Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore German: Wir beschließen das heute. - We decide that today.

Hardcore German
/Following a court hearing
/Wir beschließen das heute.

Wir beschließen das heute.

Word

Wir beschließen das heute.

Meaning

We decide that today.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore German

Lesson

Following a court hearing

Breakdown of Wir beschließen das heute.

to decide or resolve

Questions & Answers about Wir beschließen das heute.

Why is beschließen in the second position?

Because German main clauses normally follow the verb-second rule. That means the finite verb comes in position 2.

In Wir beschließen das heute:

Wir = position 1
beschließen = position 2
das heute = the rest of the sentence

This is one of the most important basic word-order patterns in German.

What tense is this sentence?

It is in the present tense.

German present tense often covers both:

simple present: We decide that today
near future: We’ll decide that today / We are deciding that today

German very often uses the present tense where English might prefer will or going to, especially when a time word like heute already makes the timing clear.

Why is das used here?

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching German grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning German now

Das is the direct object of beschließen.

The verb beschließen usually takes something that is being decided:

Wir beschließen das.
Wir beschließen den Plan.
Wir beschließen eine Änderung.

Here, das means that / it, referring to something already known from context.

Grammatically, it is in the accusative case, but das looks the same in nominative and accusative, so there is no visible change.

What is the difference between das and es here?

That is a very common question.

In a sentence like this, das usually points to a specific thing, idea, plan, or matter that has already been mentioned or is understood from context.

Wir beschließen das heute.
= We’re deciding that specific thing today.

Using es would sound less natural here in most contexts. German often prefers das when referring back to a whole idea, proposal, or matter under discussion.

So:

das = more like that / that matter / that issue
es = more like a general it, but not usually the best choice with beschließen in this kind of sentence

Why is heute at the end?

Because adverbs of time are often placed later in the sentence, especially after the object, when the sentence is neutral and straightforward.

So Wir beschließen das heute is a very normal word order.

But German word order is flexible, and you can move heute for emphasis:

Wir beschließen das heute. = neutral
Heute beschließen wir das. = emphasizes today
Das beschließen wir heute. = emphasizes that

All of these are possible, but the emphasis changes.

Can the word order be changed without changing the basic meaning?

Yes. German allows different elements to come first, as long as the finite verb stays in second position in a main clause.

Possible versions:

Wir beschließen das heute.
Heute beschließen wir das.
Das beschließen wir heute.

The core meaning stays similar, but the focus changes:

first version: neutral
second version: stresses today
third version: stresses that

This kind of movement is very common in German.

Is beschließen the same as entscheiden?

They are similar, but not always identical.

beschließen often means:

to make a decision
to decide on something
to pass or adopt something, especially in a group, official, or formal context

entscheiden is broader and often means simply to decide.

For example:

Wir beschließen das heute.
sounds like we will make that decision / formally decide that today
Wir entscheiden das heute.
sounds more general: we’ll decide that today

So beschließen can feel a bit more definite, formal, or collective.

Does this sentence sound formal?

It can sound slightly more formal or official than a sentence with entscheiden, because beschließen is often used for:

committees
councils
meetings
group decisions
official resolutions

But it is not extremely formal. It is still a normal German verb.

So the sentence could fit:

a work meeting
a family discussion
a committee session
any group making a clear decision

How is beschließen conjugated here?

Here it is conjugated for wir in the present tense:

ich beschließe
du beschließt
er/sie/es beschließt
wir beschließen
ihr beschließt
sie/Sie beschließen

So Wir beschließen is the correct we form.

Also note that beschließen is a strong verb, so some of its forms change their vowel:

ich beschließe
past tense: ich beschloss
past participle: beschlossen

Is beschließen a separable verb?

No. beschließen is not separable.

That means the prefix be- stays attached:

Wir beschließen das heute.
Wir haben das beschlossen.

Compare that with a separable verb like abschließen:

Wir schließen das heute ab.

So with beschließen, you never split it into schließen ... be or anything like that.

What would the perfect tense look like?

The perfect tense is:

Wir haben das heute beschlossen.

This uses:

haben as the auxiliary
beschlossen as the past participle

This is very common in spoken German when talking about a completed decision.

So:

Wir beschließen das heute. = present / near future
Wir haben das heute beschlossen. = we decided / have decided that today

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io