Take a Focused Break Before Your Focus Fades | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich starre jetzt seit fast zwei Stunden auf diese Tabelle.

   I have been staring at this spreadsheet for almost two hours.

   Ich

   I

   starre … auf

   stare at

   jetzt

   now

   seit

   for (a duration)

   fast

   almost

   zwei

   two

   Stunden

   hours

   diese

   this

   Tabelle

   spreadsheet

   More detail

   Ich means “I” and is the first-person singular subject: the speaker is the one doing the staring. The related object form is mich, as in Er sieht mich (“He sees me”), but Ich is the subject form used here. starre is the first-person singular present form of starren (“to stare”). The present tense presents the action as happening now. starren auf + accusative is a useful pattern for “to stare at”: Ich starre auf den Bildschirm means “I am staring at the screen.” jetzt means “now” and places the situation in the present. Here it reinforces that the staring is currently continuing; it does not by itself express the duration. seit introduces a period that began in the past and continues up to the reference time. With an ongoing situation, German commonly uses the present tense after seit, even though English often uses “have been ...-ing”: Ich lerne seit drei Monaten Deutsch means “I have been learning German for three months.” fast means “almost” or “nearly.” It reduces the stated amount without replacing it: fast zwei Stunden means that the duration is close to two hours, but not quite two hours. zwei is the number “two.” It determines the plural form of the following time noun here. For comparison, eine Stunde is singular, while zwei Stunden is plural. Stunden is the plural of die Stunde (“hour”). The phrase seit fast zwei Stunden therefore gives the continuing duration: for almost two hours. seit does not mean that the action ended after that period; it marks a starting point extending to now. diese means “this” and agrees with the noun it modifies. In this sentence it is the feminine singular accusative form of dies-, because Tabelle is the direct object of the preposition pattern auf ... starren. The feminine singular form is also diese in the nominative: Diese Tabelle ist groß means “This spreadsheet is large.” Tabelle means “table” or, in this translation, “spreadsheet.” It is a feminine noun: die Tabelle. In auf diese Tabelle, the noun phrase is the thing being stared at. A useful related expression is eine Tabelle erstellen, “to create a table/spreadsheet.” Together, Ich starre auf diese Tabelle means “I am staring at this spreadsheet.” Adding jetzt identifies the action as current, and seit fast zwei Stunden states that it began nearly two hours ago and is still continuing. The complete utterance therefore means: “I have been staring at this spreadsheet for almost two hours.”

2. Deine Konzentration lässt wahrscheinlich nach, auch wenn du weitermachst.

   Your focus is probably fading, even if you keep pushing.

   Deine

   your

   Konzentration

   focus; concentration

   lässt … nach

   fades; declines

   wahrscheinlich

   probably

   auch wenn

   even if

   du

   you

   weitermachst

   keep going; continue

   More detail

   Deine means “your” here and is the possessive form used with Konzentration. The ending -e fits the feminine singular noun in the nominative case: deine Konzentration. Possessive forms also change with the noun’s case and grammatical gender/number, so this ending is not a general form for every noun. Konzentration is a feminine noun meaning “concentration” or “focus.” In this sentence it is the thing whose condition is changing. For example: Meine Konzentration ist besser. — “My concentration is better.” lässt ... nach comes from the separable verb nachlassen, meaning “to decrease,” “to weaken,” or, for focus, “to fade.” The observed form lässt is the third-person singular present form, while nach appears at the end of the main clause: Die Energie lässt nach. — “The energy is fading.” Here, lässt belongs to nachlassen; it is not simply the ordinary verb lassen meaning “let” or “leave.” wahrscheinlich is an adverb meaning “probably.” It expresses the speaker’s estimate that the fading is likely, rather than stating it as certain. Its position between the subject and the verb phrase is natural here. auch wenn introduces a subordinate clause meaning “even if” in this sentence. It presents a condition that does not change the main statement. In a clause introduced by auch wenn, the finite verb normally goes to the end. du is the informal singular nominative pronoun “you.” It is the subject of the subordinate clause and therefore controls the second-person singular form of its verb. weitermachst is the second-person singular present form of weitermachen, “to continue” or “to keep going.” In a main clause, this separable verb is commonly split: Du machst weiter. In the subordinate clause after auch wenn, it stays together at the end: auch wenn du weitermachst — “even if you keep going.” Together, Deine Konzentration lässt wahrscheinlich nach says “Your focus is probably fading.” auch wenn du weitermachst adds the concessive condition “even if you keep pushing/continue.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Your focus is probably fading, even if you keep pushing.”

