Checking items in a bag | Learn German in English

About This Lesson

Use Checking items in a bag to practice German conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Kannst du mir helfen, meine Tasche zu prüfen?

KAHNST doo meer HEL-fen, MY-nuh TAH-shuh tsoo PRUE-fen? Can you help me check my bag?

Ich kann sie mit dir durchsuchen.

ikh kahn zee mit deer DOORCH-zoo-khen. I can look through it with you.

Siehst du, ob etwas fehlt?

ZEEST doo, ohp ET-vahs faylt? Do you see anything missing?

Deine Geldbörse und dein Handy sind beide hier.

DYE-nuh GELT-bur-zuh oont DINE HEN-dee zint BY-duh HEER. Your wallet and phone are both here.

Wo ist mein kleines Notizbuch?

voh ist MYNE KLY-nuhs noh-TEETS-BOO-kh? Where is my small notebook?

Es ist unter deiner Jacke.

ess ist OON-ter DYE-nuh YAH-kuh. It is under your jacket.

Dann habe ich alles.

dahn HAH-buh ikh ALL-uhs. Then I have everything.

Du kannst die Tasche jetzt schließen.

doo kahnst dee TAH-shuh YETST SHEE-sen. You can close the bag now.

Word by Word

Kannst Kannst means can or be able to here, as part of a question asking whether someone is able to help. It is the form of können used with du. A common reuse is asking Kannst du someone to do something.

du Du means you when speaking to one person informally. Here it is the person being asked for help in Kannst du mir helfen. Use du when addressing one familiar person directly.

mir Mir means to me or for me here: the help is being given to the speaker. It is the dative form of the pronoun for I, and helfen commonly refers to the person helped with this form. A useful pattern is jemandem helfen, meaning help someone.

helfen Helfen means help in the request for assistance. It is used with mir for the person receiving help, followed by the activity to be done. Use it when asking someone to assist with a task.

meine Meine means my here and identifies the bag as belonging to the speaker. It is the possessive form of mein placed before Tasche. A common reuse is possessive word plus the noun for an item that belongs to someone.

Tasche Tasche means bag, the item that the speakers want to inspect. In meine Tasche, it names the object of the checking activity. Use it when referring to a bag in everyday situations.

zu Zu marks the infinitive prüfen in the phrase zu prüfen. Together with helfen, it connects the help request to the activity the speaker wants help with. A common reuse is helfen followed by zu and an infinitive.

prüfen Prüfen means check or inspect here, referring to looking through the bag to see whether everything is present. It is the infinitive after zu. Use it for checking an item, object, or situation carefully.

Ich Ich means I and is the speaker who offers to search through the bag. It is the subject of Ich kann sie mit dir durchsuchen. Use Ich at the beginning of a statement about your own ability or action.

kann Kann means can here and expresses the speaker’s ability to search through the bag. It is the form of können used with ich, and the following action remains in the infinitive. A common reuse is Ich kann followed by an action.

sie Sie means it here and refers back to Tasche, the bag. It is the object of durchsuchen. Use a pronoun like sie when referring back to a previously mentioned feminine noun.

mit Mit means with and shows that the searching will happen together with the other person. In this dialogue it introduces dir. A common reuse is mit followed by the person someone does an activity with.

dir Dir means you here in the phrase mit dir, meaning with you. It is the dative form of du required after mit. Use mit dir when describing an activity done together with one person informally.

durchsuchen Durchsuchen means search through, here referring to examining the contents of the bag. It is the infinitive used after kann, while sie identifies what is being searched. Use it when looking through an object for something.

Siehst Siehst means see here, in a question asking whether the other person notices anything missing. It is the form of sehen used with du. A common reuse is a question beginning with Siehst du when asking whether someone can see something.

ob Ob means whether or if and introduces the question about something being missing. It connects Siehst du with the point the speaker wants checked. Use ob to introduce an embedded question when the answer can be yes or no.

etwas Etwas means something or anything here, referring to an unspecified item in the bag. In etwas fehlt, it is the thing that may be absent. Use etwas when the particular item is not known or does not need to be named.

fehlt Fehlt means is missing here, describing an item that is not present. It is the form of fehlen used with etwas. A useful pattern is etwas fehlt when saying that something is absent.

Deine Deine means your here and identifies the wallet as belonging to the person being addressed. It is the possessive form of dein placed before Geldbörse. Use it before a noun when speaking informally to one person about something that belongs to them.

Geldbörse Geldbörse means wallet, one of the two personal items confirmed to be in the bag. It is the noun identified by Deine. Use it when referring to a wallet in a situation involving personal belongings.

und Und means and and connects Geldbörse with Handy. It shows that both named items are included in the statement. Use und to join two items, people, or pieces of information.

dein Dein means your here and identifies the phone as belonging to the person being addressed. It is the possessive form of dein before Handy. Use it before a noun when speaking informally about one person’s possession.

