Checking the Apartment Before Leaving | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Bevor wir gehen, sollten wir die Wohnung überprüfen.

   Before we leave, we should check the apartment.

   Bevor

   before

   gehen

   leave

   sollten wir

   we should

   Wohnung

   apartment

   überprüfen

   check

   More detail

   Bevor introduces a time clause meaning “before.” It connects one event with another event that has not happened yet in the sentence. A reusable pattern is Bevor + subject + ... + finite verb: Bevor wir anfangen, lesen wir die Anleitung. — “Before we start, we read the instructions.” gehen is the infinitive of gehen, “to go” or, in this sentence, “to leave.” With wir, the present-tense form is wir gehen: Wir gehen jetzt. — “We are leaving now.” In the subordinate clause beginning with Bevor, this finite verb appears at the end: Bevor wir gehen. sollten wir combines the subject pronoun wir, “we,” with sollten, the form of sollen used here to express “should.” It presents the checking as a recommendation or sensible course of action, not as a statement that it is compulsory. The useful contrast is wir sollen — “we are supposed to / we must” in a given context — versus wir sollten — “we should.” In the main clause, the finite verb comes before the subject: sollten wir .... Wohnung is the noun “apartment” or “flat.” Its base singular form is die Wohnung; the plural is die Wohnungen. In the sentence, die Wohnung is the object being checked, so the noun phrase has accusative function. The feminine gender is shown by the definite article: die Wohnung; the noun itself is not changed here. überprüfen is the infinitive “to check” or “to inspect.” Its base form is already the form shown. With wir, a present-tense main verb is wir überprüfen: Wir überprüfen den Plan. — “We check the plan.” Here it follows sollten, so it remains an infinitive and expresses the action recommended by sollten. Together, Bevor wir gehen means “Before we leave,” and sollten wir die Wohnung überprüfen means “we should check the apartment.” The complete structure is a temporal subordinate clause followed by the main clause: Bevor [subordinate clause], [finite modal verb] [subject] [object] [infinitive]. Thus the utterance means: “Before we leave, we should check the apartment.”

2. Ich habe den Herd schon ausgeschaltet.

   I already turned off the stove.

   Ich habe

   I have

   Herd

   stove

   schon

   already

   ausgeschaltet

   turned off

   More detail

   Ich habe means “I have” here and forms the first part of the German perfect tense. With a first-person singular subject, the auxiliary is habe; other persons use forms such as hat or haben. In this sentence, habe combines with ausgeschaltet to describe a completed action. Herd means “stove.” Its useful base form is the noun der Herd; in den Herd, the masculine definite article den marks the object receiving the action. A reusable pattern is etwas ausschalten: “to turn something off.” schon means “already.” It places the completed action before the relevant reference point. For example, Ich habe schon gegessen. means “I have already eaten.” ausgeschaltet is the past participle of ausschalten, “to turn off” or “to switch off.” The verb is separable in some finite forms: Ich schalte den Herd aus. means “I turn the stove off.” In the perfect tense, its participle is used with haben: Ich habe den Herd ausgeschaltet. Together, Ich habe + den Herd + schon + ausgeschaltet means “I already turned off the stove.” The speaker presents turning off the stove as completed, and schon emphasizes that it was completed by the relevant point in the situation.

3. Sind alle Fenster geschlossen?

   Are all the windows closed?

   Sind

   are

   alle

   all

   Fenster

   windows

   geschlossen

   closed

   More detail

   Sind is the present-tense form of sein (“to be”) for sie meaning “they” and for the formal “you” in the relevant forms; here it agrees with the plural subject alle Fenster. In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes first: Sind ...? Compare the reusable statement Alle Fenster sind geschlossen. — “All the windows are closed.” alle means “all” and is the plural form used with Fenster here. It expresses the complete set, not just some members. Compare alle Fenster — “all the windows” — with ein Fenster — “one/a window.” Fenster means “window” here. Its singular and plural forms are identical: das Fenster — “the window”; die Fenster — “the windows.” The plural meaning is clear here from alle and the plural verb sind. geschlossen means “closed.” It is the past participle of schließen (“to close”), and with sein it describes a resulting state: Das Fenster ist geschlossen. — “The window is closed.” The opposite is offen (“open”). Together, Sind + alle Fenster + geschlossen forms a yes/no question: “Are all the windows closed?” The finite form Sind is placed first because this is a yes/no question, while alle Fenster is the plural subject and geschlossen describes its state.

