Conference check-in and finding the first room | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich habe mich online für die heutige Konferenz angemeldet.

   I registered online for today's conference.

   Ich habe

   I have

   mich

   myself

   online

   online

   für

   for

   heutige

   today’s

   Konferenz

   conference

   angemeldet

   registered

   More detail

   Ich habe gives the first-person singular subject and the auxiliary haben: “I have.” In this sentence, haben helps form the conversational past (Perfekt), together with angemeldet at the end. The subject is ich; habe is the form of haben used with ich. Example: Ich habe bezahlt. — “I paid / I have paid.” mich is the reflexive pronoun for “myself” in the accusative. With the reflexive verb sich anmelden, the first-person form is ich melde mich an in the present and ich habe mich angemeldet in the past. The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject: du meldest dich an — “you register,” while ich melde mich an — “I register.” online means “online” and is an unchanged adverb here. It describes how the registration happened. Example: Sie hat sich online beworben. — “She applied online.” für means “for” and introduces the thing the registration is for. In standard German, für takes the accusative case: für die Konferenz. This preposition is different from bei, which often means “at” or “with,” as in bei der Konferenz — “at the conference.” heutige means “today’s” here. Its base form is the adjective heutig (“today’s”); the ending -e appears because it modifies feminine singular die Konferenz in the accusative phrase für die heutige Konferenz. The adjective itself carries this ending, not the noun. Example: für den heutigen Termin — “for today’s appointment.” Konferenz means “conference.” It is a feminine noun: die Konferenz; its plural is die Konferenzen. In the sentence, it is the object of für, so the feminine singular article remains die in the accusative: für die Konferenz. angemeldet is the past participle of the separable verb anmelden, “to register” or “to sign up.” The reflexive form sich anmelden means “to register oneself.” In the present, the separable prefix moves to the end: Ich melde mich an. In the Perfekt, the participle is angemeldet, and the auxiliary haben is used: Ich habe mich angemeldet. Together, Ich habe mich ... angemeldet means “I registered” or “I have registered,” with online specifying the method and für die heutige Konferenz specifying what the registration was for. The complete utterance therefore means: “I registered online for today’s conference.”

2. Ich kann Ihnen beim Einchecken helfen. Bitte bestätigen Sie Ihre Anmeldung auf diesem Bildschirm.

   I can help you check in. Please confirm your registration on this screen.

