Choosing a Movie Together | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Du möchtest einen Thriller, aber ich hatte auf etwas Leichteres gehofft.

   You want a thriller, but I was hoping for something lighter.

   Du

   you

   möchtest

   want; would like

   Thriller

   thriller

   ich hatte

   I had

   etwas

   something

   Leichteres

   something lighter

   auf … gehofft

   hope for

   More detail

   Du means “you” here: it is the singular informal second-person pronoun. The form for “I” is ich; German pronouns change with person and number, so Du identifies the addressee rather than the speaker. möchtest is the form of möchten used with du. In this sentence it means “want” or, more softly, “would like.” möchten is commonly used for a present wish or preference; for example, Ich möchte einen Tee. means “I would like a tea.” Thriller is the noun “thriller.” Its plural is also Thriller, so the article or surrounding grammar can help show number. Here einen marks it as the singular object of the first clause. ich hatte means “I had.” hatte is the first-person singular past form of haben. Together with the participle gehofft, it forms the pluperfect: ich hatte gehofft = “I had hoped.” In the fixed translation, this is naturally rendered as “I was hoping.” etwas means “something” in this sentence. It is an indefinite pronoun, not a specific noun. A useful contrast is nichts = “nothing”: Ich möchte etwas sehen. means “I would like to see something.” Leichteres means “something lighter.” It comes from the adjective leicht (“light” or “easy”), with the comparative leichter (“lighter” or “easier”). Here the comparative is nominalized: it stands for an unspecified thing and is capitalized. After etwas, the nominalized adjective has the ending -es: etwas Leichteres. The adjective describes the hoped-for choice, not the noun Thriller. auf ... gehofft is the construction auf etwas hoffen, meaning “to hope for something.” hoffen is the base form, and gehofft is its past participle. The preposition auf takes the accusative when it introduces the object of hope: Ich hoffe auf gutes Wetter. means “I hope for good weather.” In the fixed sentence, auf and gehofft are separated by etwas Leichteres, while hatte supplies the auxiliary for the pluperfect. The first clause, Du möchtest einen Thriller, says that the addressee would like a thriller. aber introduces a contrast. The second clause, ich hatte auf etwas Leichteres gehofft, says that the speaker had hoped for something lighter. Together: “You want a thriller, but I was hoping for something lighter.”

2. Vielleicht finden wir einen Film, den wir beide gern sehen möchten.

   Maybe we can find a film we both feel like watching.

   Vielleicht

   maybe

   finden

   find

   wir

   we

   Film

   film

   beide

   both

   gern

   gladly; like to

   sehen

   watch; see

   möchten

   would like to

   More detail

   Vielleicht means “maybe” and marks the proposal as uncertain rather than definite. It can appear at the beginning of a sentence: Vielleicht regnet es. — “Maybe it will rain.” finden is the infinitive “to find.” Here, with einen Film, it means finding or choosing a film. Its present-tense form for wir is finden: Wir finden eine Lösung. — “We find a solution.” The first wir is the subject of the main clause and means “we.” German wir is the first-person plural form; it does not show the gender of the people included. The same written form appears again inside the relative clause, where it is also the subject: Wir warten. — “We are waiting.” Film means “film” or “movie.” In the chunk einen Film, the noun is masculine singular and the article einen marks the accusative object of finden; the noun itself remains Film. The plural is Filme: Wir wählen einen Film. — “We choose a film.” beide means “both” and specifies two members considered together. In wir beide, it emphasizes that the two people represented by wir share the following preference. Beide kommen. — “Both are coming.” gern expresses that someone does something willingly or enjoys doing it. With an activity, gern sehen means “like watching” or “enjoy watching.” It is not the adjective “glad” modifying a noun here. Example: Wir lesen gern. — “We like reading.” sehen is the infinitive “to see” or, in this context, “to watch.” With a film, “watch” is the natural meaning. In the relative clause, it stays in the infinitive because it follows the modal-like form möchten: Wir möchten den Film sehen. — “We would like to watch the film.” möchten expresses “would like to” and is the form used here for a polite or non-forceful desire. It is historically the Konjunktiv II form of mögen, but in present-day use möchten commonly functions as its own desire expression. The infinitive it governs, sehen, comes at the end of the clause. Compare Wir möchten gehen. — “We would like to leave.” The main clause is Vielleicht finden wir einen Film — “Maybe we will find a film.” The following relative clause, den wir beide gern sehen möchten, describes that film: den refers back to the film, while wir beide are the two people who would like to watch it. Together, the utterance means: “Maybe we can find a film we both feel like watching.”

