Verifying an unexpected maintenance visitor | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Vorhin hat jemand geklopft und gesagt, er sei hier, um die Lüftung zu überprüfen.

   Someone knocked earlier and said they were here to inspect the ventilation.

   Vorhin

   earlier

   jemand

   someone

   geklopft

   knocked

   gesagt

   said

   er sei

   they were

   hier

   here

   Lüftung

   ventilation

   um die Lüftung zu überprüfen

   to inspect the ventilation

   More detail

   Vorhin means “earlier” and places the event before the time of speaking. It is a useful time adverb; compare jetzt (“now”) and später (“later”). jemand means “someone” or “somebody.” It refers to an unspecified person; the sentence does not identify who this person is. It is an indefinite pronoun, not a statement that there was a particular known individual. geklopft is the past participle of klopfen (“to knock”). With hat, it forms the perfect: hat geklopft = “knocked” or literally “has knocked.” Example: Jemand hat an die Tür geklopft. — “Someone knocked on the door.” gesagt is the past participle of sagen (“to say”). Here it is coordinated with geklopft, so hat geklopft und gesagt means “knocked and said.” Example: Sie hat nichts gesagt. — “She said nothing.” er sei reports the person’s words indirectly. sei is the Konjunktiv I form of sein (“to be”), used here instead of indicative ist in reported speech: Er sagt, er sei hier. — “He says that he is here.” The pronoun er is masculine singular in German; the fixed English translation uses singular “they” for the person mentioned. hier means “here,” referring to the place relevant to the speaker or conversation. In er sei hier, it is the location the reported speaker claimed to be in. Lüftung means “ventilation.” It is a feminine noun: die Lüftung. In this sentence, die Lüftung is the object of überprüfen; the feminine article has the same form in the nominative and accusative singular. Example: Die Lüftung funktioniert. — “The ventilation works.” um die Lüftung zu überprüfen expresses purpose: “to inspect the ventilation.” The pattern um ... zu introduces an intended action, and zu überprüfen is the infinitive of überprüfen (“to inspect” or “to check”). The separable prefix is not involved here: überprüfen is written as one word. Example: Sie kommt, um die Anlage zu prüfen. — “She is coming to inspect the system.” Together, Vorhin hat jemand geklopft und gesagt gives “Someone knocked earlier and said.” The reported content is er sei hier, “they were here,” followed by the purpose phrase um die Lüftung zu überprüfen, “to inspect the ventilation.” The complete meaning is: “Someone knocked earlier and said they were here to inspect the ventilation.”

2. Wartungsbesuche werden normalerweise über das Gebäudesystem angekündigt.

   Maintenance visits are usually announced through the building system.

   Wartungsbesuche

   maintenance visits

   werden

   are

   normalerweise

   usually

   über

   through

   Gebäudesystem

   building system

   angekündigt

   announced

   More detail

   Wartungsbesuche means visits for maintenance or servicing. It is the plural of Wartungsbesuch; the singular is ein Wartungsbesuch, and the plural article is die Wartungsbesuche. The compound combines Wartung (“maintenance”) and Besuch (“visit”), but the whole word refers to the visits, not to the maintenance work itself. werden is the present-tense form of werden used here as the passive auxiliary: sie werden ... means “they are ...”. The plural subject is Wartungsbesuche, so the auxiliary is plural. This is different from sie sind ..., which uses sein and does not by itself form this passive construction. Example: Die Termine werden bestätigt. — “The appointments are confirmed.” normalerweise means “usually” or “normally”. It presents the statement as the usual procedure, not as an absolute rule. It can also appear elsewhere in a German sentence, but here it comes after the passive subject and auxiliary. über means “through” in this sentence because it introduces the channel or system used for the announcement. With this meaning, it takes the accusative: über das Gebäudesystem. The same preposition can have other meanings in other contexts, such as “about” or “over”; the intended meaning here is fixed by the relation to the system. Gebäudesystem means “building system”. It is a neuter singular compound, built from Gebäude (“building”) and System (“system”), so the form after über is das Gebäudesystem. Example: Die Meldung kommt über das Gebäudesystem. — “The notification comes through the building system.” angekündigt is the past participle of ankündigen, “to announce” or “to notify in advance”. In this sentence it combines with werden to form the present passive: werden angekündigt = “are announced”. The participle remains angekündigt; the passive auxiliary carries the present tense and agrees with the plural subject. Example: Die Arbeiten werden vorher angekündigt. — “The work is announced beforehand.” Together, Wartungsbesuche werden ... angekündigt forms a present passive clause: the maintenance visits receive the action rather than performing it. normalerweise adds “usually”, and über das Gebäudesystem identifies the channel. The complete meaning is that maintenance visits are usually announced through the building system.

