A polite complaint at a service desk | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich möchte mich über den Service von gestern beschweren.

   I would like to make a complaint about the service yesterday.

   Ich möchte

   I would like

   mich … beschweren

   complain

   über

   about

   Service

   service

   von gestern

   from yesterday

   More detail

   Ich möchte is a reusable polite way to express a present wish: “I would like …”. möchte is the first-person singular form used here; it comes from mögen and is conventionally used with an infinitive. In this sentence, the infinitive beschweren appears later. Example: Ich möchte bezahlen. — “I would like to pay.” mich ... beschweren is the reflexive verb sich beschweren, meaning “to complain”. With ich, its reflexive pronoun is mich; the infinitive dictionary form is sich beschweren. The reflexive pronoun can be separated from the verb in a finite clause, as here. Example: Ich beschwere mich. — “I am complaining.” über introduces what the complaint concerns. With sich beschweren, the relevant pattern is sich über etwas beschweren — “to complain about something”. In this use, über takes the accusative: den Service. Service means “service”. Here it is a masculine singular noun, shown by the accusative article den. The article is not the source of the meaning “service”; it marks the noun phrase as the object of über in this construction. Example: Sie beschwert sich über den Lärm. — “She complains about the noise.” von gestern specifies which service is meant: it identifies it as the service from yesterday, naturally “yesterday’s service”. von is followed here by the dative, but gestern is an uninflected time adverb. Example: die Nachrichten von gestern — “yesterday’s news” or “the news from yesterday”. Together, Ich möchte expresses the speaker’s polite wish, mich ... beschweren supplies the reflexive verb “complain”, über den Service identifies what the complaint concerns, and von gestern specifies the service. The complete meaning is: “I would like to complain about yesterday’s service.” This is a polite, service-context formulation.

2. Es tut mir leid, das zu hören. Könnten Sie mir sagen, was passiert ist?

   I am sorry to hear that. Could you tell me what happened?

   Es tut mir leid

   I am sorry

   das

   that

   hören

   hear

   Könnten Sie

   Could you...?

   sagen

   tell; say

   was passiert ist

   what happened

   More detail

   Es tut mir leid is the standard German expression for apologizing or expressing sympathy: literally, something like “it causes me sorrow,” but it is learned as a fixed pattern. The form tut is the third-person singular present form of tun; here, Es is the grammatical subject and mir is dative, meaning “to me.” For example: Das tut mir leid. — “I’m sorry about that.” das is a neuter singular demonstrative pronoun here, referring to the situation just mentioned or understood from context. It is the object of hören, not an article introducing a noun. German demonstratives must match the grammatical features required by their role; this form is neuter singular in the accusative here. The specific situation is not named in the fixed utterance itself. hören means “to hear.” Its base form is the infinitive, and after zu German uses the pattern etwas zu hören — “to hear something.” In this sentence, das zu hören means “to hear that.” Example: Es ist schön, dich zu hören. — “It is nice to hear you.” Könnten Sie is a formal, polite request pattern. könnten is the Konjunktiv II form of können (“can; be able to”), and Sie is the formal second-person pronoun, written with a capital letter. The form expresses a softened request rather than a past ability in this context. Compare Können Sie mir helfen? — “Can you help me?” with the more tentative Könnten Sie mir helfen? — “Could you help me?” sagen means “to say” or “to tell.” Here it follows the modal verb könnten, so it stays in the infinitive: Könnten Sie mir sagen ...? — “Could you tell me ...?” The pronoun mir is the person being told and is dative. A useful related distinction is jemandem etwas sagen (“tell someone something”) versus etwas hören (“hear something”). was passiert ist is an indirect question meaning “what happened.” was introduces the unknown content, passiert is the past participle of passieren (“happen”), and ist is the third-person singular present form of sein used as the auxiliary in the perfect construction passiert ist. In a subordinate clause or indirect question, the finite verb comes at the end: was passiert ist. The perfect form refers to the completed event, while Was passiert? asks what is happening. Example: Ich weiß nicht, was passiert ist. — “I don’t know what happened.” Together, Es tut mir leid expresses sympathy, das zu hören specifies what prompts that sympathy, and Könnten Sie mir sagen, was passiert ist? politely asks the other person to explain the completed event. The complete meaning is: “I am sorry to hear that. Could you tell me what happened?”