3. Was ist mit dieser Krimikomödie? Die Kritiken sagen, dass sie nicht zu aufregend ist.

   What about this mystery comedy? The reviews say it isn't too intense.

   Was ist mit

   What about …?

   dieser

   this

   Krimikomödie

   mystery comedy

   Kritiken

   reviews

   sagen

   say

   aufregend

   intense

   More detail

   Was ist mit is a reusable way to ask “What about …?” or to suggest considering something. mit takes the dative case, so the following noun phrase appears in the dative. dieser means “this” here and is the feminine singular dative form. It agrees with Krimikomödie, rather than carrying the noun’s meaning itself. Compare diese Krimikomödie in the nominative or accusative with mit dieser Krimikomödie after mit. Krimikomödie is a feminine compound noun meaning “mystery comedy”: Krimi contributes the mystery/crime genre and Komödie means comedy. The compound is treated grammatically as feminine because its final component is feminine. Example: Diese Komödie ist lustig. — “This comedy is funny.” Kritiken means “reviews” here. Its singular base form is Kritik; Kritiken is the plural form. In this sentence it is the subject of sagen, so the plural is relevant to the verb form. sagen means “to say” or “to state”. In Die Kritiken sagen, it is the present-tense form for third-person plural: “the reviews say”. The base form is also sagen; compare Die Kritik sagt — “The review says,” where the singular subject takes sagt. aufregend means “intense” or “exciting” in this context. It is related to the verb aufregen, but the observed form is an adjective. With zu, as in zu aufregend, it expresses an excessive degree: “too intense”. The adjective itself does not show a comparative here; aufregender means “more exciting/intense”. The second sentence has the structure Die Kritiken sagen, dass ...: “The reviews say that ...”. After dass, the clause is subordinate, and its finite verb goes to the end: ... ist. sie is the feminine singular pronoun referring here to the Krimikomödie, so sie ... ist means “it is ...”. nicht zu aufregend means “not too intense”, not necessarily “not intense at all”. Together, Was ist mit dieser Krimikomödie? asks whether this particular mystery comedy should be considered. Die Kritiken sagen, dass sie nicht zu aufregend ist. reports that the reviews describe it as not excessively intense. The complete meaning is: “What about this mystery comedy? The reviews say it isn't too intense.”

4. Das könnte passen. Hat er Untertitel?

   That could work. Does it have subtitles?

   Das

   that / it

   könnte

   could

   passen

   work / be suitable

   Hat er

   does it have

   Untertitel

   subtitles

   More detail

   Das is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It points to the option under consideration without naming a noun inside this utterance. Do not confuse it with dass, the conjunction meaning “that” in a clause. könnte is the Konjunktiv II form of können (“can”). In this sentence, könnte expresses a cautious possibility: “could.” The form kann states present ability or possibility more directly, while könnte is less definite. Example: Das könnte funktionieren. — “That could work.” passen is the infinitive of passen, meaning “to fit,” “to suit,” or, as here, “to work/be suitable.” After a modal form such as könnte, the other verb remains in the infinitive: Das könnte passen. — “That could work.” Hat er begins a yes-or-no question. hat is the third-person singular present form of haben (“to have”), and er is the masculine singular pronoun “he/it.” In this context, the fixed translation identifies er as “it,” referring to the item being checked. German places the finite verb before the subject in this question pattern: Hat er ...? Example: Hat er Zeit? — “Does he have time?” Untertitel means “subtitles.” It is a plural noun; the form is also used for accusative plural, which is required here as the thing that the item has. Example: Der Film hat Untertitel. — “The film has subtitles.” Together, Das könnte passen presents the option as a possible suitable choice: “That could work.” Then Hat er Untertitel? asks whether the item being considered has subtitles: “Does it have subtitles?”

5. Ja, und er ist nicht zu lang.

   It does, and it isn't too long.

   Ja

   yes

   er

   it

   ist

   is

   nicht

   not

   lang

   long

   More detail

   Ja is the German word for “yes.” Here it confirms the preceding question. It can also begin an agreeing statement, as in Ja, das passt. (“Yes, that works.”) er is a third-person singular pronoun. In this utterance, the fixed translation identifies it as “it,” referring to the item being discussed. German er is used when that referent has masculine grammatical gender; the pronoun’s grammatical form does not itself mean that the referent is a male person. ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”): sein → ist. It agrees with er. Example: Der Film ist kurz. — “The film is short.” nicht negates the following description here. It is the ordinary German negation word “not.” In ist nicht ..., it makes the statement negative rather than changing the adjective itself. lang means “long.” Its comparative is länger (“longer”), and its opposite is kurz (“short”). In the fixed utterance, lang appears after zu; the reusable pattern zu + adjective means “too + adjective,” so zu lang means “too long.” Example: Der Film ist zu lang. — “The film is too long.” Together, er ist nicht zu lang means “it isn’t too long”: the item is not excessive in length. The complete utterance Ja, und er ist nicht zu lang. means “It does, and it isn’t too long.” Here und joins the confirmation with the additional statement. The adjective phrase is a neutral way to say that the length is acceptable, without claiming that the item is short.

