Explaining a device fault and requesting a replacement | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich habe dieses Gerät vor Kurzem gekauft, aber der Bildschirm flackert manchmal.

   I bought this device recently, but the screen flickers sometimes.

   Ich habe

   I have

   dieses

   this

   Gerät

   device

   vor Kurzem

   recently

   gekauft

   bought

   aber

   but

   Bildschirm

   screen

   flackert

   flickers

   manchmal

   sometimes

   More detail

   Ich habe uses the first-person singular present form of haben in this construction. Here habe is the auxiliary for the perfect tense: Ich habe ... gekauft means “I bought ...” (literally, “I have ... bought”). The subject is Ich; the auxiliary is separated from the participle, which comes later. dieses means “this” and points to one specific item. It is the neuter singular accusative form of the demonstrative dieser: dieser (masculine nominative), diese (feminine nominative or plural), dieses (neuter nominative/accusative). Here dieses has the neuter accusative form because it modifies the direct object Gerät. Gerät means “device” or “piece of equipment.” Its base form is das Gerät; the plural is die Geräte. In this sentence it is the object bought by the speaker. vor Kurzem is a reusable expression meaning “recently” or “a short time ago.” vor normally means “before” or “ago” in time expressions, while Kurzem is the capitalized dative form of the nominalized adjective kurz (“short”). Compare vor zwei Tagen (“two days ago”). gekauft is the past participle of kaufen (“to buy”): kaufen → gekauft. With present-tense haben, it forms the German perfect: Ich habe das Gerät gekauft = “I bought the device.” The participle does not itself show the subject; habe carries the first-person singular form here. aber means “but” and connects two contrasting clauses. It does not change the tense or the grammatical role of the words around it. Bildschirm means “screen.” The full noun phrase in the sentence is der Bildschirm, a masculine singular noun. Its plural is die Bildschirme. In the second clause, the screen is the subject of the verb flackert. flackert is the third-person singular present form of flackern (“to flicker”): ich flackere, du flackerst, er/sie/es flackert. The ending -t matches the singular subject der Bildschirm. A useful example is Die Lampe flackert — “The lamp flickers.” manchmal means “sometimes.” It is an adverb, so it does not change for gender, number, or case. It indicates that the flickering happens occasionally rather than continuously. Together, Ich habe dieses Gerät vor Kurzem gekauft says that the speaker bought this device recently. aber der Bildschirm flackert manchmal contrasts that purchase with the device’s occasional behavior: “but the screen flickers sometimes.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I bought this device recently, but the screen flickers sometimes.”

2. Sporadische Fehler lassen sich schwer reproduzieren, deshalb testen wir das Gerät hier.

   Intermittent faults can be hard to reproduce, so we will test it here.

   Sporadische

   intermittent

   Fehler

   faults; errors

   lassen sich

   can be

   schwer

   with difficulty

   reproduzieren

   reproduce

   deshalb

   therefore

   testen

   test

   Gerät

   device

   hier

   here

   More detail

   Sporadische describes something that occurs only occasionally or irregularly. It is the attributive form of sporadisch; here its -e ending agrees with the plural noun Fehler in the subject phrase. The ending is not part of the noun. Fehler means faults or errors here. Its singular and plural forms are both Fehler; the plural meaning is clear from Sporadische and the plural verb form lassen. A useful contrast is ein Fehler “one fault” versus mehrere Fehler “several faults.” lassen sich contributes a passive-like possibility meaning when used with an infinitive: “can be …”. In this sentence, lassen is the finite verb and sich is the reflexive element linked to the subject. The construction etwas lässt sich + Infinitiv is a reusable way to say that something can be done. For example, Das Problem lässt sich lösen. means “The problem can be solved.” schwer means “with difficulty” or “hard” here. It modifies reproduzieren, functioning adverbially; the same form can also be an adjective, as in ein schwerer Fehler “a serious/difficult error.” reproduzieren is the infinitive “to reproduce” or “to replicate.” In the fixed sentence, reproducing the faults means making the same faults occur again so they can be observed. After lassen sich, the infinitive remains at the end of this clause: lassen sich schwer reproduzieren = “can be hard to reproduce.” deshalb means “therefore” or “for that reason.” It links the difficulty of reproducing the faults to the action that follows. As a sentence adverb, it occupies the first position here, and the finite verb comes next: deshalb testen wir .... testen means “to test.” The form is also the infinitive and the present-tense form for wir (“we test”). German present tense can refer to a planned near-future action when the context makes that clear; that is why the fixed translation uses “will test.” Gerät means “device.” Its base form is the neuter noun das Gerät; in this sentence, das Gerät is the object of testen, so it is in the accusative singular, whose form is unchanged from the nominative. The surrounding article das identifies the noun phrase but is not part of the quoted word. hier means “here,” referring to the place where the testing will take place. It modifies the testing action rather than changing the meaning of Gerät. Together, Sporadische Fehler lassen sich schwer reproduzieren says that intermittent faults are difficult to reproduce. deshalb gives the reason for the next action, and testen wir das Gerät hier says that the speakers will test the device here. The whole utterance therefore means that, because the intermittent faults are hard to reproduce, they will test the device at this location.

3. Ich habe ein kurzes Video aufgenommen, auf dem das während der normalen Nutzung passiert.

   I recorded a short video of it happening during normal use.

   Ich habe

   I have

   ein

   a

   kurzes

   short

   Video

   video

   aufgenommen

   recorded

   auf dem

   on which

   das

   it

   während

   during

   der

   the

   normalen

   normal

   Nutzung

   use

   passiert

   happens

   More detail

   Ich habe uses first-person singular haben as the perfect auxiliary. Here it does not express possession by itself; together with aufgenommen, it forms the past meaning “I recorded.” The reusable pattern is ich habe + a past participle for many completed actions. ein is the indefinite article in the form required here for the neuter accusative noun Video. An indefinite article does not by itself assert a numerical count; it introduces an unspecified instance. kurzes is the adjective kurz (“short”). Its ending shows that it modifies the neuter accusative noun Video after ein: ein kurzes Video. Compare the base form kurz with the form in this noun phrase, kurzes. Video is a neuter noun, das Video. In this sentence it is the direct object of the recording: the speaker recorded a short video. aufgenommen is the past participle of the separable verb aufnehmen. In this context aufnehmen means “to record,” not one of its other possible meanings such as “to take up” or “to pick up.” Its perfect form is hat aufgenommen or, with this subject, habe aufgenommen. Example: Sie hat den Ton aufgenommen. — “She recorded the sound.” auf dem introduces a relative clause connected to Video. auf is followed here by the dative form dem; dem is the neuter relative-pronoun form agreeing with Video. In this context, “on which” naturally describes what the video shows or contains. The relative clause is not a separate recording action. das is a neuter pronoun functioning as the subject of passiert; here it means the relevant event or phenomenon as “it.” Its exact real-world referent is not named more specifically in the fixed sentence, but its grammatical role is clear from the following verb. während marks the time during which something occurs: “during.” It introduces the time phrase während der normalen Nutzung. der is the feminine singular genitive article form used here after während in the standard written construction. It belongs to Nutzung, not to normalen. normalen is the adjective normal (“normal”). In der normalen Nutzung, its ending agrees with the feminine singular genitive phrase. The base form is normal; normalen is the inflected form required in this phrase. Nutzung is the feminine noun meaning “use” or “usage.” It is related in meaning to using something, but here it names the activity or operating condition: normal use. Example: Die Nutzung ist einfach. — “The use is easy.” passiert is the third-person singular present form of passieren, “to happen.” Its subject is the neuter das, so the clause means “it happens.” The present form is natural inside the relative clause because the video depicts what occurs during that use. Example: Das passiert manchmal. — “That happens sometimes.” Together, the parts say that the speaker recorded a short video showing the relevant event occurring during normal use. The perfect construction places the recording in the past, while während ... specifies the operating situation in which the event occurs.

4. Das Video ist hilfreich, falls der Fehler während des Tests nicht auftritt.

   The video will help if the fault does not show up during the test.

   Video

   video

   ist

   is

   hilfreich

   helpful

   falls

   if

   Fehler

   fault

   während

   during

   Tests

   test

   nicht

   not

   auftritt

   appears

   More detail

   Video is a neuter German noun meaning “video.” German nouns are capitalized. Its plural is Videos; the form here is singular, shown by Das Video. ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). The present form describes the video’s usefulness here; in this context, English naturally expresses the expected result as “will help.” hilfreich means “helpful” or “useful.” It is an adjective and does not carry a visible ending here because it follows ist as a predicate adjective. A reusable pattern is etwas ist hilfreich (“something is helpful”). falls introduces a condition: “if” or “in case.” It is followed by a subordinate clause, and the finite verb goes to the end of that clause. Wenn can also introduce many ordinary conditions, while falls presents the condition as more tentative or contingent. der Fehler means “the fault” or “the error.” Fehler is masculine, and der here marks the singular subject of auftritt. The plural is die Fehler. während means “during” when it introduces a time period. In this sentence it introduces des Tests, so the phrase means “during the test.” Tests is the genitive singular form of Test, meaning “test.” The ending -s marks the genitive here: des Tests. The plural is also Tests, but its article would be die, not des. nicht negates the occurrence described by the subordinate clause. Here it makes the meaning “does not occur/show up,” rather than “occurs.” Its exact scope is understood together with auftritt. auftritt comes from the separable verb auftreten, “to occur” or “to show up.” In a main clause, its third-person singular present form is tritt ... auf; in this subordinate clause, the finite form stays together at the end: falls der Fehler ... nicht auftritt. Together, falls der Fehler während des Tests nicht auftritt means “if the fault does not show up during the test.” The complete utterance is Das Video ist hilfreich (“The video is helpful”) plus that condition, giving: “The video will help if the fault does not show up during the test.”

5. Ich hätte lieber einen Austausch als eine Reparatur.

   I would prefer a replacement instead of a repair.

   Ich hätte

   I would...

   lieber

   rather; preferably

   Austausch

   replacement; exchange

   Reparatur

   repair

   More detail

   Ich hätte combines ich (“I”) with hätte, the first-person singular Konjunktiv II form of haben (“to have”). In this sentence, it is part of the reusable pattern Ich hätte lieber ... (“I would prefer ...”), expressing a hypothetical or polite preference rather than a simple present possession. Compare Ich habe ... (“I have ...”) with Ich hätte lieber ... (“I would prefer ...”). Example: Ich hätte lieber Tee. — “I would prefer tea.” lieber is the comparative form of gern, used when choosing one option over another: gern (“gladly/preferably”), lieber (“rather/preferably”), am liebsten (“most preferably”). Here it marks the speaker’s preference for the following option. It does not mean that the speaker is physically more willing in some unrelated sense. Example: Ich bleibe lieber hier. — “I would rather stay here.” Austausch is a masculine noun meaning “replacement” in the intended context. Its basic sense can also involve an exchange, but the fixed translation and the surrounding service context support the replacement meaning here. The form einen Austausch is accusative singular: the masculine indefinite article changes from nominative ein Austausch to accusative einen Austausch. Example: Wir beantragen einen Austausch. — “We request a replacement.” als introduces the option used for comparison with the preferred option. In the pattern lieber A als B, it means “rather A than B” or, in this context, “A instead of B.” Reparatur is a feminine noun meaning “repair.” The form eine Reparatur is accusative singular, and the feminine indefinite article has the same form in nominative and accusative (eine). The article does not by itself state a numerical count; it marks an indefinite singular noun phrase here. Example: Die Reparatur dauert lange. — “The repair takes a long time.” Together, Ich hätte lieber einen Austausch als eine Reparatur means “I would prefer a replacement instead of a repair.” The structure is Ich hätte lieber A als B: the speaker presents A as the preferred option and contrasts it with B. Here A is einen Austausch (“a replacement”), while B is eine Reparatur (“a repair”).

6. Wir können diesen Wunsch vermerken, aber die Prüfung entscheidet über das weitere Vorgehen.

   We can record that preference, but the inspection decides the next step.

   Wir können

   we can

   diesen

   this/that

   Wunsch

   preference

   vermerken

   record; note

   Prüfung

   inspection

   entscheidet über

   decides about

   weitere

   further; next

   Vorgehen

   procedure; next step

   More detail

   Wir können means “we can.” können is the modal verb meaning “can/be able to”; with another verb, that verb stays in the infinitive and usually comes later in the clause. Here, können is the first-person plural form for wir. Example: Wir können warten. — “We can wait.” diesen identifies the object as “this/that” in the masculine accusative form. It agrees with the masculine noun Wunsch in diesen Wunsch; the form reflects the noun phrase’s grammatical case and gender, not a numeric quantity. Wunsch means “wish” or, in this context, “preference.” Its plural is Wünsche. Example: Ich habe einen Wunsch. — “I have a wish.” vermerken means “to record” or “to note.” It is the infinitive selected by können; the combination Wir können ... vermerken means “We can record ...”. The nearby context also uses vermerken in a polite request, Bitte vermerken Sie ... — “Please note ...”, showing the same reusable verb in a different construction. Prüfung means “inspection” here. It is a feminine noun, so the subject phrase is die Prüfung. The word can also refer to an examination or test in other contexts, but the fixed translation establishes “inspection” here. Example: Die Prüfung beginnt morgen. — “The inspection begins tomorrow.” entscheidet über means “decides about” or, naturally, “determines.” entscheidet is the third-person singular present form of entscheiden (“to decide”): die Prüfung entscheidet. The preposition über introduces what is being decided here and takes the accusative in this use. Example: Das Ergebnis entscheidet über den Termin. — “The result determines the date.” weitere means “further” or “next.” It is the inflected form of the adjective weiter and modifies Vorgehen in das weitere Vorgehen. After the definite article das, the adjective has the weak ending -e in this neuter accusative phrase. weiter can also mean “farther” or “continuing,” but “next” is the relevant meaning here. Vorgehen means “procedure,” “course of action,” or “way of proceeding.” In das weitere Vorgehen, it refers to the next step or what will be done next. It is a neuter noun, which is why the phrase uses das. Example: Wir besprechen das weitere Vorgehen. — “We will discuss the next steps.” Together, Wir können diesen Wunsch vermerken says “We can record that preference.” The contrasting clause aber die Prüfung entscheidet über das weitere Vorgehen says “but the inspection determines the next step”: die Prüfung is the decision-making subject, and über das weitere Vorgehen names what it determines. The complete utterance is therefore: “We can record that preference, but the inspection decides the next step.”

7. Bitte vermerken Sie, dass das Problem direkt nach der Einrichtung begonnen hat.

   Please note that the problem started right after setup.

   Bitte

   please

   vermerken Sie

   note

   Problem

   problem

   direkt nach

   directly after

   Einrichtung

   setup

   begonnen hat

   started

   More detail

   Bitte makes the request polite. It can stand at the beginning of a request, as here, or at the end: Kommen Sie bitte. = “Please come.” vermerken Sie means “note” or “record” in this formal request. The base form is vermerken; the formal imperative uses the infinitive followed by Sie: Vermerken Sie ... The subject is the addressed person, and Sie is the formal “you.” With dass, the requested content follows in a subordinate clause. Problem means “problem.” The full noun phrase here is das Problem; Problem is a neuter noun, so its definite article is das in the nominative singular. For example, Das Problem ist gelöst. = “The problem is solved.” direkt nach means “directly after.” nach can express a time relation, and the adverb direkt makes the interval especially immediate. In this sentence it introduces the event that preceded the problem’s beginning. Einrichtung means “setup” here: the act or process of setting something up. It is a feminine noun: die Einrichtung. After the temporal preposition nach, the noun phrase appears in the dative: nach der Einrichtung. The noun can have other meanings in other contexts, but the fixed translation identifies the setup meaning here. begonnen hat expresses “started” in the dass clause. Its base verb is beginnen, with the participle begonnen; the perfect auxiliary is haben. In a main clause, the same perfect construction is Das Problem hat begonnen. In this subordinate clause, German places the participle before the finite auxiliary: ..., dass das Problem begonnen hat. Together, Bitte vermerken Sie politely asks the addressee to record the information. The dass clause supplies that information: das Problem is the thing that started, and it begonnen hat direkt nach der Einrichtung, meaning immediately after setup. The whole utterance is therefore: “Please note that the problem started right after setup.”

8. Ich nehme das in den Servicebericht auf.

   I will add that to the service record.

   Ich

   I

   nehme … auf

   add/include

   das

   that

   in den

   into the

   Servicebericht

   service record

   More detail

   Ich is the first-person singular subject: “I.” German uses the same form for the subject here; the verb form shows that the speaker is the actor. nehme is the first-person singular present form of nehmen, “take.” In this sentence it belongs to the separable verb aufnehmen, which can mean “add,” “include,” or “record” depending on the object. The prefix appears at the end: Ich nehme ... auf. Example: Ich nehme die Änderung auf. — “I will record the change.” In context, the present form expresses the intended future action shown by the fixed translation. auf is the separated prefix of aufnehmen. It is not an independent “up” meaning in this construction. With the object and destination phrase, nehme ... auf means “add/include [something].” das means “that” here, referring to the matter being discussed. It is the neuter accusative form of the demonstrative pronoun; its specific grammatical form does not by itself identify a particular noun as the referent. Example: Ich prüfe das. — “I will check that.” in den means “into the.” Here in introduces a destination, so German uses the accusative rather than the dative. den is the masculine singular accusative article. Compare the location meaning: in dem Bericht (“in the report,” located there), often shortened to im Bericht. Servicebericht means “service record” or “service report.” It is a masculine compound noun, so its accusative singular form after destination in is marked by den: in den Servicebericht. The noun itself does not change form here; the article carries the case marking. Together, Ich nehme das ... auf means “I will add/include that,” and in den Servicebericht specifies the destination. The complete utterance is therefore “I will add that to the service record.”