Responding after spilling coffee on a laptop | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich habe Kaffee neben meinem Laptop verschüttet, und etwas Flüssigkeit ist unter die Tastatur gelaufen.

   I spilled coffee near my laptop, and some liquid went under the keyboard.

   Ich habe

   I have

   Kaffee

   coffee

   neben

   beside; near

   meinem

   my

   Laptop

   laptop

   verschüttet

   spilled

   etwas

   some

   Flüssigkeit

   liquid

   ist … gelaufen

   went

   unter

   under

   Tastatur

   keyboard

   More detail

   Ich habe starts the perfect tense here: habe is the first-person singular form of haben used as an auxiliary, not a statement of possession. With a transitive verb such as verschütten, German uses haben: Ich habe Wasser verschüttet means “I spilled water.” Kaffee means coffee. It is a masculine noun, so it is capitalized. In this sentence it is the thing that was spilled. Example: Der Kaffee ist heiß. — “The coffee is hot.” neben means “beside” or “near.” For a stationary location, it is used with the dative: neben dem Laptop means “beside the laptop.” The same preposition can take the accusative when it describes movement to a position; the case depends on the intended relation, not simply on the preposition itself. meinem is the dative masculine/neuter singular form of the possessive determiner mein (“my”). It agrees with the noun it determines here: meinem Laptop. Possessive determiners take case endings, so compare mein Laptop (nominative), meinen Laptop (accusative), and meinem Laptop (dative). Laptop means laptop. In the fixed sentence, meinem Laptop is the location near which the coffee was spilled. Example: Ich arbeite an meinem Laptop. — “I work on my laptop.” verschüttet is the past participle of verschütten (“to spill”). Together with habe, it forms the perfect: Ich habe Kaffee verschüttet — “I spilled coffee.” The participle appears at the end of this first clause. etwas means “some” here, referring to an unspecified amount. It does not state a precise quantity. It can also mean “something” in other contexts, but here the following noun makes the amount reading clear: etwas Wasser — “some water.” Flüssigkeit means liquid. It is a feminine noun and is capitalized. etwas Flüssigkeit is a noun phrase meaning “some liquid”; the noun remains singular because the material is presented as an unspecified amount. ist ... gelaufen is the perfect of laufen (“to run” or, in this context, “to flow/go”). ist is the third-person singular form of sein, used as the auxiliary because the liquid is described as moving to another location. The participle gelaufen comes from laufen; it is not formed from a different verb. Here it means that the liquid went or flowed under the keyboard, not that a person ran. unter means “under.” In unter die Tastatur, it introduces a destination: the liquid moved to a position under the keyboard, so the accusative is used. For a location without movement, German uses the dative instead: unter der Tastatur — “under the keyboard.” Tastatur means keyboard. The full phrase is die Tastatur, with the feminine article die; after the movement expressed by gelaufen, it appears as the accusative phrase unter die Tastatur. For this feminine noun, the article has the same visible form die in nominative and accusative singular. Putting the parts together, Ich habe Kaffee neben meinem Laptop verschüttet says that I spilled coffee near my laptop. und etwas Flüssigkeit ist unter die Tastatur gelaufen adds that some liquid moved under the keyboard. The perfect forms present both events as completed past events, while the case after neben describes the place near the laptop and the case after unter marks movement toward a destination.

2. Trenn ihn sofort vom Strom und schalte ihn aus, wenn er noch läuft.

   Unplug it immediately and turn it off if it is still running.