3. Meine Augen fühlen sich müde an, aber ich wollte vor dem Mittagessen fertig werden.

   My eyes feel tired, but I wanted to finish before lunch.

   Augen

   eyes

   fühlen … an

   feel

   müde

   tired

   aber

   but

   ich wollte

   I wanted

   fertig werden

   finish; become finished

   vor

   before

   Mittagessen

   lunch

   More detail

   Augen means “eyes” here. It is the plural of Auge; the singular/plural pair is Auge → Augen. The plural noun is the grammatical subject of the sensation described in the sentence. fühlen ... an is the separable expression sich anfühlen, “to feel/seem”. In this sentence, sich refers back to the eyes, and the expression describes how they feel rather than what they deliberately touch or perceive. With a plural subject, the present-tense form is fühlen; the separable part an appears later in the clause. Example: Der Stoff fühlt sich weich an. — “The fabric feels soft.” müde means “tired” and describes the condition being felt. It is an adjective; after sich anfühlen, it appears as a predicate adjective and therefore has no ending here. Example: Ich fühle mich müde. — “I feel tired.” aber connects two contrasting parts: the eyes feel tired, yet the speaker still had a goal or intention. It is a coordinating conjunction and does not itself change the meaning of either clause. ich wollte means “I wanted” in this context. wollte is the simple-past form of wollen for ich; the present form is ich will, while wollte commonly expresses a past wish or intention. With another verb, wollen takes an infinitive: Ich wollte gehen. — “I wanted to leave.” fertig werden means “to finish” here, literally expressing becoming finished or reaching completion. werden is the infinitive used after wollte, and fertig describes the resulting state. This is different from fertig sein, “to be finished,” which describes an already completed state rather than the process of reaching it. Example: Wir wollen heute fertig werden. — “We want to finish today.” vor means “before” when it places one event earlier than another. It introduces the reference point dem Mittagessen; with a time reference, German uses the dative here: vor dem Essen — “before the meal.” Mittagessen means “lunch”. It is a neuter noun, so the definite article has the form dem in the dative after vor in this time relation. The compound is written as one noun in German. Together, Meine Augen fühlen sich müde an says “My eyes feel tired”: Meine Augen is the subject, fühlen ... an is the separable expression, and müde gives the felt condition. Aber ich wollte vor dem Mittagessen fertig werden adds the contrast and says that the speaker wanted to reach completion before lunch. The whole utterance is therefore: “My eyes feel tired, but I wanted to finish before lunch.”

4. Eine kurze Pause könnte dir helfen, danach schneller fertig zu werden.

   A short break might help you finish faster afterward.

