Breakdown of Denk daran, den Ausweis mitzunehmen.
mitnehmen
to take along
den
the; (masculine, accusative)
denken
to think
der Ausweis
the ID card
Questions & Answers about Denk daran, den Ausweis mitzunehmen.
Why is it Denk and not Denke?
Because this is the imperative (command) form for du (informal “you”).
- denken (du) → imperative: Denk!
- With Sie it would be Denken Sie ...
- With ihr it would be Denkt ...
So Denk daran ... = “(You) remember / think of it ...”
What does daran mean here, and why not darauf or an das?
daran is a “da-” word meaning an + it/that (i.e., “about it / of it”).
The verb is denken an + Akkusativ: an etwas denken = “to think of / remember something.”
- Full form: Denk an das! (Think of that!)
- With a pronoun, German usually uses a da- form: Denk daran! (“Think of it!”)
darauf would match verbs/prepositions that take auf, not an.
Why is there a comma after daran?
Because what follows is an infinitive clause (an Infinitivsatz) with zu: den Ausweis mitzunehmen.
In German, infinitive clauses are often separated by a comma, especially when they depend on something like daran (or on nouns like der Wunsch, verbs like versuchen, etc.). Here it’s the very common pattern:
- Denk daran, + zu-Infinitiv
= “Remember to ...”