Mein Handy klingelt ständig.

My phone keeps ringing.

Breakdown of Mein Handy klingelt ständig.

• mein: my
• klingeln: to ring
• ständig: constantly
• das Handy: the mobile phone

Questions & Answers about Mein Handy klingelt ständig.

Is the word Handy a false friend? Does it really mean “mobile/cell phone”?

Yes. Handy in German means a mobile/cell phone. It’s not the adjective “handy.” Its grammatical gender is neuter: das Handy.

• Common alternatives: das Smartphone (tech/modern), das Mobiltelefon (formal), das Telefon (often a landline).
• Regional note: In Switzerland, people often say das Natel (colloquial).

Why is it Mein Handy and not Meine Handy?

Because Handy is neuter and here it’s the subject (nominative case). Possessive determiners (mein, dein, sein, etc.) decline like ein.

• Nominative singular: masculine mein, neuter mein, feminine meine
• Plural (all genders): meine Examples:
• Mein Handy klingelt. (neuter, nominative)
• Meine Tasche ist da. (feminine)
• Meine Handys sind alt. (plural)

What form is klingelt?

klingelt is 3rd person singular, present tense of klingeln (to ring). Present conjugation:

• ich klingle
• du klingelst
• er/sie/es klingelt
• wir klingeln
• ihr klingelt
• sie/Sie klingeln

How do Germans say “is ringing”? Is there a special continuous tense?

German usually uses the simple present for both “rings” and “is ringing.” So Mein Handy klingelt covers both.

• Colloquial (regional, especially western Germany): Mein Handy ist am Klingeln. (less formal)

Where does ständig go? Can I put it at the beginning?

Yes. Neutral placement is after the verb in the “middle field”:

• Mein Handy klingelt ständig. You can front it for emphasis; then the verb still stays in 2nd position:
• Ständig klingelt mein Handy. (complaining/contrastive tone)

What exactly does ständig mean? How is it different from immer or dauernd?

ständig means “constantly/continually,” often with a mildly annoyed tone.

• Near-synonyms: dauernd, andauernd, immerzu, ununterbrochen, die ganze Zeit
• immer = “always” (more absolute). Mein Handy klingelt immer can sound like “it always rings” (often too strong or hyperbolic), whereas ständig suggests “all the time/constantly.”

How do I negate it to say “not constantly”?

Use nicht before ständig:

• Mein Handy klingelt nicht ständig. This means it does ring, just not constantly. If you mean “it won’t stop ringing,” say:
• Mein Handy hört nicht auf zu klingeln.
• Mein Handy klingelt immer wieder.

Can I use klingt instead of klingelt?

No. klingen = “to sound” (quality of a sound), e.g. Das klingt gut. klingeln = “to ring” (a bell/phone/doorbell), e.g. Das Handy klingelt.

Is klingeln transitive? Can I “ring” something directly?

In this sense, klingeln is intransitive: Das Handy klingelt. You can say:

• Er klingelt an der Tür. (rings the doorbell; prepositional) Colloquial verb:
• jemanden anklingeln = give someone a quick ring/call (separable prefix verb).

How do I talk about the past?

Preferred in speech (Perfekt):

• Mein Handy hat ständig geklingelt. Simple past (Präteritum), more written:
• Mein Handy klingelte ständig.

Any quick pronunciation tips for the whole sentence?

• Mein: like “mine” in English.
• Handy: roughly “HEN-dee” (short e, not English “hæ”).
• klingelt: “KLING-elt” (ng as in “sing,” final -elt like a quick “elt”).
• ständig: starts with German “st” = “sht” → “SHTEN-dich” (final -ig often sounds like the soft “ch” in “ich” [ç]). Say it smoothly: Mein HEN-dee KLING-elt SHTEN-dich.

Can I say Es klingelt ständig?

Yes. Es klingelt ständig. is a common impersonal way to say “There’s constant ringing” or “The phone keeps ringing,” without specifying which device.

What’s the plural of Handy and how would the sentence look?

Plural: die Handys (not “Handies”).

• Meine Handys klingeln ständig.

Are there regional alternatives to klingeln or Handy?

• Austria/southern Germany: läuten is common: Mein Handy (Telefon) läutet ständig.
• Switzerland: people often say Natel for mobile: Mein Natel klingelt ständig. Note: Handy is widely understood in Germany and Austria.

Why is Handy capitalized but ständig is not?

All nouns are capitalized in German: Handy. Adjectives/adverbs are lower-case: ständig. Mein is capitalized only because it begins the sentence; otherwise it’s lower-case.

If I want to say “My phone (alarm) keeps going off,” should I still use klingeln?

For alarms, klingeln works (like Der Wecker klingelt). Another common option is:

• Mein Handy geht ständig los. (keeps going off)
• For vibration: Mein Handy vibriert ständig.