   Ich kann

   I can

   Ihnen

   to you

   beim Einchecken

   when checking in

   helfen

   help

   Bitte

   please

   bestätigen Sie

   confirm

   Ihre

   your

   Anmeldung

   registration

   auf diesem

   on this

   Bildschirm

   screen

   More detail

   Ich kann expresses present ability or possibility: “I can.” kann is the third-person singular present form of können, but the subject here is Ich, because kann is also the first-person singular form. A useful pattern is Ich kann + infinitive: Ich kann warten. — “I can wait.” The modal verb sends the other verb to the end of the clause. Ihnen means “to you” in the formal form of address. It is the dative form used with helfen: jemandem helfen means “to help someone.” The same formal addressee appears as Sie in the following request; capitalization marks formal address in German. beim Einchecken means “when checking in” or “with checking in.” beim is the contraction of bei dem. Einchecken is an infinitive used as a noun, so it is capitalized. The dative after bei is visible in dem: bei dem Einchecken → beim Einchecken. This construction names the activity being helped with. helfen means “help.” It is the infinitive required after the modal kann, so it appears at the end of the first clause. German commonly uses the pattern jemandem helfen, etwas zu tun or, as here, jemandem beim ... helfen: Ich helfe Ihnen beim Ausfüllen. — “I help you with filling it out.” Bitte means “please.” At the beginning of a request, it makes the request courteous; it does not change the grammatical form of the command. bestätigen Sie means “confirm.” bestätigen is the verb, and Sie is the formal second-person subject. Together they form the formal imperative: Bestätigen Sie ... — “Confirm ...” In a normal statement, the same subject and verb would appear as Sie bestätigen ... — “You confirm ...”; the imperative places the verb first. Ihre means “your” for the formal addressee. Its ending agrees with the noun it modifies, not with the person who owns it: Anmeldung is feminine singular, so the form is Ihre. The capital letter also reflects formal Ihr/Ihre. Anmeldung means “registration” here. It is a feminine noun, as shown by Ihre Anmeldung. It is related in meaning to registering or signing up; the preceding context makes the registration for the conference the relevant one, but the word itself can be used for other registrations as well. Example: Die Anmeldung ist vollständig. — “The registration is complete.” auf diesem means “on this” in this sentence. auf is a two-way preposition: with a fixed location it takes the dative, while movement onto a surface commonly takes the accusative. Here diesem is the dative masculine/neuter form of dies-, because Bildschirm is masculine and the phrase describes the location of the registration. Bildschirm means “screen.” It is a masculine noun: der Bildschirm. Example: Die Information steht auf dem Bildschirm. — “The information is on the screen.” Together, Ich kann Ihnen beim Einchecken helfen says that the speaker is able to help the formal addressee with checking in. Bitte bestätigen Sie Ihre Anmeldung auf diesem Bildschirm is a formal, polite request to confirm the addressee’s registration on the indicated screen. The two sentences therefore mean: “I can help you check in. Please confirm your registration on this screen.”

3. Hier werden meine Anmeldung und der Nachmittagsworkshop angezeigt, den ich ausgewählt habe.

   It shows my registration and the afternoon workshop I chose.

   Hier

   here

   werden … angezeigt

   are shown

   Anmeldung

   registration

   Nachmittagsworkshop

   afternoon workshop

   ausgewählt

   chosen

   More detail

   Hier means “here.” In this context it points to the current place or display, supported by the preceding reference to the screen. As an adverb, it does not change for gender or number. werden ... angezeigt is the present passive of anzeigen, “to display/show.” The finite auxiliary werden is plural because the displayed subject contains two coordinated nouns: meine Anmeldung and der Nachmittagsworkshop. The participle angezeigt comes from anzeigen; in an active sentence, German can place the separable prefix at the end: Die Seite zeigt die Anmeldung an. (“The page displays the registration.”) In the passive, the two parts appear together as angezeigt. Anmeldung means “registration” here, specifically the registration relevant to checking in. Its base noun is die Anmeldung, a feminine noun; its plural is die Anmeldungen. The form meine Anmeldung is singular in this sentence, and the feminine article/agreement is visible in die when the noun is used with a definite article: die Anmeldung. Nachmittagsworkshop is a compound noun: Nachmittag means “afternoon” and Workshop means “workshop.” Together they mean “afternoon workshop.” The whole compound is masculine: der Nachmittagsworkshop. The adjective-like time element is part of the compound noun, not a separate adjective modifying Workshop in this sentence. ausgewählt is the past participle of auswählen, “to select/choose.” The useful form chain is auswählen → wählt aus (present, separable) → ausgewählt (past participle). Example: Ich habe den Termin ausgewählt. — “I selected the appointment.” The words den ich ausgewählt habe form a relative clause modifying der Nachmittagsworkshop. Den is masculine singular accusative because the workshop is the thing that ich selected; its form is determined by its role inside the relative clause, while its gender and number match the noun it describes. Ich is the subject of ausgewählt habe, and habe is the auxiliary used with the participle in this clause. In a German subordinate or relative clause, the finite verb goes to the end, so the clause ends with habe. Putting the parts together: Hier identifies the current display; meine Anmeldung und der Nachmittagsworkshop are the two things being shown; and den ich ausgewählt habe specifies which workshop. The complete meaning is: “Here, my registration and the afternoon workshop that I selected are displayed.” This is a neutral, practical description suitable for an interface or check-in setting.

