Breakdown of Tragt das Gepäck hinauf!
tragen
to carry, to wear
das Gepäck
the luggage
hinauf
up (away from speaker)
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Questions & Answers about Tragt das Gepäck hinauf!
How does hinauf tell us where the speaker is standing?
The prefix hin- means "away from the speaker," and auf means "up." Because the speaker says hinauf (up and away), we know they are at the bottom of the stairs. If they were upstairs asking for the bags to be brought up to them, they would say herauf (her- means "towards the speaker").
Why is the verb tragt and not tragen or trag?
Tragt is the command (imperative) form used when speaking informally to two or more people. To make a command for the ihr (you plural) group, you take the normal present tense form (ihr tragt) and simply drop the pronoun ihr. For just one person, it would be Trag das Gepäck hinauf!
Is hinauf a separate word or part of the verb?
It is part of the separable verb hinauftragen (to carry up). In a command, the main verb (tragt) moves to the first position, and the separable prefix (hinauf) gets sent to the very end of the sentence.
What if there are multiple suitcases, shouldn't Gepäck be plural?
No. Just like the English word "luggage," das Gepäck is a collective noun. It is almost always used in the singular form, no matter how many bags or suitcases are being carried.