Breakdown of Es war sehr kalt. Kommt schnell herein!
sein
to be
es
it
schnell
fast, quickly
sehr
very
kommen
to come
kalt
cold
herein
in (towards speaker)
Questions & Answers about Es war sehr kalt. Kommt schnell herein!
Why does the speaker use herein instead of hinein here?
The prefix her- indicates motion towards the speaker. Since the speaker is already inside (where it is warm) and telling others to come inside to join them, they use herein. If the speaker were outside and telling people to go inside away from them, they would use hinein.
Why is herein at the very end of the sentence?
It belongs to the separable verb hereinkommen (to come in). When giving a command, the core part of the verb (Kommt) jumps to the front of the sentence, and the separable prefix (herein) gets pushed to the very end.
Why is the command form Kommt and not Komm?
Kommt is the informal plural command form (imperative). The speaker is addressing two or more people they know well, like friends or children. If they were talking to just one person, it would be Komm schnell herein!
Can I just say rein instead of herein?
Yes! In everyday spoken German, people usually shorten both herein and hinein to just rein. In casual conversation, you will very often hear Kommt schnell rein!
Just to review: why is it war in the first sentence?
war is the simple past tense of sein (to be). Even though A2 learners mostly use the spoken past (Perfekt), sein and haben are exceptions that are almost always used in their simple past forms. So Es war sehr kalt means "It was very cold."
Learn Es war sehr kalt. Kommt schnell herein and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free