   Eine

   a

   kurze

   short

   Pause

   break

   könnte

   might; could

   dir

   to you

   helfen

   help

   danach

   afterward

   schneller

   faster

   fertig

   finished; done

   zu werden

   to become

   More detail

   Eine introduces the subject noun Pause in the feminine singular nominative. It normally means “a,” but an indefinite article does not by itself assert a numeric count. Compare eine kurze Pause with a feminine singular noun; other noun genders and cases can require different article forms. kurze means “short” here and agrees with Pause. Its base form is kurz; the -e ending is the adjective form used after feminine singular nominative eine. For example, eine lange Pause means “a long break,” with lange showing the same pattern. Pause is the feminine noun for a break or pause. The plural is Pausen: kurze Pausen means “short breaks.” In this sentence it is the subject of the possibility expressed by könnte. könnte is the Konjunktiv II form of können (“can; be able to”). Here it expresses a possible or tentative result, so Eine kurze Pause könnte ... means “A short break might ...,” not a definite prediction. A useful pattern is Das könnte helfen — “That might help.” dir is the informal singular second-person pronoun in the dative case, meaning “to you” here. The verb helfen commonly takes the person helped in the dative: Ich helfe dir means “I help you.” The form for “you” in a direct-object role would be dich, but helfen requires dir for this role. helfen is the infinitive “to help.” In könnte ... helfen, the modal verb is conjugated and helfen remains in the infinitive. The pattern jemandem helfen, etwas zu tun means “to help someone do something”; jemandem is the dative person receiving help. danach is a temporal adverb meaning “afterward” or “after that.” It refers to what happens after the break in the utterance’s sequence. For example, Danach arbeite ich weiter means “Afterward, I continue working.” schneller is the comparative form of schnell (“fast; quickly”), meaning “faster” or “more quickly.” The basic chain is schnell → schneller → am schnellsten (“fast” → “faster” → “fastest”). Here the comparison is with the speed of finishing without the stated break or with another relevant baseline; the sentence does not specify that baseline further. fertig is an adjective meaning “done” or “finished.” With werden, the construction fertig werden means “to finish” or literally “to become done.” In this sentence, schneller fertig werden means “to finish faster.” zu werden is werden (“to become”) in the infinitive with zu. After helfen, the action being helped can be expressed with zu plus an infinitive: Sie hilft mir, fertig zu werden means “She helps me finish.” The understood subject of zu werden here is the person represented by dir, so the meaning is “help you finish,” not “help the break finish.” Together, Eine kurze Pause is the subject, and könnte dir helfen says that it might help you. danach places the finishing after the break, while schneller fertig zu werden expresses the result as finishing more quickly. The complete meaning is: “A short break might help you finish faster afterward.”

5. Vielleicht sollte ich mich dehnen und Wasser holen, statt auf mein Handy zu schauen.

   Maybe I should stretch and get water instead of checking my phone.

   Vielleicht

   maybe

   sollte ich

   I should

   mich dehnen

   stretch

   Wasser

   water

   holen

   get

   statt … zu

   instead of doing...

   mein Handy

   my phone

   schauen

   look

   More detail

   Vielleicht means “maybe” and signals uncertainty rather than stating that the action will happen. It can also introduce a suggestion: Vielleicht regnet es morgen. — “Maybe it will rain tomorrow.” sollte ich expresses the speaker’s self-directed recommendation: “I should.” sollte is the first-person singular form of sollen in the subjunctive II, sollte; in this sentence it makes the advice less direct than a firm obligation. The usual present indicative form is ich soll, meaning that I am supposed or expected to do something. Example: Ich sollte öfter Pausen machen. — “I should take breaks more often.” mich dehnen means “stretch.” dehnen is the base form, and mich is the reflexive form used with ich: Ich dehne mich. — “I stretch.” The reflexive pronoun shows that the speaker stretches their own body; it is not the same pattern as stretching a separate object, as in Ich dehne den Rücken. — “I stretch my back.” Wasser is the noun “water.” It is normally used without a plural when referring to the substance. In Wasser holen, it is the thing being obtained, while holen supplies the action. holen means “get” or “fetch.” Its base form is holen; useful forms include ich hole (“I get”), holte (“got”), and hat geholt (“has got/fetched”). Wasser holen is a common practical expression for getting water, without specifying exactly where it comes from. Example: Ich hole einen Tee. — “I’ll get a tea.” statt ... zu introduces an alternative and means “instead of doing ...”. Here the material between statt and zu is auf mein Handy zu schauen, so the construction compares two actions: stretching and getting water, versus looking at the phone. With a noun, German also uses statt directly: statt einer Pause — “instead of a break.” mein Handy means “my phone.” Handy is a neuter noun in German, and the possessive determiner mein agrees with it here. In the phrase auf mein Handy, auf takes the accusative because the phone is the target of looking at; the neuter accusative form of mein is still mein. Possessive forms change with the noun’s grammatical gender, case, and number, not simply with the owner’s gender. schauen means “look.” Its base form is schauen, and the sentence uses it as an infinitive after zu: zu schauen. With auf and a target, auf etwas schauen means “look at something.” Example: Sie schaut auf die Uhr. — “She looks at the clock.” Putting the parts together, Vielleicht sollte ich presents a tentative self-recommendation. mich dehnen und Wasser holen gives the two actions the speaker considers doing. statt auf mein Handy zu schauen identifies looking at the phone as the alternative to those actions. The whole utterance therefore means: “Maybe I should stretch and get water instead of checking my phone.”