3. Nach meinem bestätigten Termin musste ich lange warten.

   I waited a long time after my confirmed appointment.

   Nach meinem

   after my

   bestätigten

   confirmed

   Termin

   appointment

   musste ich

   I had to

   lange

   for a long time

   warten

   wait

   More detail

   Nach meinem means “after my” here. The preposition nach takes the dative in this temporal use, so mein appears as meinem with the masculine singular noun Termin. This phrase pattern is reusable: nach meinem Kurs = “after my course.” The form meinem marks the possessive determiner; it is not the noun’s form. bestätigten means “confirmed” here. It is the inflected adjective/participle form related to the verb bestätigen (“to confirm”). Its -en ending is required because it describes masculine singular Termin in the dative phrase after nach and follows meinem. Compare ein bestätigter Termin (“a confirmed appointment,” nominative) with nach einem bestätigten Termin (“after a confirmed appointment,” dative). The ending belongs to bestätigten, not to Termin. Termin is a masculine noun meaning “appointment” in this context. Its plural is Termine. The same noun can also mean a scheduled date or meeting time, but “appointment” is the supported meaning here. musste ich means “I had to.” musste is the simple-past form of the modal verb müssen for ich; its base form is müssen. With a following infinitive, müssen expresses necessity: Ich musste gehen means “I had to leave.” The infinitive is placed at the end of this main clause, as warten does here. lange means “for a long time” in this sentence. It is the adverbial use of lang (“long”), describing the duration of warten; it is not agreeing with Termin. For example, Sie blieb lange. means “She stayed for a long time.” warten means “to wait.” This is the infinitive after the modal verb musste. A useful pattern is Ich muss warten (“I have to wait”) for the present and Ich musste warten (“I had to wait”) for the past. Together, Nach meinem bestätigten Termin sets the time reference: “after my confirmed appointment.” Because this time phrase comes first, German keeps the finite verb in the second position: musste, followed by the subject ich. The modal construction musste ... warten gives the meaning “had to wait,” and lange specifies the duration. The complete utterance therefore means: “I waited a long time after my confirmed appointment.”

4. Diese Verzögerung hätte zu diesem Zeitpunkt erklärt werden sollen.

   That delay should have been explained at the time.

   Diese

   this / that

   Verzögerung

   delay

   hätte

   would have

   zu diesem Zeitpunkt

   at that time

   erklärt

   explained

   werden sollen

   be supposed to

   More detail

   Diese: This demonstrative determiner agrees with Verzögerung, a feminine singular noun, and is nominative because the delay is the subject. Its form also reflects number and case: dieser Termin means “this appointment,” while diese Termine means “these appointments.” Verzögerung: This feminine noun means “delay.” Its plural is Verzögerungen. Example: Die Verzögerung ist ärgerlich. — “The delay is annoying.” hätte: This is the third-person singular Konjunktiv II form of haben, used here as the auxiliary in a past, unrealized obligation. It agrees with the singular subject Diese Verzögerung. zu diesem Zeitpunkt: This time expression means “at that time” or “at that point in time.” zu requires the dative here, so masculine singular Zeitpunkt appears as diesem Zeitpunkt. The fixed translation gives the intended reading as “at the time.” erklärt: This is the past participle of erklären, “to explain.” With werden, it forms the passive infinitive erklärt werden, “be explained.” The form erklärt can also be the third-person singular present form: Er erklärt den Ablauf. — “He explains the process.” werden sollen: In this construction, werden is the passive infinitive and sollen expresses what was expected or required. Together with hätte and the participle, the pattern hätte ... erklärt werden sollen means “should have been explained.” German places the modal infinitive sollen at the end in this perfect construction. Together, Diese Verzögerung makes the delay the subject. hätte ... erklärt werden sollen says that it should have been explained, without stating who was expected to explain it. zu diesem Zeitpunkt specifies when the explanation was expected. The complete meaning is: “That delay should have been explained at the time.”