   Trenn

   unplug; disconnect

   ihn

   it

   sofort

   immediately

   Strom

   electricity; power

   schalte … aus

   turn it off

   wenn

   if

   noch

   still

   läuft

   is running

   More detail

   Trenn is the informal singular imperative of trennen (“to separate” or “to disconnect”). In Trenn ihn vom Strom, it means “disconnect it from the power supply.” The informal singular imperative addresses one person; the object is marked by ihn. ihn is the masculine accusative form of er (“he/it” as a masculine grammatical form). Here it refers to the device being disconnected and switched off, matching the fixed translation “it.” The same form can be used for a masculine noun or for a masculine-gender object referred to as “it”; the pronoun’s grammatical form does not itself identify the device. sofort is an adverb meaning “immediately,” so the disconnection should happen without delay. For example: Komm sofort! — “Come immediately!” Strom means “electricity” or “power.” With von, the phrase vom Strom uses the contraction von dem → vom; vom Strom trennen is a reusable way to say “disconnect from the power supply.” This is a phrase-level meaning, not a claim that the object is separated from electricity in some more general sense. schalte ... aus is the informal singular imperative of the separable verb ausschalten (“to switch off” or “turn off”). Its base form is ausschalten; in this clause, schalte appears near the beginning and the prefix aus moves to the end: Schalte das Gerät aus. — “Turn the device off.” The object being turned off is the same ihn as in the first command. wenn introduces a condition meaning “if” here. In the subordinate clause beginning with wenn, the finite verb comes at the end. Wenn es regnet, bleibe ich zu Hause. — “If it rains, I stay at home.” noch means “still” in this sentence: the condition applies if the device continues to be operating at that time. It is different from schon (“already”) in a basic time contrast: Er läuft noch. — “It is still running.” läuft is the third-person singular present form of laufen. The basic meaning of laufen can be “to walk” or “to run,” but with a device or machine it commonly means “to be running” or “to be operating.” Here er is the masculine nominative subject of läuft, and the translation identifies the subject as the same “it.” Together, Trenn ihn sofort vom Strom gives the first command, “Unplug it immediately.” und schalte ihn aus adds the second command, “and turn it off.” wenn er noch läuft makes that second action conditional: “if it is still running.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Unplug it immediately and turn it off if it is still running.”

3. Soll ich versuchen, ihn mit einem Föhn zu trocknen?

   Should I try to dry it with a hair dryer?

   Soll ich

   Should I

   versuchen

   try

   ihn

   it

   Föhn

   hair dryer

   zu trocknen

   to dry

   More detail

   Soll ich is the first-person singular question form of sollen plus ich. Here it asks whether the speaker should do something. Compare Soll ich warten? — “Should I wait?” The form soll is not the ordinary present-tense form for every subject: ich soll, du sollst, er/sie/es soll. versuchen means “to try” and is the infinitive used after soll. A useful pattern is versuchen, etwas zu tun — “to try to do something.” For example, Ich versuche, die Tür zu öffnen. — “I am trying to open the door.” ihn is an accusative masculine singular pronoun, meaning “him” or, as here, “it.” Its form reflects the grammatical gender and case of the thing it refers to; the surrounding context identifies the intended item as the object under discussion. The form changes with case and referent, for example er as a nominative masculine pronoun but ihn as an accusative masculine pronoun. Föhn is a masculine noun meaning “hair dryer.” In the sentence, mit einem Föhn means “with a hair dryer”: mit takes the dative case, so the masculine indefinite article appears as einem. The article does not itself state a numerical count; it presents the hair dryer as an unspecified member of its type. zu trocknen is the zu-infinitive of trocknen, “to dry.” In the pattern versuchen, ... zu trocknen, it names the action the speaker is considering trying. With a separable verb, zu would be placed inside the verb, but trocknen is not separable. Together, Soll ich asks whether the speaker should act, versuchen introduces an attempted action, ihn is the object to be dried, and mit einem Föhn gives the means. The complete utterance means: “Should I try to dry it with a hair dryer?”

4. Hitze kann weiteren Schaden verursachen. Lass ihn von einem Techniker überprüfen.

   Heat can cause more damage. Let a technician check it.