3. Das hat mich vorsichtig gemacht, deshalb habe ich die Person nicht hereingelassen.

   That made me cautious, so I did not let them in.

   Das

   That

   mich

   me

   vorsichtig

   cautious

   gemacht

   made

   deshalb

   so; therefore

   habe ich

   I have

   Person

   person

   nicht

   not

   hereingelassen

   let in

   More detail

   Das is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It points back to the preceding situation or event; the supplied translation confirms that it is the cause of the speaker becoming cautious, without identifying a more specific noun as its referent. mich is the first-person singular accusative pronoun, “me.” It marks the person affected by the change. Compare ich “I” as the subject form and mich “me” as an object form. vorsichtig means “cautious” or “careful.” It is an adjective used here after machen to describe the resulting state. The reusable pattern is jemanden vorsichtig machen: “to make someone cautious.” For example, Die Erfahrung machte ihn vorsichtig. means “The experience made him cautious.” gemacht is the past participle of machen “to make.” Its base form is machen; the form gemacht combines with haben to form the perfect tense. In hat mich vorsichtig gemacht, the event is presented as completed: it made me cautious. deshalb means “therefore,” “that is why,” or “so” and links a reason to its consequence. When it begins a German main clause, the finite verb still occupies the second position: Deshalb habe ich ... means “That is why I have ...” or, in this context, “So I ...”. habe ich contains habe, the first-person singular present form of haben, followed by the subject pronoun ich “I.” Together they form the auxiliary-and-subject part of the perfect construction. Because deshalb occupies the first position, habe comes before ich. Person means “person.” The full noun phrase in the sentence is die Person, “the person”; die marks this noun phrase as definite. German Person is grammatically feminine, but that grammatical gender does not by itself state the real-world gender of the individual referred to. The translation’s singular “them” keeps that real-world detail unspecified. nicht is the ordinary negation word “not.” Here it negates the following letting-in action, so the meaning is that the speaker did not let the person in. hereingelassen is the past participle of hereinlassen, “to let in.” The verb combines herein- “inward/inside” with lassen “to let,” and its perfect participle is hereingelassen. With habe, it forms the completed action habe ... hereingelassen; with nicht, the sentence says that this action did not happen. For example, Ich habe den Besucher hereingelassen. means “I let the visitor in.” Putting the parts together, Das hat mich vorsichtig gemacht means “That made me cautious.” deshalb introduces the consequence, and habe ich die Person nicht hereingelassen means “so I did not let the person in.” The complete utterance is therefore: “That made me cautious, so I did not let them in.”

4. Das war die richtige Entscheidung. Zuerst sollte überprüft werden, ob die Person zum Betreten berechtigt ist.

   That was the right call. Their authorization to enter should be verified first.

