Breakdown of Bitte lies den Satz noch einmal und achte auf jedes Komma.
Questions & Answers about Bitte lies den Satz noch einmal und achte auf jedes Komma.
Why is it lies and not lesen or liest?
Lies is the informal singular imperative of lesen, used when speaking to one person you would call du.
- lesen = infinitive, to read
- du liest = you read
- lies! = read!
The verb lesen changes its stem vowel from e to ie in some forms, including du liest and the imperative lies.
So Bitte lies den Satz ... means Please read the sentence ... when talking to one person informally.
Why is there no du in the sentence?
In German, the imperative usually leaves out the subject pronoun.
So instead of saying:
- Du lies den Satz ... — which is not how commands are normally formed
German says:
- Lies den Satz ...
The du is understood. English can do something similar: Read the sentence again. You do not need to say You read the sentence again.
What does bitte mean here?
Here bitte means please. It makes the command sound more polite.
You can often place bitte in different positions:
- Bitte lies den Satz noch einmal.
- Lies bitte den Satz noch einmal.
Both are natural. In your sentence, bitte comes first, which is very common.
Why is it den Satz?
Because lesen takes a direct object, and direct objects are usually in the accusative case.
The noun Satz is masculine: der Satz
So in the accusative it becomes:
- der Satz → den Satz
That is why the sentence says lies den Satz.
What does noch einmal mean, and how is it different from wieder?
Noch einmal means once again, one more time, or again.
In this sentence, noch einmal emphasizes repeating the action:
- lies den Satz noch einmal = read the sentence one more time
You may also see wieder, which often also means again. In many contexts, wieder and noch einmal are close in meaning, but noch einmal often more clearly suggests one additional time.
So here noch einmal is very natural because the speaker wants the person to read it another time carefully.
Why does the sentence use achte auf?
Because achten auf is a fixed verb + preposition combination meaning to pay attention to or to watch for.
So:
- auf etwas achten = to pay attention to something
In the sentence:
- achte auf jedes Komma = pay attention to every comma
This is not a separable-prefix verb. It is the verb achten used with the preposition auf.
Why is it jedes Komma?
Because Komma is a neuter noun:
- das Komma
After auf, this phrase is in the accusative because achten auf takes the accusative.
For a neuter singular noun, jed- takes the form jedes in the accusative:
- jedes Komma = every comma
Compare:
- jeder Satz = every sentence masculine nominative
- jeden Satz = every sentence masculine accusative
- jedes Komma = every comma neuter nominative/accusative
Why are Satz and Komma capitalized?
In German, all nouns are capitalized, not just names or sentence-initial words.
So:
- der Satz
- das Komma
are capitalized because they are nouns.
This is one of the most noticeable spelling differences between German and English.
Why is there no comma in this sentence, even though it talks about commas?
Because the two commands are simply joined by und:
- Bitte lies den Satz noch einmal
- und achte auf jedes Komma
In German, when two main clauses are connected by und, you usually do not need a comma.
So the sentence is correctly written without one.
Why do both verbs come so early in the sentence?
That is typical of the imperative in German.
In commands, the verb usually comes first:
- Lies den Satz ...
- Achte auf jedes Komma.
When two commands are linked with und, each command keeps that imperative structure. So after und, you again get the verb early:
- ... und achte auf jedes Komma
How would this sentence change if I were speaking formally or to more than one person?
German has different imperative forms depending on who you are addressing.
Informal singular one person, du:
- Bitte lies den Satz noch einmal und achte auf jedes Komma.
Informal plural more than one person, ihr:
- Bitte lest den Satz noch einmal und achtet auf jedes Komma.
Formal one or more people, Sie:
- Bitte lesen Sie den Satz noch einmal und achten Sie auf jedes Komma.
So your original sentence is specifically addressed to one person informally.
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