Breakdown of Kannst du mir die Wasserflasche reichen?
Questions & Answers about Kannst du mir die Wasserflasche reichen?
Because German marks the recipient with the dative case. The verb reichen (to hand/pass) takes:
- a dative object for the person receiving something (here: mir = to me), and
- an accusative object for the thing being passed (here: die Wasserflasche).
So the pattern is: jemandem (DAT) etwas (ACC) reichen. Using mich (ACC) would wrongly suggest “pass me” as the direct object.
- Wasserflasche is a feminine noun because its head noun Flasche is feminine.
- Feminine singular has die in both nominative and accusative cases. Here it’s accusative (the direct object), so die is correct.
- If it were dative singular, it would be der Wasserflasche; plural would be die Wasserflaschen (ACC/NOM) and den Wasserflaschen (DAT).
- Yes/no questions in German start with the conjugated verb: Kannst.
- With modal verbs (like können), the main verb goes to the end in the infinitive: … reichen?
- The statement order would be: Du kannst mir die Wasserflasche reichen.
- More polite informal: Könntest du mir (bitte) die Wasserflasche reichen? or Würdest du mir … reichen?
- Formal (to a stranger/superior): Könnten Sie mir (bitte) die Wasserflasche reichen? or Würden Sie mir … reichen?
- To several people informally: Könnt ihr mir … reichen? Formal plural is still Könnten Sie …?
Several places are idiomatic:
- Kannst du mir bitte die Wasserflasche reichen?
- Bitte, kannst du mir die Wasserflasche reichen?
- Kannst du mir die Wasserflasche reichen, bitte?
You can also soften it with the particle mal: Kannst du mir mal die Wasserflasche reichen?
Yes: Kannst du mir die Wasserflasche geben? is fine. Nuance:
- reichen often implies physically handing something to someone (across a table, etc.) and sounds slightly more “pass me …”.
- geben is the general “give”. Colloquial options: rüberreichen/rübergeben (pass over), weiterreichen (pass along).
- Wasserflasche = a water bottle (the type of bottle, e.g., a reusable bottle).
- eine Flasche Wasser = a bottle of water (focus on the contents/quantity). So your sentence asks for “the water bottle,” not just any bottle containing water.
When both are pronouns, the usual order is accusative before dative:
- Kannst du sie mir reichen? (sie = the bottle) Saying Kannst du mir sie reichen? is possible but less common unless you’re emphasizing mir.
Modal verbs (können, müssen, dürfen, sollen, wollen, mögen) take a bare infinitive without zu:
- Kannst du … reichen? not zu reichen. With non-modals you may need zu: Versuchst du, mir die Wasserflasche zu reichen?
No, not in standard speech with a singular count noun. You need an article:
- die Wasserflasche (the specific one) or eine Wasserflasche (a water bottle). Without an article you’d change the meaning (e.g., Wasser alone would mean “some water”).
Yes. That’s a direct yes/no question without a modal and can feel a touch more direct. Even more direct is the imperative:
- Reich (Reiche) mir bitte die Wasserflasche. Using kannst/könntest often sounds a bit softer.
A careful IPA guide: [ˈkanst duː miːɐ̯ diː ˈvasɐˌflaʃə ˈʁaɪ̯çən] Tips:
- German w sounds like English v: Wasser ≈ “Vasser”.
- ch in reichen is the “ich-sound” [ç], not the harsh .
- ei in reichen sounds like English “eye”.
- r is usually a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] in standard German.
- German compounds are typically written as a single word: Wasserflasche (not “Wasser Flasche”).
- All nouns are capitalized in German, so the compound starts with a capital letter: Wasserflasche. The second part isn’t capitalized inside the compound.