6. Das würde deinen Augen und deinem Körper helfen, sich richtig zu erholen.

   That would help your eyes and body rest properly.

   Das

   that

   würde

   would

   deinen Augen

   your eyes

   deinem Körper

   your body

   helfen

   help

   sich … zu erholen

   to recover

   richtig

   properly

   More detail

   Das is the subject pronoun meaning “that” here. It points to the proposed action or situation in the surrounding conversation; the supplied translation confirms this intended meaning without identifying a more specific noun. würde is the conditional form of werden, used here with an infinitive to express “would help”: würde + infinitive. The form würde agrees with a singular third-person subject such as das. This is a hypothetical or possible result, not a plain statement that the result is already happening. deinen Augen means “your eyes.” The noun Augen is the plural of Auge. With helfen, the person or things helped are put in the dative case; deinen marks the informal singular possessive “your” in this plural dative form. Compare deine Augen in a different case position, such as Ich sehe deine Augen (“I see your eyes”). deinem Körper means “your body.” Körper is masculine, singular, and here appears in the dative after helfen; the possessive form is therefore deinem. The same possessive has a different form in a nominative subject phrase: dein Körper (“your body”). helfen is the infinitive “to help.” Its common pattern is jemandem helfen—literally, to help someone or something in the dative—so both deinen Augen and deinem Körper are the recipients of the help. In the sentence, würde helfen forms “would help.” sich zu erholen is the reflexive infinitive “to recover” or “to rest and recover.” The base verb is erholen; with zu, it becomes sich zu erholen. The reflexive sich refers to the things being helped, namely the eyes and body as a coordinated plural subject of the recovery action. In other persons, the reflexive form changes: um mich zu erholen means “in order to recover,” referring to oneself as the speaker. richtig means “properly” here and describes how the recovery happens. It is an adverb in this use, so it does not take an ending. The related adjective use is visible in a phrase such as ein richtiger Plan (“a proper/correct plan”), where it modifies a noun. Together, Das würde gives “That would,” deinen Augen und deinem Körper helfen gives “help your eyes and body,” and sich richtig zu erholen gives “to recover properly.” The complete meaning is: “That would help your eyes and body rest properly.”

7. Lass uns eine kurze Pause machen und mit einem klareren Plan zurückkommen.

   Let's take a short break and come back with a clearer plan.