4. Das Schlafzimmerfenster ist noch offen.

   The bedroom window is still open.

   Schlafzimmerfenster

   bedroom window

   noch offen

   still open

   More detail

   Schlafzimmerfenster means “bedroom window.” It is a compound noun: Schlafzimmer (“bedroom”) + Fenster (“window”). The final part, Fenster, determines the compound’s grammatical gender, so this noun is neuter: das Schlafzimmerfenster in the singular and die Schlafzimmerfenster in the plural. A useful related contrast is das Fenster (“the window”) versus die Tür (“the door”); these are different nouns with different grammatical genders. noch offen describes the window’s current state. offen is the adjective “open”; its basic form is also offen, and after the verb sein it appears here without an ending: Das Fenster ist offen (“The window is open”). noch means “still” here, showing that the state continues at the relevant time. Compare Das Fenster ist offen (“The window is open”) with Das Fenster ist noch offen (“The window is still open”). The whole utterance is assembled as Das Schlafzimmerfenster (“the bedroom window”) + ist (“is”) + noch offen (“still open”). Das is the neuter singular definite article required by Schlafzimmerfenster; ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). Thus the sentence means: “The bedroom window is still open.”

5. Ich mache es zu und schließe die Balkontür ab.

   I'll close it and lock the balcony door.

   mache … zu

   close

   schließe … ab

   lock

   Balkontür

   balcony door

   More detail

   mache ... zu is the separable verb zumachen, meaning “to close” here. mache is its first-person singular present form, and the particle zu moves to the end of the clause. The separate es supplies the meaning “it.” Example: Ich mache das Fenster zu. — “I close the window.” schließe ... ab is the separable verb abschließen, used here for locking something. schließe is the first-person singular present form of abschließen, while ab is the separable particle placed at the end of the clause. The related verb schließen can mean “to close”; adding ab gives the relevant meaning “to lock.” Example: Ich schließe die Tür ab. — “I lock the door.” Balkontür is a compound noun meaning “balcony door,” formed from Balkon and Tür. It is feminine: die Balkontür. The compound’s gender follows its final element, Tür. Example: Die Balkontür ist offen. — “The balcony door is open.” Together, Ich mache es zu means “I’ll close it,” and schließe die Balkontür ab means “and lock the balcony door.” The German present forms can express this intended future action in context, giving the complete meaning: “I’ll close it and lock the balcony door.”

6. Die Lichter im Flur sind noch an.

   The hallway lights are still on.

   Lichter

   lights

   Flur

   hallway

   sind

   are

   noch an

   still on

   More detail

   Lichter is the plural of das Licht (“light”). The plural form refers to more than one light; compare singular das Licht with plural die Lichter. Here it is the subject of the sentence. Flur means “hallway” or “corridor.” In im Flur, im is the contraction of in dem, meaning “in the hallway.” The phrase identifies the location of the lights; it does not change the plural form of Lichter. sind is a form of sein (“to be”). It is the present-tense form used with a plural subject such as die Lichter: Die Lichter sind ... (“The lights are ...”). noch an means “still on.” an describes the lights' operating state here, while noch says that this state continues at the relevant time. The pattern etwas ist noch an is reusable for saying that something remains switched on. Example: Der Fernseher ist noch an. — “The television is still on.” Together, Die Lichter (“the lights”) and im Flur (“in the hallway”) identify the subject and its location. sind noch an says that these hallway lights continue to be on, giving the whole utterance: “The hallway lights are still on.”

7. Also schalte ich sie aus.

   So I'll turn them off.