Handy Handy means mobile phone in this dialogue. It is the second personal item that is confirmed to be present. Use it when referring to a mobile phone in everyday German.

sind Sind means are here and states that the wallet and phone are present. It is the plural form of sein used because two items are named together. A common reuse is a plural subject followed by sind and a place or condition.

beide Beide means both and refers to the two items just named, the wallet and the phone. It emphasizes that each of the two items is here. Use beide when referring to exactly two people or things together.

hier Hier means here and indicates that the wallet and phone are in the place being checked. It gives the location of the items. Use hier when pointing out that something is present at the current place.

Wo Wo means where and begins a question asking for the location of the notebook. It asks about a place rather than an action. A common reuse is Wo ist followed by the thing whose location is being asked about.

ist Ist means is here and states or asks about the location of one notebook. It is the singular form of sein used with Notizbuch. Use it in location statements and questions about one thing.

mein Mein means my here and identifies the notebook as belonging to the speaker. It is the possessive form of mein before Notizbuch. Use it before a noun when referring informally to something that belongs to you.

kleines Kleines means small here and describes the notebook. It appears between mein and Notizbuch as part of the description of that item. Use an adjective in this position when adding a description before a noun.

Notizbuch Notizbuch means notebook, the small item the speaker is looking for. It is the noun described by kleines. Use it when referring to a notebook for writing notes.

Es Es means it here and refers back to the notebook. It is the subject of the statement about where the notebook is. Use es to refer to a previously mentioned thing when the German noun takes this pronoun.

unter Unter means under and describes the notebook’s position beneath the jacket. It introduces the location phrase unter deiner Jacke. Use unter when saying that something is below or underneath another thing.

deiner Deiner means your here and identifies the jacket as belonging to the person being addressed. It is the form of dein used in the location phrase unter deiner Jacke. Use it in a similar under-location phrase for one person’s jacket or other possession.

Jacke Jacke means jacket, the item under which the notebook is found. It completes the location phrase with unter deiner. Use it when referring to a jacket as clothing or as a place where something is located.

Dann Dann means then and marks the conclusion reached after finding the notebook. It connects the discovery with the statement that everything is now present. Use Dann at the start of a statement about a result or next step.

habe Habe means have here and states that the speaker now possesses or has all the required items. It is the form of haben used with ich. A common reuse is Ich habe followed by the thing someone has.

alles Alles means everything here and refers to the complete set of items the speaker was checking for. Together with habe, it expresses that nothing is missing. Use alles when referring to a whole group or complete set without naming each item.

die Die means the here and identifies the specific bag that has just been checked. It is the definite article before Tasche. Use die before a known noun when referring to a particular item.

jetzt Jetzt means now and indicates that the bag may be closed at this point in the activity. It marks the current time after the check is complete. Use jetzt when an action should happen at the present moment.

schließen Schließen means close here, referring to closing the bag after checking its contents. It is the infinitive used after kannst. Use it when telling someone to close a bag, door, or other object.

Grammar Points

zu + Infinitiv

etwas zu prüfen

ET-vahs tsoo PRUE-fen

to check something

German uses zu before an infinitive in this construction; English usually uses “to” directly before the verb.

ob + ... + Verb am Ende

ob etwas fehlt

ohp ET-vahs faylt

whether something is missing

ob introduces an indirect yes/no question, and the conjugated verb comes at the end.

German Vocabulary

beide pron

BY-duh both

sind beide hier

durchsuchen verb

DOORCH-zoo-khen to search through

Ich kann sie mit dir durchsuchen.

etwas pron

ET-vahs something; anything

ob etwas fehlt

fehlen verb

FAY-len to be missing fehlt

ob etwas fehlt

Geldbörse noun

GELT-bur-zuh wallet

Deine Geldbörse und dein Handy sind beide hier.

Handy noun

HEN-dee mobile phone

Deine Geldbörse und dein Handy sind beide hier.

helfen verb

HEL-fen to help

Kannst du mir helfen?

mit prep

MIT with

mit dir

ob conj

OHP whether; if

Siehst du, ob etwas fehlt?

prüfen verb

PRUE-fen to check zu prüfen

meine Tasche zu prüfen

sehen verb

ZAY-en to see Siehst

Siehst du, ob etwas fehlt?

Tasche noun

TAH-shuh bag meine Tasche

meine Tasche zu prüfen

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I can look through it with you.

Show Answer

Ich kann sie mit dir durchsuchen.

Do you see anything missing?

Show Answer

Siehst du, ob etwas fehlt?

Where is my small notebook?

Show Answer

Wo ist mein kleines Notizbuch?

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to search through

Show Answer

durchsuchen

to see

Show Answer

Siehst

to help

Show Answer

helfen

to be missing

Show Answer

fehlt