   Hitze

   heat

   kann

   can

   weiteren

   additional; further

   Schaden

   damage; harm

   verursachen

   cause

   Lass ihn

   let it

   Techniker

   technician

   überprüfen

   check; inspect

   More detail

   Hitze means heat here. It is a feminine noun: die Hitze. German nouns are capitalized. Example: Die Hitze ist stark. — “The heat is intense.” kann is the third-person singular form of the modal verb können (“can; be able to”). With a modal verb, the other verb usually appears as an infinitive at the end of the clause: Das kann helfen. — “That can help.” weiteren means further or additional here. It is the inflected form of weiter and agrees with the masculine accusative noun Schaden: weiteren Schaden. The ending reflects its position in this noun phrase; it is not a form of Schaden. Schaden means damage or harm. It is a masculine noun: der Schaden. In weiteren Schaden, it is the object affected by the action, so the phrase is accusative. Example: Das kann Schaden verursachen. — “That can cause damage.” verursachen means to cause. It is the infinitive used with kann. Its useful pattern is etwas verursachen (“cause something”): Der Fehler verursacht Probleme. — “The error causes problems.” Lass ihn is a second-person singular imperative construction from lassen (“let; have”) plus the accusative pronoun ihn. In this utterance, the fixed translation supports “let it,” referring to the object under discussion; ihn is the masculine accusative form used for that referent in German. Example: Lass ihn arbeiten. — “Let him work.” The same pattern can also mean having something done: Lass es prüfen. — “Have it checked.” Techniker means technician. The noun is masculine when used with the masculine article der: der Techniker. In the complete phrase von einem Techniker, von takes the dative, hence einem; this identifies the technician as the person who performs the checking. Example: Das wurde von einem Techniker geprüft. — “That was checked by a technician.” überprüfen means to check or inspect carefully. It is an infinitive after lassen in the pattern jemanden/etwas überprüfen lassen (“have someone/something checked” or “let someone/something be checked”). Example: Ich lasse den Bericht überprüfen. — “I have the report checked.” Together, Hitze kann weiteren Schaden verursachen says that heat is capable of causing additional damage. Lass ihn von einem Techniker überprüfen is a request to have the object checked by a technician. The full utterance therefore means: “Heat can cause more damage. Let a technician check it.”

5. Ich mache mir Sorgen, weil meine Projektdateien darauf sind.

   I am worried because my project files are on it.

   mache mir Sorgen

   am worried

   weil

   because

   Projektdateien

   project files

   darauf sind

   are on it

   More detail

   mache mir Sorgen expresses the speaker’s current worry: literally, the speaker “makes worries for themself,” but the natural English meaning here is “am worried.” The verb is machen (“to make/do”); mache is its first-person singular present form with ich. The reflexive dative pronoun mir means “to me/for myself,” and Sorgen is the plural noun “worries.” A useful related pattern is sich Sorgen machen: Wir machen uns Sorgen. — “We are worried.” The pronoun changes with the person: ich mache mir Sorgen, but du machst dir Sorgen. weil introduces the reason for the worry and means “because.” In a German weil clause, the conjugated verb normally goes to the end. For example: Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich krank bin. — “I am staying at home because I am ill.” Projektdateien means “project files.” It is a compound noun: Projekt specifies the type of Dateien, while Dateien is the plural of Datei (“file”). The plural form is important here because the verb later is sind, matching the plural subject. Example: Meine Projektdateien sind wichtig. — “My project files are important.” darauf sind means “are on it” in this sentence. darauf is a compound adverb formed from da + auf; it refers to the relevant thing already understood in the situation, without naming that referent in this sentence. sind is the third-person plural present form of sein (“to be”), agreeing with the plural subject meine Projektdateien. In the weil clause, sind comes at the end: weil meine Projektdateien darauf sind. Together, Ich mache mir Sorgen gives the main statement “I am worried,” and weil meine Projektdateien darauf sind gives its reason: “because my project files are on it.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I am worried because my project files are on it.”