   Das

   that

   war

   was

   richtige

   right; correct

   Entscheidung

   decision

   Zuerst

   first

   sollte überprüft werden

   should be verified

   ob

   whether

   Person

   person

   zum Betreten

   for entering

   berechtigt

   authorized; entitled

   More detail

   Das is a neuter singular demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It refers to the decision or action being evaluated. Das is also the neuter singular definite article, but here it stands independently as a pronoun. war is the simple-past form of sein (“to be”) for third-person singular: sein → war. It places the evaluation in the past. Example: Das war hilfreich. — “That was helpful.” richtige means “right” or “correct” here. It is the adjective richtig; its ending appears before the feminine noun Entscheidung after the definite article: die richtige Entscheidung. Example: Das ist die richtige Antwort. — “That is the right answer.” Entscheidung means “decision.” It is a feminine noun, and die Entscheidung is nominative singular in this sentence. The related verb entscheiden means “to decide”; Entscheidung is the noun for the act or result of deciding. Zuerst means “first” or “first of all.” It marks the first step in the sequence. Example: Zuerst lesen wir den Bericht. — “First we read the report.” sollte überprüft werden expresses “should be verified” or “should be checked.” sollte is the singular form used here to express a recommendation with sollen; the form itself should not be taken here as saying that the checking already happened. überprüft is the past participle of überprüfen (“to check, verify”), and werden completes the passive construction. The person who performs the checking is not named. A reusable pattern is etwas sollte überprüft werden — “something should be checked.” Example: Die Angaben sollten überprüft werden. — “The details should be checked.” ob introduces an indirect yes-or-no question, “whether.” In the clause it introduces, the finite verb appears at the end. Example: Ich weiß nicht, ob sie kommt. — “I don’t know whether she is coming.” Person means “person.” It is a feminine singular German noun, as shown by die Person; that grammatical gender does not by itself identify the person’s real-world gender. Here it is the subject of the clause introduced by ob. zum Betreten means “for entering” or, in this context, “to enter.” zum contracts zu dem. Betreten is the capitalized nominalized infinitive of betreten (“to enter”), so it behaves as a neuter noun: das Betreten; after zu, this becomes zu dem Betreten → zum Betreten. berechtigt means “authorized” or “entitled.” It is used with sein: Die Person ist berechtigt. — “The person is authorized.” In the source, ist comes at the end because this phrase is inside the subordinate clause introduced by ob. Together, Das war die richtige Entscheidung means “That was the right decision” or, naturally here, “That was the right call.” Zuerst sollte überprüft werden then presents verification as the first recommended step, using a passive construction without naming the verifier. The ob-clause specifies what should be verified: die Person zum Betreten berechtigt ist, whether the person is authorized to enter. The complete utterance means: “That was the right call. Their authorization to enter should be verified first.”

5. Könnten Sie überprüfen, ob tatsächlich eine Inspektion geplant ist?

   Could you check whether an inspection is actually scheduled?

   Könnten Sie

   Could you

   überprüfen

   check; verify

   ob

   whether

   tatsächlich

   actually

   Inspektion

   inspection

   geplant

   scheduled; planned

   More detail

   Könnten Sie is a polite formal request addressed to one person. könnten is the subjunctive II form of können used here to make the request less direct than Können Sie ...? (“Can you ...?”). Sie is the formal second-person pronoun and is capitalized; it does not identify a particular person beyond the person being addressed. überprüfen means to check something carefully or verify it. It is an infinitive, and here it follows the modal verb könnten: Könnten Sie ... überprüfen? (“Could you check ...?”). A useful contrast is prüfen, which can also mean “check” or “examine”; überprüfen emphasizes verification of whether something is correct or true. Example: Bitte überprüfen Sie die Angaben. — “Please verify the information.” ob introduces an embedded yes-or-no question. The clause after it expresses what is being checked: ob ... geplant ist (“whether ... is scheduled”). In this subordinate clause, ist comes at the end, as is typical for this kind of German clause. This is different from a question-word clause such as wann ... ist (“when ... is”). tatsächlich means “actually” or “in fact.” Here it emphasizes that the speaker wants the real status confirmed, rather than merely assuming that the inspection is scheduled. Example: Ist das tatsächlich nötig? — “Is that actually necessary?” Inspektion is a feminine noun meaning “inspection.” Its base form is the noun itself; the form shown here is the indefinite singular nominative subject of ist: eine Inspektion. The article eine marks the noun as feminine singular in this position, but it does not by itself assert a numerical count as a separate fact. geplant means “planned” or, in this context, “scheduled.” It is the past participle of planen, “to plan,” and is used here as a predicate complement with ist: eine Inspektion geplant ist. In this construction, the inspection is the thing that has been scheduled; the sentence does not say who scheduled it. As a verb form, geplant also appears in perfect constructions, for example Sie haben die Inspektion geplant. — “They planned the inspection.” Together, ob tatsächlich eine Inspektion geplant ist means “whether an inspection is actually scheduled.” The polite request Könnten Sie überprüfen asks the addressee to verify that point, producing the complete meaning: “Could you check whether an inspection is actually scheduled?”