   Lass uns

   let’s

   kurze

   short

   Pause

   break

   machen

   make; do

   klareren

   clearer

   Plan

   plan

   zurückkommen

   come back

   More detail

   “Lass uns” is the reusable German way to propose a joint action: “let’s …”. Lass is the singular informal imperative of lassen, and uns is the object pronoun for the speaker together with the addressed person. With multiple people addressed, German normally uses Lasst uns … instead. The construction can introduce more than one coordinated infinitive, as here. “kurze” is the adjective kurz (“short”). It describes Pause here and has the ending -e because it follows the feminine accusative phrase eine Pause. Useful comparison forms are kurz → kürzer → am kürzesten. “Pause” is a feminine noun meaning a period of stopping or resting; its plural is Pausen. The common reusable expression is eine Pause machen, as in: Wir brauchen eine Pause. — “We need a break.” “machen” is the infinitive machen, meaning “to do” or “to make”; in eine Pause machen, the whole expression means “to take a break.” After Lass uns, the infinitive stays in this form. Example: Lass uns anfangen. — “Let’s start.” “klareren” is the comparative form of klar (“clear”): klar → klarer → am klarsten. Here it means “clearer,” without specifying in the sentence what it is being compared with. The ending -en belongs to this adjective because it follows einem in the dative masculine phrase mit einem klareren Plan. “Plan” is a masculine noun meaning a plan; its plural is Pläne. After mit, German uses the dative, so ein Plan becomes einem Plan. In this sentence, mit einem klareren Plan means “with a clearer plan.” “zurückkommen” means “to come back” or “to return.” It is a separable verb: in a finite clause, Wir kommen zurück, but its infinitive is written together as zurückkommen. Here it is the second infinitive coordinated with machen, and it shares the proposal introduced by Lass uns. Together, Lass uns eine kurze Pause machen means “Let’s take a short break.” und mit einem klareren Plan zurückkommen adds the coordinated action “and come back with a clearer plan.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Let’s take a short break and come back with a clearer plan.”

8. Wenn wir zurück sind, können wir nur die problematischen Zeilen überprüfen.

   When we return, we can review only the problem rows.

   Wenn wir zurück sind

   when we are back

   können wir

   we can

   nur

   only

   problematischen

   problematic

   Zeilen

   rows

   überprüfen

   review

   More detail

   Wenn wir zurück sind introduces a condition or time point: “when we are back.” Wenn commonly starts a subordinate clause, so the finite verb comes at the end: Wenn wir zurück sind, .... Here sind is the present-tense plural form of sein (“to be”), used with wir; zurück means “back.” Example: Wenn ich zurück bin, rufe ich an. — “When I am back, I’ll call.” können wir means “we can.” können is the present-tense plural form of the modal verb können, whose base form is also können; it expresses ability or possibility. In a main clause, the finite modal is in the second position, while the other verb goes to the end: Wir können später anfangen. — “We can start later.” nur limits what is included: “only.” In this sentence it limits the object of the review, so the intended meaning is reviewing the problem rows and not other rows. Its exact scope can depend on placement; Nur die problematischen Zeilen überprüfen makes the restriction especially clear. problematischen is the inflected form of the adjective problematisch, “problematic.” It describes Zeilen and appears in the plural accusative phrase die problematischen Zeilen, because the rows are the direct object of überprüfen. The ending -en here is part of the adjective’s inflection after the definite article die; it is not an inflection of the noun. Example: Wir lesen die wichtigen Abschnitte. — “We read the important sections.” Zeilen is the plural of the noun Zeile, “line” or, in this context, “row.” The definite article die marks the plural noun phrase here; Zeilen itself also shows its plural form. The fixed translation supports the contextual meaning “rows,” rather than requiring a different sense of “lines.” überprüfen is the infinitive verb “to check” or “to review.” With the modal können, it remains in the infinitive at the end of the main clause: Wir können die Daten überprüfen. — “We can review the data.” The observed form is not a past-tense form; the modal construction places the action in a possible future or otherwise relevant time, while the exact timing is supplied here by Wenn wir zurück sind. Together, the structure is Wenn ... , können wir nur [object] überprüfen: “When ..., we can review only [object].” The subordinate clause sets the time condition, können wir states the available action, nur restricts that action’s object, and die problematischen Zeilen identifies the rows to be reviewed. The complete meaning is: “When we return, we can review only the problem rows.”

9. Das klingt fokussierter, als wenn ich mich durch alles durcharbeiten würde.

   That sounds more focused than forcing myself through everything.