6. Prüfe deine Cloud-Sicherung von einem anderen Gerät aus, bevor du den Laptop wieder anfasst.

   Check your cloud backup from another device before you touch the laptop again.

   Prüfe

   check; verify

   Cloud-Sicherung

   cloud backup

   anderen

   another; different

   Gerät

   device

   von einem anderen Gerät aus

   from another device

   bevor

   before

   wieder

   again

   anfasst

   touches; handles

   More detail

   Prüfe is the informal singular imperative of prüfen (“to check, verify”). The form addresses one person: Prüfe die Datei. — “Check the file.” The imperative is not the same as the present-tense statement du prüfst (“you check”). Cloud-Sicherung is a compound noun meaning a backup stored in the cloud. Its core noun is Sicherung; Cloud specifies the type or location. German nouns are capitalized, and the noun is feminine: die Cloud-Sicherung. Example: Die Sicherung ist vollständig. — “The backup is complete.” anderen is an inflected form of andere (“other, another, different”). Here it is masculine singular dative after einem: von einem anderen Gerät. The ending belongs to anderen, not to Gerät. Related forms include ein anderes Gerät in the nominative or accusative neuter, but einem anderen Gerät in this dative phrase. Gerät means “device” or “apparatus.” Its plural is Geräte: Die Geräte sind verbunden. — “The devices are connected.” In the fixed sentence, Gerät is singular and appears in the dative phrase introduced by von. von einem anderen Gerät aus is the reusable pattern for “from another device.” von ... aus marks the starting point or place from which an action is carried out; aus is placed at the end of this prepositional phrase. Example: Ich arbeite von zu Hause aus. — “I work from home.” bevor means “before” and introduces a subordinate clause. In that clause, the finite verb comes at the end: bevor du den Laptop wieder anfasst — “before you touch the laptop again.” This is different from a main clause such as Du fasst den Laptop an. — “You touch the laptop.” wieder means “again” here: it indicates that touching the laptop would happen another time. It is an adverb and does not inflect. Example: Sie kommt wieder. — “She is coming back again.” anfasst is the second-person singular present form of the separable verb anfassen (“to touch, handle”). In a subordinate clause, the prefix remains attached: du fasst ... an in a main clause, but bevor du ... anfasst after bevor. The form anfasst agrees with du; it is not the form for a plural subject. Together, Prüfe deine Cloud-Sicherung gives the instruction “Check your cloud backup.” von einem anderen Gerät aus specifies the device from which to perform the check. bevor du den Laptop wieder anfasst sets the time condition: do this before you touch the laptop again. The complete meaning is therefore: “Check your cloud backup from another device before you touch the laptop again.”

7. Die meisten Dateien waren bereits synchronisiert.

   Most of the files were already synced.

   Die meisten

   most of the

   Dateien

   files

   waren

   were

   bereits

   already

   synchronisiert

   synced

   More detail

   Die meisten means “most of the” and refers to a majority of a known or contextually identifiable group. meisten is the superlative form related to viel (“much/many”): viel → mehr (“more”) → am meisten (“the most”) or, before a noun, die meisten (“most of the”). Here die and meisten form the plural subject phrase; the phrase does not state an exact number. Dateien means “files.” It is the plural of die Datei; the singular is eine Datei, and the plural form is Dateien. German nouns are capitalized, so Dateien begins with a capital letter. waren is the past-tense plural form of sein (“to be”): ich war, du warst, er/sie/es war, wir/sie/Sie waren, ihr wart. Here it agrees with the plural subject Die meisten Dateien. It links that subject to its state rather than independently meaning “synced.” bereits means “already.” It marks the synchronization as completed by the relevant time. A common near-synonym is schon, which also often means “already”; bereits is somewhat more formal or neutral in many contexts. synchronisiert means “synced” or “synchronized.” It is the past participle of synchronisieren, a regular verb: synchronisieren → synchronisiert. With sein, a past participle can describe a resulting state, as in Die Dateien sind synchronisiert (“The files are synced”). In this sentence, waren synchronisiert places that state in the past. The form synchronisiert itself does not show the plural; waren carries the plural form here. Together, Die meisten Dateien is the plural subject, waren synchronisiert says that those files were in a synchronized state, and bereits says this was true already by the relevant past time. The complete meaning is: “Most of the files were already synced.”