4. Ich sehe diesen Workshop zusammen mit den Angaben auf Ihrem Namensschild.

   I see that workshop listed with your badge details.

   sehe

   see

   diesen

   that

   Workshop

   workshop

   zusammen mit

   together with

   Angaben

   details

   Ihrem

   your

   Namensschild

   name badge

   More detail

   sehe is the first-person singular present form of sehen (“to see”): ich sehe = “I see.” The same verb has the past form sah and the participle gesehen. Example: Ich sehe den Workshop. — “I see the workshop.” diesen is the masculine singular accusative form of the demonstrative determiner dies-. German dies- can correspond to English “this” or “that”; in this fixed utterance, the translation selects “that.” The accusative form is used because diesen Workshop is the object of sehe. The form also changes with gender and case: for example, diese Sitzung is feminine singular accusative, while dieses Schild is neuter singular accusative. Workshop is a masculine noun meaning “workshop.” Its plural is Workshops. Here it is the direct object of sehe, so the phrase is the masculine accusative diesen Workshop. zusammen mit is the reusable phrase “together with.” mit requires the dative case, so the noun phrase after it is put in the dative. Example: Ich komme zusammen mit meiner Kollegin. — “I am coming together with my colleague.” Angaben means “details” here. It is the plural of the feminine noun Angabe (“detail” or “piece of information”). After mit, the plural dative form is marked by den: mit den Angaben = “with the details.” Ihrem means formal “your” in this phrase. It is the dative singular form of the possessive determiner Ihr-, matching the neuter noun Namensschild after mit. Formal Ihr- is capitalized; informal singular “your” is dein-, as in mit deinem Namensschild — “with your name badge.” Namensschild means “name badge” or “name tag.” It is a neuter compound noun: das Namensschild; its plural is die Namensschilder. Because mit requires dative, das Namensschild becomes dem Namensschild, and with the formal possessive it becomes Ihrem Namensschild. Together, Ich sehe diesen Workshop means “I see that workshop,” and zusammen mit den Angaben auf Ihrem Namensschild specifies that the workshop is seen together with the details on your name badge. Thus the whole utterance means: “I see that workshop listed with your badge details.”

5. Gibt es eine gedruckte Tagesordnung, oder soll ich die Online-Version verwenden?

   Is there a printed agenda, or should I use the online one?

   Gibt es

   is there

   gedruckte

   printed

   Tagesordnung

   agenda

   soll ich

   should I

   Online-Version

   online version

   verwenden

   use

   More detail

   Gibt es is the German existential question pattern meaning “is there …?” It uses geben in the third-person singular present, gibt, together with the expletive es; es does not identify a particular person or object here. In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes first. Example: Gibt es einen Plan? — “Is there a plan?” gedruckte means “printed” here. It is an adjective based on the past participle of drucken (“to print”), and it agrees with the feminine singular noun Tagesordnung in this phrase: eine gedruckte Tagesordnung. The ending reflects the surrounding noun phrase and article, not merely singularity. A useful contrast is gedruckt as a predicate: Die Tagesordnung ist gedruckt. — “The agenda is printed.” Tagesordnung means “agenda” or “order of the day.” It is a feminine noun: die Tagesordnung; its plural is die Tagesordnungen. In the fixed sentence it is the thing whose availability is being asked about. Example: Die Tagesordnung liegt auf dem Tisch. — “The agenda is on the table.” soll ich combines first-person singular soll, the present form of the modal verb sollen, with ich (“I”). In this question it asks whether the speaker is expected or advised to do something: “should I …?” Other present forms include du sollst (“you should”) and er/sie soll (“he/she should”). The following lexical verb is normally an infinitive at the end of the clause. Example: Soll ich warten? — “Should I wait?” Online-Version is a compound noun meaning “online version.” Version is feminine, so the definite article is die; in this sentence, die Online-Version is the object of verwenden. The hyphenated form keeps the borrowed element and the German noun visibly together. Example: Ich öffne die Online-Version. — “I open the online version.” verwenden means “to use” or “to employ.” It is an infinitive here because it follows the modal soll; the modal carries the finite verb position and verwenden remains at the end. The pattern Soll ich ... verwenden? is reusable for asking whether the speaker should use something. Example: Soll ich diesen Link verwenden? — “Should I use this link?” Together, Gibt es asks whether a printed agenda exists or is available. oder introduces the alternative, and soll ich die Online-Version verwenden? asks whether the speaker should use the online version instead. Thus the whole utterance asks whether a printed agenda is available, or whether using the online version is the appropriate alternative.

