Breakdown of Ich trage mir den Abgabetermin fett in den Kalender ein, damit ich ihn keinesfalls vergesse.
Questions & Answers about Ich trage mir den Abgabetermin fett in den Kalender ein, damit ich ihn keinesfalls vergesse.
Mir is the dative form of ich and here it’s a so‑called dative of interest / advantage. Literally, the sentence is:
- Ich trage mir den Abgabetermin … in den Kalender ein.
→ I enter the deadline in the calendar for myself.
So:
Ich trage den Abgabetermin in den Kalender ein.
= I enter the deadline in the calendar (neutral).Ich trage mir den Abgabetermin in den Kalender ein.
= I enter the deadline in the calendar for myself, for my benefit.
This mir is optional, but it makes it more personal and natural‑sounding in German, like “I’ll note that down for myself.”
Because den Abgabetermin is in the accusative case as the direct object of the verb eintragen.
- The base noun is der Termin (masculine).
- Masculine definite article:
- Nominative: der Termin
- Accusative: den Termin
In the sentence, was trage ich ein? → den Abgabetermin.
Direct object ⇒ accusative ⇒ den, not der.
Abgabetermin is a compound:
- Abgabe = the handing‑in / submission
- Termin = date / appointed time
So Abgabetermin = the date/time by which something must be handed in → a deadline for submitting something (homework, a paper, an application, etc.).
Related words:
- die Frist – (time) limit, period by which something must be done (more formal/legal).
- die Deadline – also used in modern German, but Abgabetermin is more neutral and “German-sounding.”
Literally, fett means fat / greasy.
In this context, it is used metaphorically to mean “in bold” / “in thick writing / heavily highlighted.”
So den Abgabetermin fett in den Kalender eintragen means:
- to write the deadline in the calendar in bold
- or to mark the deadline really clearly / prominently.
Common similar expressions:
- etwas fett markieren – to highlight something in bold
- etwas dick unterstreichen – to underline something thickly/strongly
Because in is a two‑way preposition. It can take:
- Dative for location (where something is)
- Accusative for direction/movement (where something is going to)
Here we have movement into the calendar (metaphorically):
- Wohin trage ich den Termin ein? – in den Kalender → accusative.
Compare:
Ich habe den Abgabetermin im Kalender.
(It is already in the calendar → dative: im = in dem.)Ich trage den Abgabetermin in den Kalender ein.
(I’m putting it into the calendar → accusative: in den.)
The infinitive is eintragen – a separable verb.
In a main clause in the present tense:
- finite verb (conjugated part) goes in position 2
- the separable prefix (ein) goes to the end of the clause
So:
- Ich trage mir den Abgabetermin in den Kalender ein.
(conjugated verb trage in position 2, prefix ein at the end)
In other structures it stays together at the end:
- With a modal verb:
Ich will mir den Abgabetermin in den Kalender eintragen. - In a subordinate clause:
…, damit ich mir den Abgabetermin in den Kalender eintrage.
Damit introduces a purpose clause: it means “so that / in order that”.
- …, damit ich ihn keinesfalls vergesse.
→ … so that I absolutely don’t forget it.
Contrast:
so dass / sodass – usually expresses a result/consequence:
Es war laut, sodass ich nicht schlafen konnte.
(It was loud, so [as a result] I couldn’t sleep.)weil – introduces a reason:
Ich trage ihn in den Kalender ein, weil ich ihn sonst vergesse.
(I’m writing it in the calendar because otherwise I forget it.)
Here, the idea is goal/purpose, so damit is the natural choice.
Because damit introduces a subordinate clause. In German subordinate clauses (introduced by dass, weil, wenn, damit, obwohl, etc.) the finite verb goes to the end of the clause.
Structure here:
- damit (subordinator)
- ich (subject)
- ihn (object)
- keinesfalls (adverb)
- vergesse (finite verb at the end)
So the standard German rule is:
- Main clause: Verb in position 2
→ Ich vergesse ihn keinesfalls. - Subordinate clause: Verb at the end
→ …, damit ich ihn keinesfalls vergesse.
German often uses the present tense where English uses a future tense, especially in:
- time clauses
- conditionals
- purpose clauses with damit
So:
- …, damit ich ihn keinesfalls vergesse.
literally: … so that I in‑present don’t forget it,
but idiomatically: … so that I *won’t forget it.*
You could say:
- …, damit ich ihn nicht vergessen werde.
but that sounds more formal / less natural in everyday speech. The simple present vergesse is standard here.
Keinesfalls is an adverb meaning:
- under no circumstances
- by no means
- absolutely not / definitely not
It’s a strong negative, stronger than just nicht.
Word order: it usually sits in the “middle field” with other adverbs:
- Ich vergesse ihn keinesfalls.
- damit ich ihn keinesfalls vergesse.
You can often replace it with:
- auf keinen Fall (slightly more colloquial):
…, damit ich ihn auf keinen Fall vergesse.
Ihn is the accusative masculine singular pronoun.
It must match the noun it refers to in gender and number.
- der Abgabetermin – masculine singular
- pronoun for masculine singular accusative → ihn
So ihn clearly refers back to den Abgabetermin.
If the noun were:
- die Frist (feminine) → damit ich sie nicht vergesse.
- das Datum (neuter) → damit ich es nicht vergesse.
German has typical preferences for ordering objects and adverbials in the middle field:
- Pronouns tend to come before full noun phrases.
- Dative (indirect object) usually comes before accusative (direct object), especially when the dative is a pronoun.
So:
- Ich trage mir den Abgabetermin … ein.
(mir = dative pronoun → goes first)
(den Abgabetermin = accusative noun → follows)
Then come other elements like fett and in den Kalender.
You could move things around a bit, but versions like
Ich trage den Abgabetermin mir fett in den Kalender ein sound unnatural.
The given order follows standard German rhythm and word‑order preferences.