6. Ich werde die Unterlagen prüfen und Ihnen über das Portal eine Nachricht schicken.

   I will check the records and send you a message through the portal.

   Ich werde

   I will

   Unterlagen

   records

   prüfen

   check

   Ihnen

   you

   über das Portal

   through the portal

   Nachricht

   message

   schicken

   send

   More detail

   Ich werde combines the subject Ich (“I”) with werde, the first-person singular present form of werden. With a later infinitive, werden forms the future: Ich werde ... prüfen = “I will ... check.” The future can also express a planned or intended action; here the fixed translation supports the straightforward future reading. Unterlagen means documents or records in this sentence. It is the plural of Unterlage. The noun’s plural form and the sentence structure show that die Unterlagen is a definite plural accusative noun phrase; the article die alone does not uniquely mark both plural and accusative. Example: Die Unterlagen sind vollständig. — “The documents are complete.” prüfen is the infinitive “to check” or “to examine.” In this future construction it stays in the infinitive and appears at the end of its clause: Ich werde die Unterlagen prüfen. — “I will check the records.” Ihnen is the formal second-person pronoun “you” in the dative case. It is the capitalized formal form; the informal singular dative form is dir. In Ihnen ... eine Nachricht schicken, the recipient is expressed in the dative. über das Portal means “through the portal.” Here über introduces a route or channel, and das Portal is accusative; for the neuter noun Portal, the definite article is das in both nominative and accusative. Example: Wir senden die Datei über das Portal. — “We send the file through the portal.” Nachricht means “message.” It is a feminine noun: die Nachricht; in the sentence, eine Nachricht is the singular accusative object of schicken. The form eine is the feminine singular accusative indefinite article here; it indicates an unspecified message, not by itself a stated numerical count. Example: Ich lese eine Nachricht. — “I am reading a message.” schicken means “to send.” It is an infinitive here and comes at the end of the coordinated clause. Its pattern is jemandem etwas schicken: send something to someone, with the recipient in the dative and the thing sent in the accusative. Example: Ich schicke Ihnen den Bericht. — “I am sending you the report.” The first clause is Ich werde die Unterlagen prüfen: “I will check the records.” und joins a second coordinated action, Ihnen über das Portal eine Nachricht schicken: “send you a message through the portal.” Together, the utterance means: “I will check the records and send you a message through the portal.”

7. Ich möchte lieber Bescheid wissen, bevor jemand zurückkommt.

   I would rather know before anyone comes back.