6. Die gedruckten Tagesordnungen liegen hier, aber die Online-Version enthält die aktuellen Raumzuweisungen.

   Printed agendas are here, but the online version has the latest room assignments.

   gedruckten

   printed

   Tagesordnungen

   agendas

   liegen

   are located

   hier

   here

   Online-Version

   online version

   enthält

   contains

   aktuellen

   current

   Raumzuweisungen

   room assignments

   More detail

   gedruckten means “printed” here and describes Tagesordnungen. Its base form is gedruckt; the ending -en is the adjective ending used here with the definite article die and a plural noun. Example: die gedruckten Berichte = “the printed reports.” Tagesordnungen means “agendas.” The singular is die Tagesordnung, and the plural is die Tagesordnungen. The plural ending is -en; the compound combines Tag (“day”) and Ordnung (“order”), but learn Tagesordnung as the established word for an agenda. Example: Die Tagesordnung ist kurz. = “The agenda is short.” liegen means “are located” in this sentence. It is the present-tense plural form of liegen (“to lie / be situated”): ich liege, sie liegen. With plural Tagesordnungen, German uses liegen, not singular liegt. Example: Die Bücher liegen auf dem Tisch. = “The books are on the table.” hier means “here” and places the agendas at the speaker’s indicated location. It is an adverb, so it does not change for number or gender. Example: Die Unterlagen liegen hier. = “The documents are here.” Online-Version means “online version.” It is a compound noun written with a hyphen in this sentence; its grammatical gender comes from Version, so it is feminine: die Online-Version. Example: Ich öffne die Online-Version. = “I open the online version.” enthält means “contains” here. It is the third-person singular present form of enthalten: er/sie/es enthält. The vowel change from enthalten to enthält belongs to the verb. In this context, “contains” is naturally translated as “has” because the online version includes the assignments. Example: Die Datei enthält wichtige Informationen. = “The file contains important information.” aktuellen means “current” or “latest” here and describes Raumzuweisungen. Its base form is aktuell; the -en ending appears with the definite article die and the plural accusative noun phrase die aktuellen Raumzuweisungen. Example: Ich lese die aktuellen Nachrichten. = “I read the current news.” Raumzuweisungen means “room assignments.” The singular is die Raumzuweisung, and the plural is die Raumzuweisungen. This compound combines Raum (“room”) with Zuweisung (“assignment”). Example: Die Raumzuweisung steht im Dokument. = “The room assignment is in the document.” The first part, Die gedruckten Tagesordnungen liegen hier, says that the printed agendas are located here. Aber (“but”) contrasts this with the second part, die Online-Version enthält die aktuellen Raumzuweisungen: the online version contains the current room assignments. Together, the utterance means: “Printed agendas are here, but the online version has the latest room assignments.”

7. Ich werde die Online-Tagesordnung verwenden, damit ich keine Aktualisierungen verpasse.

   I'll use the online agenda so I don't miss any updates.