5. Ich verstehe, dass es zu Verzögerungen kommt, aber niemand hat mich informiert.

   I understand delays happen, but nobody gave me an update.

   verstehe

   understand

   Verzögerungen

   delays

   kommt

   happens

   niemand

   nobody

   informiert

   informed; updated

   More detail

   verstehe is the first-person singular present form of verstehen, “to understand”: ich verstehe = “I understand.” The same verb can be used for understanding information or a person’s point: Ich verstehe die Frage. = “I understand the question.” Verzögerungen is the plural of Verzögerung, “delay.” The singular is eine Verzögerung; the plural ending here is -en: Verzögerungen. In es kommt zu Verzögerungen, the preposition zu takes the dative, so the plural form is Verzögerungen. kommt is the third-person singular present form of kommen, “to come.” The reusable impersonal pattern es kommt zu + dative means that something occurs or arises: Es kommt zu Änderungen. = “Changes occur.” The singular verb is used with the impersonal es construction, even though Änderungen is plural. After verstehe, dass introduces a subordinate clause. In this clause, kommt is placed at the end: dass es zu Verzögerungen kommt = “that delays happen.” This is a general statement about delays occurring, not a claim about a particular number of delays. niemand means “nobody” and functions as the subject of the second clause. It is grammatically singular, which is why the perfect auxiliary is hat, not a plural form. Niemand hat angerufen. = “Nobody called.” informiert is the past participle of informieren, “to inform” or “to keep someone updated.” With hat, it forms the perfect: hat informiert = “informed.” The person informed is expressed separately here by mich, “me”: Niemand hat mich informiert. = “Nobody informed me.” In this context, the fixed translation’s “gave me an update” conveys the same intended meaning naturally in English. The conjunction aber links the two clauses with the contrast “but.” The first clause says that the speaker understands the occurrence of delays: Ich verstehe, dass es zu Verzögerungen kommt. The second says that nobody informed the speaker: aber niemand hat mich informiert. Together, the utterance means: “I understand that delays happen, but nobody gave me an update.”

6. Wir hätten Sie während Ihrer Wartezeit informieren sollen.

   We should have kept you informed while you waited.

   Wir hätten … sollen

   we should have

   Sie

   you (formal)

   während

   while; during

   Ihrer

   your

   Wartezeit

   waiting time

   informieren

   inform; keep informed

   More detail

   Wir hätten ... informieren sollen expresses a past obligation that was not fulfilled: “we should have informed you.” hätten is the Konjunktiv II form of haben used here to frame the unrealized past situation. With the modal verb sollen, German uses the Ersatzinfinitiv in this perfect construction: hätten informieren sollen, not a participle such as *hätten informiert gesollt. The subject form wir means “we”; the construction can be reused with another subject, for example: Du hättest früher anrufen sollen. — “You should have called earlier.” Sie is the formal “you” and is the accusative object of informieren. Its capitalization distinguishes formal Sie from lowercase sie, which has other functions. Example: Wir informieren Sie morgen. — “We will inform you tomorrow.” während introduces the time period during which something happens. In this sentence it is followed by a genitive phrase. A useful pattern is während + [time period]: während des Gesprächs — “during the conversation.” Ihrer means formal “your” here. It is the inflected possessive determiner belonging to the formal Sie; its form is determined by the noun phrase that follows, not by the person who owns it. With feminine singular genitive Wartezeit, it appears as Ihrer. Compare the same determiner in another case: Ihre Wartezeit — “your waiting time” (nominative or accusative feminine singular). Wartezeit means “waiting time,” the period spent waiting. It is a feminine noun, so the genitive phrase is Ihrer Wartezeit: “during your waiting time.” Example: Die Wartezeit war kurz. — “The waiting time was short.” informieren is the infinitive “to inform.” In this sentence it takes Sie as its object, so jemanden informieren means “to inform someone.” With während Ihrer Wartezeit, the intended meaning is to provide the addressee with information during that waiting period; this is naturally rendered in the fixed translation as “keep you informed while you waited.” Taken together, Wir is the actor, Sie is the person who should have received the information, and während Ihrer Wartezeit sets the time period. Thus Wir hätten Sie während Ihrer Wartezeit informieren sollen. means “We should have kept you informed while you waited.”

7. Ich möchte nicht schwierig sein, aber ich hatte einen besseren Service erwartet.

   I am not trying to be difficult, but I expected better service.