   Das klingt

   that sounds

   fokussierter

   more focused

   als wenn

   than if

   mich … durch … durcharbeiten

   work my way through

   alles

   everything

   würde

   would

   More detail

   Das klingt means “that sounds.” Das is a demonstrative pronoun used here as the subject; the exact referent is understood from the situation. klingen means “to sound,” and klingt is the present-tense form for er/sie/es and other singular subjects. Example: Das klingt gut. — “That sounds good.” fokussierter means “more focused.” It is the comparative form of fokussiert: fokussiert → fokussierter → am fokussiertesten. The following als clause supplies the comparison, so this option is presented as having a greater degree of focus than the alternative. als wenn introduces a comparison with a hypothetical alternative and means “than if.” A shorter comparison can also use als with a clause. Here the alternative is framed as an imagined way of proceeding. mich ... durcharbeiten represents the reflexive construction sich durch etwas durcharbeiten, meaning “to work one’s way through something.” mich is the accusative reflexive form used with the first-person subject ich. In the subordinate clause, the infinitive durcharbeiten occurs before the final auxiliary würde. Example: Ich arbeite mich durch den Bericht durch. — “I work my way through the report.” alles means “everything” and is the object of durch: durch alles means “through everything.” It is a pronoun standing independently rather than modifying a stated noun. Example: Wir prüfen alles. — “We check everything.” würde is the first-person singular form of werden used here as a conditional auxiliary; the same form is also used with a third-person singular subject. Together with the infinitive durcharbeiten, ich ... durcharbeiten würde expresses a hypothetical “I would work my way through.” In this subordinate clause, würde is the final verb. Putting the parts together: Das klingt fokussierter says “That sounds more focused,” and als wenn ich mich durch alles durcharbeiten würde compares it with the hypothetical alternative “than if I worked my way through everything.” The complete meaning is: “That sounds more focused than forcing myself through everything.”

10. Dann stellen wir einen Timer und beginnen zuerst mit diesen Zeilen.

    Then let's set a timer and start with those rows first.

    Dann

    then

    stellen

    set

    Timer

    timer

    beginnen

    begin; start

    zuerst

    first

    diesen

    these; those

    Zeilen

    rows; lines

    More detail

    Dann means “then” here and places this action next in the sequence. Example: Dann gehen wir nach Hause. — “Then we go home.” stellen is the present-tense form used with wir of stellen, “to set/place.” In einen Timer stellen, the verb means “set a timer”; the thing being set is marked by einen. Example: Wir stellen einen Wecker. — “We set an alarm.” Timer is a masculine noun meaning “timer.” With stellen, it appears as einen Timer, the accusative form after the indefinite article. The noun itself keeps the same singular form here; the article shows the case and gender. beginnen means “begin” or “start.” It is the base form and also the present-tense form used with wir: wir beginnen. Here it is coordinated with stellen, so the same subject wir applies to both actions. Example: Wir beginnen mit der ersten Aufgabe. — “We start with the first task.” zuerst means “first” and marks the initial step in an order. Example: Zuerst lesen wir die Überschrift. — “First we read the heading.” diesen is the demonstrative determiner meaning “these” or “those,” with its exact distance sense supplied by context. In this sentence, the fixed translation supports “those.” After mit, it is the dative plural form: mit diesen .... The form agrees with the plural noun it determines. Zeilen is the plural of Zeile, “row” or “line.” In the supplied context, “rows” is the intended meaning. Its plural form is Zeilen; after mit, the phrase is in the dative, but this noun has no extra ending here. Example: Wir arbeiten mit diesen Zeilen. — “We work with these lines.” Together, Dann stellen wir einen Timer means “Then let’s set a timer,” and beginnen zuerst mit diesen Zeilen means “start with those rows first.” German places the finite verb stellen before the subject because Dann occupies the first position; beginnen is coordinated with it and shares wir. The complete utterance therefore means: “Then let’s set a timer and start with those rows first.”