Breakdown of Der Koffer ist schwer, bringen Sie ihn herunter!
sein
to be
Sie
you (formal)
der Koffer
the suitcase
ihn
him
Questions & Answers about Der Koffer ist schwer, bringen Sie ihn herunter!
Why does the sentence use herunter instead of hinunter?
her means towards the speaker, and hin means away from the speaker. Because the sentence uses herunter, we know the speaker is already downstairs asking someone to bring the suitcase down to them. If the speaker were upstairs sending the suitcase down, they would say hinunter.
Why does the sentence use ihn when the English translation says bring 'it' down?
In German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. Der Koffer (the suitcase) is a masculine noun. Because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb, it uses the accusative masculine pronoun ihn.
Why is the verb first in bringen Sie?
This is a formal command or request. When giving a command to someone you address as Sie, the verb always comes first, immediately followed by the pronoun Sie.
Is herunterbringen a separable verb?
Yes! Directional words like herunter are frequently attached to verbs to create separable verbs. In a command, the conjugated core verb (bringen) goes to the front, and the prefix (herunter) gets kicked to the very end of the sentence.