   Ich möchte

   I would like / I want

   schwierig

   difficult

   sein

   to be

   hatte

   had

   besseren

   better

   Service

   service

   erwartet

   expected

   More detail

   Ich möchte: möchte expresses a present wish or intention: “I would like” or, in this sentence, “I want.” With ich, it is the first-person singular form in this context; the same form can also serve as third-person singular. Its related infinitive is mögen, but möchte is commonly used for a current wish and is more tactful than a blunt statement with wollen. The negative nicht applies to the following idea, so Ich möchte nicht ... means “I don’t want to ...”. schwierig: Here, schwierig means “difficult” in the sense of being difficult to deal with. It describes the speaker’s manner or behavior, not the difficulty of a task. Example: Ich möchte nicht schwierig sein. — “I don’t want to be difficult.” sein: sein is the infinitive “to be.” It follows möchte because the modal-like form introduces the action or state that is wanted: möchte ... sein = “would like/want to be ...”. hatte: hatte is the first-person singular simple-past form of haben: ich habe (present), ich hatte (simple past). Here it is the auxiliary in hatte ... erwartet, a pluperfect construction referring to an expectation that preceded another past reference point. In natural English, this is rendered as “I expected.” besseren: besseren is the comparative form of the adjective gut: gut = “good,” besser = “better,” am besten = “best.” The adjective is inflected here as besseren because it modifies the masculine accusative noun phrase einen besseren Service. Besser presents the service as higher in quality than a comparison standard; the sentence does not specify that standard. Service: Service is the noun “service.” In einen besseren Service, it is the object of erwartet, and the article and adjective mark the masculine accusative noun phrase. The noun itself does not carry the comparative meaning; besseren is the word that means “better.” erwartet: erwartet is the past participle of erwarten, “to expect.” With hatte, it forms hatte ... erwartet = “had expected.” The verb erwarten normally takes the thing expected as its object, here einen besseren Service. Together, Ich möchte nicht schwierig sein means “I am not trying to be difficult” in the fixed translation’s intended sense. aber means “but” and introduces the contrasting point. ich hatte einen besseren Service erwartet means “I expected better service”: ich is the subject, hatte ... erwartet expresses the earlier expectation, and einen besseren Service is what was expected. The complete utterance is therefore: “I am not trying to be difficult, but I expected better service.”

8. Ich werde den Manager bitten, schriftlich zu antworten.

   I will ask the manager to respond in writing.

   Ich werde

   I will

   Manager

   manager

   bitten

   ask

   schriftlich

   in writing

   zu antworten

   to respond

   More detail

   Ich werde combines the subject Ich (“I”) with werde, the first-person singular form of werden. Here werden is the auxiliary used to form the future: Ich werde ... = “I will ...”. The main action appears later as an infinitive, so this pattern is reusable: Ich werde [verb]. Manager means “manager”. In this sentence it is masculine singular, and den Manager is the accusative form after bitten: the manager is the person being asked. The noun itself does not change here; den marks the masculine accusative. For example, Ich sehe den Manager. means “I see the manager.” bitten means “to ask” someone for something or to do something. A useful pattern is jemanden bitten, etwas zu tun (“to ask someone to do something”): Ich bitte den Manager, zu helfen. = “I ask the manager to help.” Unlike fragen, which commonly introduces a question or asks someone for information, bitten here introduces a request for an action. schriftlich means “in writing” or “in written form”. It is an adverb here, describing how the response should be given. The related adjective is also schriftlich, as in eine schriftliche Antwort (“a written answer”); in the fixed sentence, the unchanged form modifies the action antworten. zu antworten means “to respond” or “to reply”, with zu marking the infinitive in this construction. The verb’s base form is antworten; zu antworten is the infinitive used after bitten. For example, Sie bittet mich, zu warten. means “She asks me to wait.” Together, Ich werde sets the future, den Manager bitten identifies the person who will be asked, and schriftlich zu antworten states the requested action and its manner. The whole utterance therefore means: “I will ask the manager to respond in writing.”

9. Das würde helfen. Ich möchte nur, dass das Problem richtig bearbeitet wird.

   That would help. I just want the issue handled properly.