6. Kürzere Filme sind besser, wenn wir spät anfangen.

   Shorter movies are better when we start late.

   Kürzere

   shorter

   Filme

   movies

   besser

   better

   wenn

   when

   spät

   late

   anfangen

   to start

   More detail

   Kürzere means “shorter” here. It is the comparative form of kurz (“short”): kurz → kürzer → am kürzesten (“short” → “shorter” → “shortest”). In kürzere Filme, the adjective is attributive and stands in nominative plural after no article, so it takes the ending -e. The comparison indicates that these movies are shorter than some relevant, unnamed comparison group. Filme is the plural of Film (“movie” or “film”): ein Film → Filme. Here it is the plural subject of sind. Together with Kürzere, it means “shorter movies.” besser means “better” here. It is the comparative form of gut (“good”): gut → besser → am besten (“good” → “better” → “best”). As a predicate adjective after sind, besser has no noun ending: Die Filme sind besser means “The movies are better.” wenn introduces a time or conditional clause. Here it is best translated as “when,” introducing the situation in which the movies are better. In a clause introduced by wenn, the finite verb goes to the end. spät means “late.” Here it describes the time of starting. Example: Wir kommen spät. — “We arrive late.” anfangen means “to start” or “to begin.” With wir, its present-tense form is fangen ... an in a main clause, while the separable verb is written together as anfangen at the end of this subordinate clause. Compare: Wir fangen spät an. — “We start late.” In wenn wir spät anfangen, anfangen is the finite present-tense form for wir; it happens to have the same spelling as the infinitive. Together, Kürzere Filme is the subject, sind besser says that they are better, and wenn wir spät anfangen supplies the time or condition. The whole sentence means: “Shorter movies are better when we start late.”

7. Der Trailer hat etwas Spannung, aber er sieht trotzdem lustig aus.

   The trailer has some suspense, but it still looks funny.

   Trailer

   trailer

   hat

   has

   etwas

   some

   Spannung

   suspense

   aber

   but

   er

   it

   sieht … aus

   looks / seems

   trotzdem

   still / nevertheless

   lustig

   funny

   More detail

   Trailer is a masculine noun meaning “trailer.” Its gender is shown by the article der in the full sentence; the noun itself does not change here. Example: Der Trailer ist kurz. — “The trailer is short.” hat is the third-person singular present form of haben (“to have”): haben → er/sie/es hat. Here it presents the trailer as possessing or containing a quality, namely suspense. Example: Der Film hat Spannung. — “The film has suspense.” etwas means “some” here: it indicates an unspecified amount of suspense, not a precise number. It can also mean “something” in other contexts, so its meaning comes from the noun phrase around it. Spannung is a feminine noun meaning “suspense” in this context. The same word can also mean “tension” or “electrical voltage” in suitable contexts. Example: Der Film baut Spannung auf. — “The film builds suspense.” aber connects a contrast: “but.” The first part gives the trailer a suspenseful quality, while the following part adds a contrasting description. er is a third-person singular masculine pronoun. Here it refers to der Trailer, as confirmed by the fixed translation. German uses er for this masculine noun; the pronoun’s form reflects the noun’s grammatical gender, not the trailer’s physical characteristics. sieht ... aus is the separated present-tense form of aussehen, “to look” or “to appear”: er sieht ... aus. The verb stem changes from sehen to sieht in the third-person singular present, and the separable element aus moves to the end of the clause. Example: Der Film sieht interessant aus. — “The film looks interesting.” trotzdem means “still” or “nevertheless.” It marks that the description in the second part remains true despite the suspense mentioned in the first part. Its position can vary, but here it appears after sieht and before the describing adjective. lustig means “funny” or “amusing.” It is used predicatively after aussehen, so it has no adjective ending: er sieht lustig aus. Example: Die Szene sieht lustig aus. — “The scene looks funny.” Together, Der Trailer hat etwas Spannung means “The trailer has some suspense.” aber er sieht trotzdem lustig aus contrasts that with its appearance: “but it still looks funny.” The complete utterance therefore says that the trailer contains some suspense while appearing funny nonetheless.

8. Dann passt er besser zu uns als ein reiner Thriller.

   Then it fits us better than a straight thriller.

