Ich schreibe mir eine Erinnerung ins Handy, damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole.

I write myself a reminder in my phone so that I review something new today.

Breakdown of Ich schreibe mir eine Erinnerung ins Handy, damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole.

• neu: new
• ich: I
• heute: today
• schreiben: to write
• damit: so that
• wiederholen: to repeat
• etwas: something
• mir: myself
• das Handy: the mobile phone
• ins: into the; (neuter, accusative)
• die Erinnerung: the reminder

Questions & Answers about Ich schreibe mir eine Erinnerung ins Handy, damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole.

Why is mir used here after schreibe? Why not mich, or no pronoun at all?

In German you can use a dative pronoun to show that someone is the beneficiary of an action.

• Ich schreibe eine Erinnerung ins Handy.
  = I write a reminder into the phone. (Just a neutral statement.)

• Ich schreibe mir eine Erinnerung ins Handy.
  = I write myself a reminder into the phone. (I’m doing it for myself.)

Here, mir is dative (to/for me). It works just like:

• Ich koche mir einen Kaffee. – I make myself a coffee.
• Ich kaufe mir ein neues Handy. – I buy myself a new phone.

You would only use mich (accusative) if ich were doing something to me as a direct object, e.g.:

• Ich sehe mich im Spiegel. – I see myself in the mirror.

With schreiben, the direct object is eine Erinnerung, so the beneficiary (mir) is in the dative.

What exactly is ins Handy, and why is it not in das Handy or im Handy?

Ins is the contraction of in das:

• in
  • das Handy → ins Handy

You use in + accusative when there is movement towards or into something:

• Ich schreibe etwas ins Heft. – into the exercise book
• Ich lege das Handy in die Tasche. – into the bag

So ins Handy schreiben literally means “to write into the phone” (into its memory, calendar, notes, etc.).

Compare:

• im Handy = in dem Handy (in + dative) → “in the phone” as a location, no movement:
  • Die Nummer ist schon im Handy gespeichert.
    The number is already saved in the phone.

So here we’re doing an action into the phone (ins Handy), not just describing where something is (im Handy).

Why is damit used, and what does it do to the word order?

Damit introduces a subordinate clause of purpose or result, similar to “so that” in English.

Structure:

• Main clause, damit
  • subordinate clause (verb at the end)

In your sentence:

• Ich schreibe mir eine Erinnerung ins Handy,
  → main clause (normal verb-second word order: schreibe is 2nd element)

• damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole.
  → subordinate clause; the conjugated verb goes to the end: wiederhole

So:

• damit → kicks the verb to the end of the clause
• It expresses purpose: I do X so that Y happens.

Compare:

• Ich mache mir Notizen, damit ich den Stoff besser verstehe.
  I take notes so that I understand the material better.

Could I use um ... zu instead of damit here?

Yes, you can. The meaning would stay essentially the same, but the structure changes.

With um ... zu, you don’t repeat the subject; you use an infinitive:

• Ich schreibe mir eine Erinnerung ins Handy, um heute etwas Neues zu wiederholen.

Rules/nuance:

• um ... zu can only be used if the subject of both parts is the same (ich here).
• damit allows a different subject:
  • Ich schreibe dir eine Nachricht, damit du es nicht vergisst.
    (I write so that you don’t forget.)

Both are correct in your sentence; um ... zu sounds a bit more compact and slightly more formal/neutral, damit a bit more conversational.

Why does the verb wiederhole stand at the very end of the clause damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole?

Because damit introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses the conjugated verb is placed at the end.

Pattern:

• Subordinating conjunction (e.g. dass, weil, wenn, obwohl, damit, weil)
  
  • subject
  • (other elements)
  • finite verb at the end

Examples:

• weil ich müde bin – because I am tired
• dass er heute kommt – that he is coming today
• damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole – so that I revise something new today

So the verb order ... ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole is exactly what you expect after damit.

Why is it etwas Neues and not etwas neu?

After etwas (something), nichts (nothing), viel, wenig, etc., adjectives often get:

1. Capitalization, and
2. Strong adjective endings

So:

• etwas Neues – something new
• nichts Interessantes – nothing interesting
• etwas Gutes – something good

Grammatically, Neues here is an adjective used as a noun (a “nominalized adjective”). It refers to “something new [thing]” without saying the noun.

You could spell it out:

• etwas Neues (Material) – some new (material)
• etwas Interessantes (Thema) – some interesting (topic)

Because the implied noun is neuter singular accusative, you get the ending -es: Neues.

Why is the tense present (schreibe, wiederhole) even though it’s about something that will happen later today?

German uses the present tense much more broadly than English, especially for near future actions when the time is clear from context.

• Ich schreibe mir eine Erinnerung ins Handy, damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole.
  = I’m writing myself a reminder into my phone so that I revise something new today.

The presence of heute (today) already indicates the future meaning, so German doesn’t need a separate future tense.

You could use Futur I:

• ..., damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederholen werde.

but that sounds heavier and is less common in everyday speech. Present + time expression is the default.

Is the word order heute etwas Neues fixed, or could I say etwas Neues heute?

Both are grammatically possible, but there are preferences.

• heute etwas Neues wiederhole (in your sentence)
  – slightly more neutral, common: time → object → verb

• etwas Neues heute wiederhole
  – less typical; here you’re giving a bit more weight to etwas Neues (the “new thing”) before stating when.

A useful basic guideline is TMP (Time – Manner – Place) in German word order:

• Ich wiederhole heute etwas Neues. – I revise something new today.

In subordinate clauses, word order is more flexible, but the Time–Object–Verb pattern, as in ... damit ich heute etwas Neues wiederhole, feels very natural.