8. Lass den Laptop ausgeschaltet und versuche nicht, ihn zu früh einzuschalten.

   Keep the laptop off, and do not try to start it too soon.

   Lass

   keep; leave

   Laptop

   laptop

   ausgeschaltet

   switched off

   versuche

   try

   ihn

   it

   zu früh

   too early

   einzuschalten

   to switch on; to start

   More detail

   Lass is the singular informal imperative of lassen. Here it means “keep” or “leave” something in a particular state. The pattern is Lass + object + adjective/participle: Lass die Tür geschlossen. — “Leave the door closed.” Laptop is a masculine noun. In den Laptop, den marks the accusative object of lass; the noun itself does not change. Der Laptop is the basic form, while den Laptop is used here because the laptop is the thing being kept in a state. ausgeschaltet describes the laptop’s state: switched off. It is related to the separable verb ausschalten (“to switch off”); ausgeschaltet is its past participle and can also function like an adjective. The related opposite is eingeschaltet (“switched on”). versuche is the singular informal imperative of versuchen (“to try”). The negative command is formed with nicht: Versuche das nicht. — “Don’t try that.” ihn is an accusative masculine pronoun meaning “it” here, referring to the laptop identified in the fixed translation. The masculine forms are er in the subject position and ihn when the masculine referent is the direct object: Ich sehe ihn. — “I see it/him.” zu früh means “too early.” Früh means “early”; adding zu makes the timing excessive for the intended situation. For example, Du bist zu früh. means “You are too early.” einzuschalten means “to switch on” or “to start” in this context. Its base verb is the separable verb einschalten. With zu, a separable verb places zu between the prefix and the verb stem: einzuschalten, not zu einschalten. The construction versuchen, etwas zu tun means “try to do something,” as in Ich versuche, die Tür zu öffnen. — “I am trying to open the door.” Together, Lass den Laptop ausgeschaltet tells the listener to keep the laptop in its switched-off state. Und versuche nicht, ihn zu früh einzuschalten adds a negative instruction: do not try to switch the laptop on before the appropriate time. The whole utterance therefore means: “Keep the laptop off, and do not try to start it too soon.”

9. Ich bringe ihn zu einem Techniker und frage nach dem nächsten Schritt.

   I will take it to a technician and ask about the next step.