   Ich werde

   I will

   Online-Tagesordnung

   online agenda

   verwenden

   use

   damit ich

   so that I

   keine

   no / any

   Aktualisierungen

   updates

   verpasse

   miss

   More detail

   Ich werde combines the subject pronoun ich (“I”) with werde, the first-person singular present form of werden. Here werden is the future auxiliary: Ich werde ... verwenden expresses the speaker’s intention or future action. In this construction, the main verb stays in the infinitive and appears at the end of the main clause. Online-Tagesordnung is a compound noun meaning “online agenda.” The noun is die Tagesordnung (feminine); its plural is die Tagesordnungen. In the full sentence, die Online-Tagesordnung is the object of verwenden, and the feminine article die has the same form in the nominative and accusative. verwenden is the infinitive “to use.” It is the main lexical verb selected by werde; the combination werde ... verwenden means “will use.” Example: Ich verwende diese Liste. — “I use this list.” damit ich introduces a purpose clause: “so that I.” damit expresses the intended purpose, not merely a time relation or a reason. The subject of this clause is ich, and in a damit subordinate clause the finite verb goes to the end: damit ich ... verpasse. keine is the negative determiner used here with the plural noun Aktualisierungen. With a plural noun, keine means “no” or, in this negative context, “any” in English. It is not itself a statement of a numeric count. Example: Ich habe keine Fragen. — “I have no questions.” Aktualisierungen is the plural of the feminine noun die Aktualisierung, “update.” Here it refers to updates that could be missed. Example: Ich prüfe die Aktualisierungen. — “I check the updates.” verpasse is the first-person singular present form of verpassen, “to miss.” The form agrees with ich; because it is in the subordinate clause introduced by damit, it comes at the end. In this sentence, keine Aktualisierungen verpasse means “do not miss any updates.” Example: Ich verpasse den Zug nicht. — “I do not miss the train.” Together, Ich werde ... verwenden gives the future intention “I’ll use”; die Online-Tagesordnung names what will be used; and damit ich keine Aktualisierungen verpasse gives the purpose, “so I don’t miss any updates.” The complete meaning is: “I’ll use the online agenda so I don’t miss any updates.”

8. Hier sind Ihre Unterlagen und Ihr Namensschild.

   Here are your materials and badge.

   Hier sind

   Here are

   Ihre

   your (formal address)

   Unterlagen

   materials; documents

   Ihr

   your (formal address)

   Namensschild

   name badge

   More detail

   Hier sind combines hier (“here”) with sind, a present-tense form of sein. In this sentence, the plural subject is presented as being here: “Here are …”. A useful reusable pattern is Hier ist ... for one thing and Hier sind ... for more than one. Example: Hier ist der Schlüssel. — “Here is the key.” Ihre is the capitalized possessive determiner meaning “your” when addressing one or more people formally. It stands before the plural noun Unterlagen. Capitalization distinguishes this formal “your” from lowercase ihre, which can mean “her” or “their” in other contexts. Example: Ihre Tasche ist hier. — “Your bag is here.” Unterlagen means the materials or documents being presented here. It is the plural of Unterlage; the singular can refer to one document or piece of supporting material, while Unterlagen refers to multiple materials as a group. Example: Ich prüfe die Unterlagen. — “I am checking the documents.” Ihr is another form of the same capitalized formal possessive determiner, here meaning “your”. It stands before the neuter singular noun Namensschild. German possessive determiners take endings according to the noun phrase’s grammatical features: Ihr Namensschild has a neuter singular noun in this form, whereas Ihre Unterlagen has a plural noun. Example: Ist das Ihr Ticket? — “Is that your ticket?” Namensschild means “name badge” or “name tag”. It is a compound noun made from Name (“name”) and Schild (“sign; badge”), and it is neuter: das Namensschild. Its plural is Namensschilder. Example: Das Namensschild ist gut lesbar. — “The name badge is easy to read.” Together, Hier sind presents the items as being here. Ihre Unterlagen means “your materials”, and Ihr Namensschild means “your name badge”. The two noun phrases are joined by und, and their combined plural subject matches sind, giving the complete meaning: “Here are your materials and badge.”

9. In welchen Raum soll ich zuerst gehen?

   Which room should I go to first?