   Ich möchte

   I would like

   lieber

   rather

   Bescheid wissen

   know

   bevor

   before

   jemand

   anyone

   zurückkommt

   comes back

   More detail

   Ich möchte combines ich (“I”) with möchte, the first-person singular form used here to express a desired situation politely. möchte is the subjunctive II form of mögen, but in this use it normally means “would like,” not “like” in general. A reusable pattern is Ich möchte + infinitive: Ich möchte warten. — “I would like to wait.” lieber means “rather” and shows a preference. It is the comparative form related to gern (“gladly”/“with pleasure”): gern → lieber (“rather”) → am liebsten (“most preferably”). Here it modifies the desired action, so the speaker prefers knowing to some alternative that is left unstated. Bescheid wissen is a useful German expression meaning “to know” or “to be informed about the matter.” wissen is the verb “know”; its first-person singular present form is ich weiß, as in Ich weiß Bescheid. — “I know what is going on.” The noun Bescheid is part of this expression and should not be treated as a direct translation of “information” in every context. bevor introduces a time clause meaning “before.” It places the verb at the end of that subordinate clause. The reusable pattern is ..., bevor + subject + ... + verb: Ich rufe an, bevor ich gehe. — “I’ll call before I leave.” jemand is an indefinite pronoun for an unspecified person. In this sentence, the fixed translation supports the meaning “anyone” in the time clause, but it does not identify a particular person. Its form changes in some cases: jemand (subject), jemanden (direct object), and jemandem (indirect object). In jemand zurückkommt, it is the subject. zurückkommt means “comes back.” It is the third-person singular present form of the separable verb zurückkommen (“to come back”): in a main clause, Jemand kommt zurück. In the clause introduced by bevor, the finite verb appears at the end, so the prefix and verb are written together: bevor jemand zurückkommt. Together, Ich möchte lieber Bescheid wissen expresses the speaker’s preference to be informed. bevor jemand zurückkommt sets the time limit: this knowledge is desired before an unspecified person comes back. The whole utterance therefore means, “I would rather know before anyone comes back.”

8. Lassen Sie bis zur Bestätigung niemanden herein, außer Sie haben mit der Person gerechnet.

   Until it is confirmed, do not let anyone in unless you were expecting them.

   Lassen Sie

   let / allow

   bis zur

   until

   Bestätigung

   confirmation

   niemanden

   no one

   herein

   in / inside

   außer

   unless

   Person

   person

   gerechnet

   expected

   More detail

   Lassen Sie is the formal polite imperative of lassen (“to let” or “to allow”). Sie is the formal “you” and is also used when addressing one or more people formally. In this sentence, Lassen Sie ... herein means “let ... in.” Example: Lassen Sie ihn herein. — “Let him in.” bis zur means “until” before the noun that follows. zur is the contraction of zu der; here, der belongs to the feminine noun Bestätigung in the required form. The useful pattern is bis zur + feminine noun: bis zur Abfahrt — “until departure.” Bestätigung means “confirmation.” It is a feminine noun: die Bestätigung; its plural is die Bestätigungen. In this utterance, bis zur Bestätigung means “until confirmation,” referring to the point when something is confirmed. niemanden means “no one” or “nobody” here. It is the accusative form of niemand, used because the person is the object of lassen: “let nobody in.” Compare niemand as a subject: Niemand kommt. — “No one is coming.” herein is a directional adverb meaning “in” or “inside,” specifically toward the relevant interior. With a verb such as lassen, it forms the reusable pattern jemanden hereinlassen — “to let someone in.” In the sentence, Lassen Sie niemanden herein is therefore “Do not let anyone in.” außer introduces the exception “unless” in this sentence. It connects the general instruction with the condition that makes the instruction not apply. The clause after it is Sie haben mit der Person gerechnet. Person means “person.” It is a feminine noun: die Person. In the phrase mit der Person, the preposition mit requires the dative, so the article is der; the noun itself remains Person. Example: Ich spreche mit der Person. — “I am speaking with the person.” gerechnet is the past participle of rechnen (“to calculate” or, in the construction mit jemandem rechnen, “to expect someone”). Together with haben, it forms the perfect haben gerechnet. The phrase mit der Person rechnen means “expect the person”; here, Sie haben mit der Person gerechnet means “you were expecting the person.” Mit requires the dative, hence mit der Person. The sentence builds as follows: Lassen Sie niemanden herein gives the instruction not to let anyone in. bis zur Bestätigung sets the time limit, “until confirmation.” außer Sie haben mit der Person gerechnet adds the exception, “unless you were expecting the person.” Together, the intended meaning is: “Until it is confirmed, do not let anyone in unless you were expecting them.”