Breakdown of Bitte kommen Sie in fünfzig Minuten zurück.
Questions & Answers about Bitte kommen Sie in fünfzig Minuten zurück.
Why is Sie capitalized?
Because Sie with a capital S is the formal word for you in German.
- Sie = formal you
- sie = she or they
So the capital letter is important. In this sentence, the speaker is addressing someone politely or professionally.
Is kommen Sie a command? Why isn’t it komm?
Yes. This is a polite command/request, also called the formal imperative.
German uses different imperative forms depending on who you are talking to:
- Komm zurück! = to one person you know well
- Kommt zurück! = to several people you know well
- Kommen Sie zurück! = formal singular or formal plural
So kommen Sie is the correct form when speaking politely.
Why is zurück at the end of the sentence?
Because zurückkommen is a separable verb.
Its dictionary form is zurückkommen = to come back / return.
But in a normal main clause, the prefix zurück- separates and moves to the end:
- Sie kommen zurück.
- Bitte kommen Sie ... zurück.
When the verb is not split, it stays together:
- zurückkommen (infinitive)
- zurückgekommen (past participle)
What exactly does in fünfzig Minuten mean here?
It means fifty minutes from now.
So it gives a future point relative to the present: come back after fifty minutes have passed.
It does not mean the action lasts fifty minutes.
If you wanted to say for fifty minutes, you would usually use für instead:
- für fünfzig Minuten = for fifty minutes
Why is it Minuten and not Minute?
Because fifty is more than one, so German uses the plural noun.
- die Minute = the minute
- die Minuten = the minutes
Compare:
- in einer Minute = in one minute
- in fünfzig Minuten = in fifty minutes
What case is fünfzig Minuten here?
In this time expression, in is used with the dative.
You can see that more clearly in singular examples:
- in einer Minute
- in einer Stunde
With Minuten, the form does not look special because the plural already ends in -n, which is what dative plural normally needs anyway.
Why is there no comma after Bitte?
Because bitte here is just part of the sentence, meaning please. In normal German, you usually do not put a comma after it:
- Bitte kommen Sie in fünfzig Minuten zurück.
- Kommen Sie bitte in fünfzig Minuten zurück.
A comma would only appear if Bitte were being treated as a separate interjection for dramatic pause or special emphasis, which is not the neutral reading here.
Can bitte go somewhere else in the sentence?
Yes. Bitte is quite flexible.
Very natural versions include:
- Bitte kommen Sie in fünfzig Minuten zurück.
- Kommen Sie bitte in fünfzig Minuten zurück.
Both are correct. Starting with Bitte can sound a little more front-loaded and polite, while putting bitte after the verb is also extremely common.
Could I say nach fünfzig Minuten instead of in fünfzig Minuten?
You sometimes can, but the usual choice here is in fünfzig Minuten.
- in fünfzig Minuten = fifty minutes from now
- nach fünfzig Minuten = after fifty minutes have passed
In a direct instruction to return at a future time, in is the more natural and expected option.
Is zurückkommen the same as wiederkommen?
They are often similar, but not always identical.
- zurückkommen emphasizes returning to a previous place
- wiederkommen can mean come back or simply come again
In this sentence, zurückkommen is especially clear because it focuses on returning after going away.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning GermanMaster German — from Bitte kommen Sie in fünfzig Minuten zurück to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions