Word
Nimm die Medizin sofort ein!
Meaning
Take the medicine immediately!
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Nimm die Medizin sofort ein!
sofort
immediately
die Medizin
the medicine
einnehmen
to take (medicine)
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Questions & Answers about Nimm die Medizin sofort ein!
Why does the sentence start with Nimm instead of Du nimmst?
In German, commands always start with the verb. For informal commands directed at one person, we drop the pronoun du (you) and remove the -st ending from the verb. That is why du nimmst becomes just Nimm.
Why is the vowel an 'i' in Nimm instead of an 'e' like in nehmen?
The base verb is nehmen (to take). For irregular verbs that change their stem vowel from 'e' to 'i' in the du form (du nimmst), we keep that 'i' in the command form. That is why it is Nimm and not Nehm.
Why is the word ein at the very end of the sentence?
The full verb being used is einnehmen (to take in / to ingest), which is a separable verb. In a command, the main part of the verb (Nimm) goes at the beginning of the sentence, and its separable prefix (ein) gets pushed to the very end.
Could I just use the verb nehmen instead of einnehmen here?
Yes, you can say Nimm die Medizin! and it will be perfectly understood. However, einnehmen is the specific verb used in German for taking medication or swallowing pills, so it sounds very natural and precise in this context.