   Also

   so

   schalte … aus

   turn ... off

   ich

   I

   sie

   them

   More detail

   Also means “so” here, linking this action to what was just established. In German it is also commonly used to introduce a conclusion or next step; it is not the English adjective “also.” schalte ... aus comes from the separable verb ausschalten, “to switch/turn off.” The form schalte is the first-person singular present form of ausschalten; the subject is ich. In a main clause, the finite part appears in the second position and the prefix aus moves to the end: Ich schalte das Licht aus. — “I turn the light off.” German present tense can refer to a future action when the context makes that timing clear. Thus schalte is grammatically present, while the fixed translation conveys “I’ll turn ... off.” A future form such as Ich werde sie ausschalten is also possible, but it is not the form used here. ich is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” It identifies the speaker as the person carrying out the action. sie is the accusative plural pronoun “them” here, referring to the lights supported by the fixed translation and context. Its plural form is the same in nominative and accusative; the case is shown by its role as the object of ausschalten. Together, Also schalte ich sie aus. has the pattern Also + finite verb + subject + object + separable prefix: “So I’ll turn them off.”

8. Das sollte alles sein.

   That should be everything.

   Das

   that; it

   sollte

   should

   alles

   everything

   sein

   be

   More detail

   Das means “that” here as a demonstrative pronoun. Its specific referent is understood from the situation, but the supplied sentence does not identify it more precisely. German also uses das as a neuter singular article, but that article use is different from the pronoun use here. sollte is the form of sollen used here for “should.” The verb sollen is a modal verb; in this sentence, sollte expresses an expectation or tentative conclusion. Its infinitive is sollen, while sollte is its Konjunktiv II form. With this modal use, the other verb appears as an infinitive at the end of the clause. Example: Das sollte reichen. — “That should be enough.” alles means “everything” in this sentence. It is an indefinite pronoun referring to the whole relevant set or amount, rather than to one specifically named item. The related form alle means “all” and normally accompanies or replaces plural referents, whereas alles is the form used for “everything.” Example: Alles ist bereit. — “Everything is ready.” sein is the infinitive of sein, “to be.” It is required at the end here because sollte is functioning as a modal verb. The infinitive sein does not itself mark the subject’s person or number; those features would be expressed by a finite form such as ist in a clause without the modal. Together, Das sollte alles sein follows the pattern subject + modal verb + predicate + infinitive: Das identifies the relevant matter, sollte presents the assessment as an expectation, alles says that the whole relevant set or amount is covered, and final sein supplies “be.” The complete meaning is “That should be everything.”

9. Gehen wir, bevor es zu spät wird.

   Let's go before it gets too late.

   Gehen wir

   Let's go

   bevor

   before

   es

   it

   zu spät

   too late

   wird

   gets; becomes

   More detail

   Gehen wir is a reusable German way to make a suggestion or exhortation: “Let’s go.” gehen is the base form “to go”; wir means “we.” In this pattern, the verb comes before the subject: Gehen wir! Compare the ordinary statement Wir gehen. (“We are going.”). Here the phrase is not a question despite its verb-first order. bevor introduces an event that must happen earlier than another event. It starts a subordinate clause, so the finite verb appears at the end of that clause. Pattern: bevor + subject + ... + finite verb. Example: Wir gehen, bevor es dunkel wird. — “We’re leaving before it gets dark.” es is the third-person singular pronoun used as the subject of this impersonal clause. In the fixed sentence, the translation gives its intended meaning as “it,” without identifying a particular concrete referent. German also uses es in expressions about conditions or changes, as in Es regnet. — “It is raining.” zu spät means “too late.” Here zu intensifies the adjective spät to express an excessive degree: something would happen later than is acceptable. spät means “late”; its comparative is später (“later”), while zu spät means “too late,” not simply “later.” wird is the third-person singular present form of werden, “to become” or “to get.” In es ... wird, it means “it gets/becomes.” The subject es is singular, which selects wird; the form is placed at the end because it is in the subordinate clause introduced by bevor. Example: Es wird kalt. — “It is getting cold.” Together, Gehen wir expresses the suggestion “Let’s go,” and bevor es zu spät wird gives the time limit: the going should happen before the situation becomes too late. The complete meaning is: “Let’s go before it gets too late.”