (accusative). The noun itself keeps the same form here. neu means “anew” or “again from the beginning.” With starten, the combination neu starten means “to restart,” rather than merely “to start” something for the first time. Example: Wir starten das Programm neu. — “We restart the program.” Here neu is an adverb modifying the action, not an adjective describing the browser. Together, Ich starte identifies the speaker as the actor and uses the German present tense for the planned action; zuerst places that action first; and den Browser neu starten means “restart the browser.” The complete meaning is: “I will restart the browser first.”

8. Sag mir, wenn du noch Hilfe brauchst.

   Tell me if you still need help.

   Sag mir

   tell me

   wenn

   if

   du

   you

   noch

   still

   Hilfe

   help

   brauchst

   need

   More detail

   Sag mir uses the imperative Sag of sagen (“to say/tell”) with the dative pronoun mir (“to me”). For the informal singular command, sagen becomes Sag!; the subject du is normally left out in this imperative. The pattern Sag mir, ... is reusable for “Tell me ...”. Example: Sag mir die Wahrheit. — “Tell me the truth.” wenn introduces the condition “if”. In the clause beginning with wenn, German places the finite verb at the end. The same word can also mean “when” for a repeated or future situation, but here the fixed translation establishes the conditional meaning “if”. du is the informal singular subject pronoun “you”. It is the form used when addressing one person informally; its corresponding verb form is third-person-shaped only in some contexts, so the verb ending must be learned with the verb. noch means “still” here: the need for help continues at the relevant time. Its position before Hilfe does not make it part of the noun; it is a separate adverb. Example: Brauchst du noch Zeit? — “Do you still need time?” Hilfe is the noun “help”. It is feminine in German (die Hilfe), and its form remains Hilfe here because it is the object of brauchst without a visible article. Example: Ich brauche Hilfe. — “I need help.” brauchst is the second-person singular present form of brauchen, “to need”: du brauchst. The present tense can describe a current need, as it does here. Do not confuse it with brauchte, the simple past form “needed”. Together, Sag mir gives the request “Tell me”, and wenn du noch Hilfe brauchst gives the condition “if you still need help”. Because wenn starts a subordinate clause, brauchst comes at its end. The complete utterance means: “Tell me if you still need help.”