   Ich

   I

   bringe

   take; bring

   ihn

   it

   zu

   to

   einem

   a

   Techniker

   technician

   frage

   ask

   nach

   about

   dem

   the

   nächsten

   next

   Schritt

   step

   More detail

   Ich is the first-person singular subject: “I.” The subject form does not identify any additional participant beyond the speaker. bringe comes from bringen (“to bring; to take”). It is the first-person singular present form: ich bringe. German present tense can also refer to a planned or imminent future, so the fixed translation’s “I will take” is compatible here. The destination is introduced by zu: Ich bringe es zu ... = “I take/bring it to ...” ihn is a third-person singular masculine accusative pronoun, used here for the object being taken. In the supplied meaning, it corresponds to “it”; the pronoun’s masculine grammatical form does not require translating it as “him.” The form changes with case, for example er (subject) → ihn (accusative object). zu marks the destination or recipient and takes the dative case in this use. Compare the reusable pattern etwas zu einer Person bringen (“to take something to a person”). einem is the indefinite article in the dative masculine singular form. It marks the noun phrase as the destination after zu: zu einem .... An indefinite article does not by itself assert a numerical count; here it introduces a technician who is not otherwise identified. Techniker is the masculine noun “technician.” In einem Techniker, the article shows masculine singular dative; the noun itself has the same spelling in this case as in the nominative singular: der Techniker → einem Techniker. Example: Ich bringe es zu einem Arzt. — “I take it to a doctor.” frage comes from fragen (“to ask”) and is the first-person singular present form: ich frage. The verb can be used with the construction nach etwas fragen, meaning “to ask about something” or “to inquire about something.” nach belongs with frage in nach dem nächsten Schritt fragen. In this construction, nach means “about” in the sense of requesting information about something and takes the dative: nach dem .... This is different from using a direct accusative object with a verb such as etwas prüfen (“to check something”). dem is the definite article for masculine or neuter singular dative. Here it accompanies masculine Schritt, so der Schritt becomes dem Schritt in the dative. The article also makes the step definite: it is “the next step,” not an unspecified step. nächsten is the inflected form of the adjective nächst (“next”). With masculine singular dative after the definite article dem, it takes the ending -en: dem nächsten .... The adjective describes which step is meant. Example: Wir planen den nächsten Termin. — “We are planning the next appointment.” Schritt is the masculine noun “step.” Its useful basic form is der Schritt; after dative dem, the noun remains Schritt. In this sentence it means the next action or stage, not necessarily a physical step. Together, Ich bringe ihn zu einem Techniker means “I will take it to a technician,” with ihn as the thing being taken and zu einem Techniker as the destination. und frage nach dem nächsten Schritt adds a coordinated action: “and ask about the next step.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I will take it to a technician and ask about the next step.”

10. Ein Techniker kann ihn überprüfen, ohne den Schaden zu verschlimmern.

    A technician can check it without making the damage worse.

    Techniker

    technician

    kann

    can

    ihn

    it

    überprüfen

    check

    ohne

    without

    Schaden

    damage

    verschlimmern

    make worse

    More detail

    Techniker means “technician” here. It is a masculine noun: der Techniker, with plural die Techniker. The indefinite article ein marks the technician as not specifically identified; it does not by itself state a numeric count. kann is the third-person singular present form of können, “can” or “be able to.” A modal verb such as können is followed here by an infinitive, so the conjugated modal appears in the clause while überprüfen remains an infinitive at the end of the main clause. Example: Sie kann warten. — “She can wait.” ihn means “it” in this sentence and is the accusative form of the masculine personal pronoun. The fixed translation identifies its intended referent as the thing being checked; the pronoun’s grammatical form is masculine accusative. Compare er (nominative “he/it”) and ihn (accusative “him/it”). überprüfen means “to check” or “to inspect.” It is the infinitive selected by kann; in the main clause, kann ihn überprüfen means “can check it.” Example: Der Techniker überprüft das Gerät. — “The technician checks the device.” ohne introduces the condition that does not occur: “without.” With an infinitive clause, German commonly uses ohne ... zu followed by the infinitive. The understood subject of this clause is the same technician who can perform the checking, but ohne itself does not express that subject. Schaden means “damage.” In den Schaden, the noun phrase is masculine accusative because it is the object of verschlimmern. The noun itself has the same form in these cases; the article shows the contrast: der Schaden (nominative) and den Schaden (masculine accusative). Example: Der Schaden ist groß. — “The damage is extensive.” verschlimmern means “to make worse” or “to worsen.” Here it is an infinitive after zu, forming zu verschlimmern; den Schaden zu verschlimmern means “to make the damage worse.” The zu infinitive is part of the ohne ... zu construction, not a separate meaning of the verb. Example: Er versucht, den Fehler nicht zu verschlimmern. — “He tries not to make the error worse.” As a whole, Ein Techniker kann ihn überprüfen means “A technician can check it.” The following ohne den Schaden zu verschlimmern adds that this checking can happen without making the damage worse. Thus the complete utterance is: “A technician can check it without making the damage worse.”