   In

   to / into

   welchen

   which

   Raum

   room

   soll ich

   should I

   zuerst

   first

   gehen

   go

   More detail

   In introduces the destination here: movement into a place takes the accusative after in. For a stationary location, in normally takes the dative instead: Ich bin im Raum means “I am in the room.” welchen means “which” and agrees with the masculine noun Raum in the accusative. The base form is welcher; the useful masculine forms are welcher (nominative), welchen (accusative), and welchem (dative). The case here is accusative because the question asks where the speaker should go. Raum means “room.” Its base form is der Raum; the plural is die Räume. The noun is masculine, which is why the question uses welchen Raum rather than a different form. soll ich combines the modal verb sollen with the first-person singular pronoun ich. Sollen can express what someone is expected, advised, or instructed to do; in this question, the intended meaning is “should I.” The finite verb is soll, while the main action appears in the infinitive at the end. For example: Soll ich warten? — “Should I wait?” zuerst means “first,” meaning before the other relevant actions or destinations. It is an adverb, so it does not change form. For example: Wir gehen zuerst zum Empfang. — “We are going to reception first.” gehen means “to go.” Its base form is gehen; with ich, the present-tense form is ich gehe. After the modal verb soll, it remains the infinitive gehen and stands at the end of this question. For example: Ich soll in den Raum gehen. — “I should go into the room.” Together, In welchen Raum asks for the destination, soll ich gehen asks which destination the speaker is expected or advised to go to, and zuerst specifies that this should happen first. The complete meaning is: “Which room should I go to first?”

10. Die Eröffnungssitzung findet in der Haupthalle statt, geradeaus diesen Gang entlang.

    The opening session is in the main hall, straight down this corridor.

    Eröffnungssitzung

    opening session

    findet … statt

    takes place

    Haupthalle

    main hall

    geradeaus

    straight ahead

    diesen

    this

    Gang

    corridor

    entlang

    along

    More detail

    Eröffnungssitzung means an opening session. It is a compound noun: Eröffnung (“opening”) + Sitzung (“session”). German compound nouns are written as one word, and the final element determines the noun’s gender; Sitzung is feminine, so this noun is feminine too. Example: Die Sitzung beginnt um neun. — “The session begins at nine.” findet ... statt is the present-tense third-person singular form of the separable verb stattfinden, “to take place.” The finite part findet appears in the clause’s verb position, while the prefix statt appears at the end. The base form is stattfinden; in the past, a useful form is fand ... statt. Example: Das Konzert findet heute statt. — “The concert takes place today.” Haupthalle means main hall. It is another compound: Haupt (“main”) + Halle (“hall”). Halle is feminine. Here, in der Haupthalle describes a fixed location, so in takes the dative: feminine dative der. Compare movement into a hall: in die Haupthalle — “into the main hall.” geradeaus means straight ahead or straight on. It is an adverb, so it does not change form. Example: Gehen Sie geradeaus. — “Go straight ahead.” diesen is the masculine singular accusative form of the demonstrative determiner dies-, “this.” Its form reflects the noun it determines and the case required by the phrase: Gang is masculine, and diesen Gang entlang uses the accusative. The corresponding forms include dieser Gang for masculine nominative and diesem Gang for masculine dative. The demonstrative identifies the corridor as “this” corridor in the situation; the sentence itself does not specify a more particular referent beyond that. Gang means corridor here. It is a masculine noun: der Gang. In this sentence it is singular and accusative in the directional phrase diesen Gang entlang. Example: Der Gang ist breit. — “The corridor is wide.” entlang means along. In the pattern etwas entlanggehen or einen Gang entlang, it expresses movement along a route. When it follows a noun phrase, as here, entlang commonly appears after that phrase, with accusative: diesen Gang entlang — “along this corridor.” Example: Wir gehen den Fluss entlang. — “We are walking along the river.” Together, Die Eröffnungssitzung findet in der Haupthalle statt states where the opening session takes place: in the main hall. geradeaus diesen Gang entlang gives the route to that location: straight ahead along this corridor. The complete meaning is: “The opening session is in the main hall, straight down this corridor.”