   Dann

   then

   passt … zu uns

   suits us

   besser

   better

   als

   than

   reiner

   straight; pure

   Thriller

   thriller

   More detail

   Dann means “then” here. It links this statement to something established earlier; in other contexts it can also refer to a later time: Dann komme ich morgen. — “Then I’ll come tomorrow.” passt is the third-person singular present form of passen, “to fit” or “to suit.” Here it means “suits,” not physical fitting. passen commonly combines with zu and a dative expression for what something suits: Der Film passt zu uns. — “The film suits us.” zu uns means “to us” in the sense of “suited to us.” uns is the first-person plural pronoun wir in its dative form here; zu governs the dative. The expression can describe suitability for a group without specifying the individuals separately. besser is the comparative form of gut (“good”): gut → besser → am besten (“best”). It compares the suitability of the item with another option; it does not by itself say that the suitability is perfect. als introduces the second side of a comparison after a comparative such as besser: Das passt besser als die andere Idee. — “That fits better than the other idea.” reiner is the masculine singular nominative form of the adjective rein, meaning “pure” or, for a genre, “straight.” In ein reiner Thriller, the masculine noun Thriller follows the indefinite article ein, so the adjective has the ending -er. Here it characterizes the comparison option as a pure or straight thriller. Thriller is a masculine noun meaning “thriller.” Its plural has the same form: ein Thriller — “a thriller”; zwei Thriller — “two thrillers.” Together, Dann passt er besser zu uns means “Then it suits us better.” als ein reiner Thriller adds the comparison “than a straight thriller.” The complete utterance is: “Then it fits us better than a straight thriller.”

9. Ich reserviere Plätze in der mittleren Reihe.

   I'll book seats in the middle row.

   reserviere

   book; reserve

   Plätze

   seats

   mittleren

   middle; central

   Reihe

   row

   More detail

   reserviere is the first-person singular present form of reservieren (“to reserve/book”): ich reserviere. The ending -e is the present-tense ending used with ich here. German present tense can also describe a planned future action, so this utterance naturally conveys “I’ll book” without a separate future form. Plätze is the plural of der Platz (“seat” or “place”). The plural uses an umlaut and has no added plural ending: der Platz → die Plätze. Here it is the object of the booking verb, so it means “seats.” Example: Wir reservieren Plätze. — “We are booking seats.” mittleren comes from the adjective mittel (“middle” or “medium”). It is not a comparative form. In der mittleren Reihe, the adjective has the ending -en because it follows the feminine dative article der. The phrase describes which row is intended. Reihe is the feminine noun die Reihe, meaning “row.” Its plural is Reihen. In this sentence, in der Reihe describes a location, so in takes the dative: in der mittleren Reihe means “in the middle row.” With movement toward a row, German can use the accusative instead, for example in die mittlere Reihe — “into the middle row.” Together, Ich reserviere Plätze in der mittleren Reihe. means “I’ll book seats in the middle row.” Ich is the subject, reserviere expresses the booking, Plätze is what is being booked, and in der mittleren Reihe specifies its location.

10. Ich glaube, der Film wird uns beiden gefallen.

    I think we'll both enjoy that one.

    Ich glaube

    I think

    der Film

    the film

    wird

    will

    uns beiden

    both of us

    gefallen

    appeal; be enjoyable

    More detail

    Ich glaube means “I think” here. glauben is the base form; glaube is its present-tense form with ich. The same verb can introduce a belief or opinion: Ich glaube, er kommt morgen. — “I think he is coming tomorrow.” der Film is “the film.” Film is a masculine noun, so its nominative singular definite article is der when the film is the subject. The plural is die Filme; the article and noun form both change: die Filme sind gut — “the films are good.” wird is the third-person singular present form of werden, used here as a future auxiliary. With an infinitive, werden places the expected event in the future: Der Film wird beginnen. — “The film will begin.” The infinitive goes to the end of this clause. uns beiden means “both of us.” uns is the first-person plural pronoun in the dative form, and beiden agrees with that plural group and makes the meaning “both,” rather than simply “us.” The dative is important with gefallen: the people who experience the appeal are expressed as the dative. gefallen is the infinitive of gefallen, “to appeal to” or “to be enjoyable to.” In this construction, the film is the grammatical subject, while uns beiden identifies the people to whom it is pleasing. This differs from English word order: German literally presents the meaning as “the film will appeal to both of us.” Example: Der Film gefällt mir. — “I like the film” or, more literally, “The film appeals to me.” Together, Ich glaube introduces the speaker’s opinion. der Film is the subject, wird ... gefallen expresses that the film will be appealing, and uns beiden names the two people who will enjoy it. The complete meaning is: “I think we’ll both enjoy that one.”