   Das

   That

   würde

   would

   helfen

   help

   Ich möchte

   I want

   nur

   just

   dass

   that

   das

   the

   Problem

   issue

   richtig

   properly

   bearbeitet

   handled

   wird

   is

   More detail

   Das means “That” here as a demonstrative pronoun referring to the situation or proposition just mentioned, rather than naming a particular noun. The neuter singular form is das; demonstratives also have forms such as dieser (“this”, masculine) and diese (“this”, feminine or plural), but the correct form depends on the grammatical role and referent. würde is the first- or third-person singular form of werden in the subjunctive II. In this sentence it helps express a hypothetical or conditional result: “would”. The useful pattern is Das würde + infinitive (“That would + verb”). For example: Das würde funktionieren. — “That would work.” helfen is the infinitive “to help”. After würde, the lexical verb stays in the infinitive and comes at the end of this short clause. helfen commonly takes a dative person when a person is specified: Ich helfe dem Kind. — “I help the child.” No person receiving help is specified in the fixed sentence. Ich möchte means “I want” or, in this context, “I would like”. möchte is the first-person singular subjunctive-II form of mögen, used here to express a wish in a relatively polite way; it is not the ordinary present-tense form mag. With a following dass clause, the desired situation is stated in that clause: Ich möchte, dass du kommst. — “I would like you to come.” nur means “just” here and limits the speaker’s wish: the speaker states only this particular wish. Its exact scope is understood from the following clause, not from nur alone. dass introduces a subordinate clause meaning “that”. In a German dass clause, the finite verb normally goes to the end. The clause after dass therefore presents what the speaker wants to happen. das is the definite article “the” before Problem. Its neuter singular form agrees with the noun Problem; unlike the sentence-initial Das, it is not functioning as a standalone demonstrative pronoun here. German articles also change with grammatical case, so the form alone should be learned together with the noun and its role in the clause. Problem is the noun “problem” or, with the fixed translation, “issue”. It is neuter: das Problem. In this sentence it is the subject of a passive construction, so it is the thing receiving the action of being handled. richtig is the adverb “properly” or “correctly” here. It describes how the handling is to be carried out. The related adjective is also richtig, as in eine richtige Antwort (“a correct answer”); in this sentence its adverbial use does not add an adjective ending. bearbeitet is the past participle of the verb bearbeiten, “to handle” or “to process”. In the passive construction it describes the action performed on das Problem: the issue is handled. The participle is not the finite verb; wird supplies the finite verb and agrees with the singular subject. wird is the third-person singular present form of werden. Together with the past participle bearbeitet, it forms the present passive: Das Problem wird bearbeitet. — “The problem is being handled.” In a dass clause, this finite auxiliary comes at the end, after bearbeitet. Putting the parts together, Das würde helfen. means “That would help.” Then Ich möchte nur, dass das Problem richtig bearbeitet wird. means “I just want the issue handled properly.” The second sentence uses Ich möchte for the speaker’s wish, dass to introduce its content, and the passive das Problem ... bearbeitet wird to focus on the issue and the proper handling rather than naming the person who handles it.

10. Bitte warten Sie hier, während ich mit dem Manager spreche.

    Please wait here while I speak with the manager.

    Bitte

    please

    warten Sie

    please wait

    hier

    here

    während

    while

    ich

    I

    mit

    with

    Manager

    manager

    spreche

    speak

    More detail

    Bitte is a polite word used to soften a request. Here it does not add a separate action; it makes the request more courteous. warten Sie means “please wait” in this sentence. warten is the base form, and Sie is the formal “you” used with the polite imperative. In a formal request, the verb comes before Sie: Warten Sie bitte. — “Please wait.” hier means “here,” referring to the place where the listener is being asked to wait. It is a location adverb and does not change for person or number. während introduces a time clause meaning “while.” In this use, it links two actions happening during the same period. As a subordinating conjunction, it places the conjugated verb at the end of its clause. ich is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” It is the subject of the clause introduced by während. mit means “with” when it expresses accompaniment or interaction with someone. In German, mit is followed by the dative case. Manager means “manager.” The form is a noun; its plural is Manager as well, with the article or other determiner showing the number in context. Here, dem Manager is dative singular after mit. spreche is the first-person singular present form of sprechen, “to speak.” The vowel change in the stem appears in some present-tense forms: ich spreche, du sprichst, er/sie spricht. In this sentence, spreche agrees with ich and is placed at the end because it belongs to the während clause. Together, Bitte warten Sie hier forms the polite request “Please wait here.” während ich mit dem Manager spreche adds the simultaneous action “while I speak with the manager.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Please wait here while I speak with the manager.”