About This Lesson
Use Tired eyes and screen breaks to practice German conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
Meine Augen fühlen sich müde an.
MY-nuh OW-gen FUE-len zikh MUE-duh ahn My eyes feel tired.
B
Der Bildschirm ist vielleicht zu hell.
dair BILT-shirm ist fee-LIEKHT tsoo hell The screen may be too bright.
A
Kann ich ihn dunkler machen?
kahn ikh een DOONG-kluh MAKH-en Can I make it darker?
B
Mach die Helligkeit niedriger.
MAKH dee HEL-ikh-kite NEE-dree-guh Try lowering the brightness.
A
Ich sollte meine Augen auch entspannen.
ikh ZOL-tuh MY-nuh OW-gen owkh ent-SHPAN-en I should rest my eyes too.
B
Schau jetzt vom Bildschirm weg.
show yetst fom BILT-shirm vek Look away from the screen now.
A
Das fühlt sich besser an.
dahs FUE-lt zikh BES-uh ahn That feels better.
B
Mach später noch eine Pause.
MAKH SHPAY-tuh nokh EYE-nuh POW-zuh Take another break later.Word by Word
Meine
In "Meine Augen", "Meine" means “my” and shows who the eyes belong to. It comes before the plural noun "Augen". Use the same possessive pattern when talking about your own plural items.
Augen
In "Meine Augen", "Augen" means “eyes”. It is the body part that feels tired in this dialogue. Use it with a possessive such as "Meine Augen" when describing your eyes.
fühlen
In "fühlen sich müde an", "fühlen" expresses how the eyes feel. It works together with "sich" and the ending particle "an". Use this expression to describe a physical or emotional sensation.
sich
In "fühlen sich müde an", "sich" is the reflexive part of the expression meaning “feel”. It connects the subject, "Meine Augen", with their own condition. Keep it inside the expression when describing how something feels.
müde
In "fühlen sich müde an", "müde" means “tired” and describes the condition of the eyes. It follows the reflexive part of the expression. Use it to describe tiredness in this kind of health situation.
an
In "fühlen sich müde an", "an" completes the expression for how something feels. It appears at the end of the sentence here. Keep this particle with the expression when describing a sensation.
Der
In "Der Bildschirm", "Der" means “the” and identifies the screen being discussed. It comes directly before "Bildschirm". Use this article-and-noun pattern when referring to that specific screen.
Bildschirm
In "Der Bildschirm", "Bildschirm" means “screen”. Here it refers to the screen whose brightness may be causing eye strain. The same noun appears in "vom Bildschirm weg" when telling someone to look away.
ist
In "Der Bildschirm ist vielleicht zu hell", "ist" means “is” and links the screen with its brightness description. It is followed by the phrase "vielleicht zu hell". Use it to describe the current condition of something.
vielleicht
In "Der Bildschirm ist vielleicht zu hell", "vielleicht" means “maybe” or “perhaps”. It shows that the speaker is offering a possibility rather than stating a certainty. It can be placed before the description "zu hell".
zu
In "zu hell", "zu" means “too” and shows that the brightness is excessive. It comes directly before the adjective "hell". Use "zu" before an adjective when something has more of a quality than is suitable.
hell
In "zu hell", "hell" means “bright”. Together with "zu", it describes a screen that is brighter than comfortable. Use it after "ist" to describe the screen’s brightness.
Kann
In "Kann ich ihn dunkler machen?", "Kann" means “can” and starts a question about ability or possibility. The question continues with "ich" and ends with "machen". Use the pattern "Kann ich ... machen?" to ask whether you can change something.
ich
In "Kann ich ihn dunkler machen?", "ich" means “I” and identifies the person asking to change the screen. It is the subject of the question. The same pronoun also appears at the start of "Ich sollte meine Augen auch entspannen."
ihn
In "ihn dunkler machen", "ihn" means “it” and refers back to "Der Bildschirm". It is the thing that the speaker wants to make darker. Use it when referring back to that screen in the same exchange.
dunkler
In "ihn dunkler machen", "dunkler" means “darker” and describes the requested change to the screen. It appears between the object "ihn" and "machen". Use this form when saying that something should become less bright.
machen
In "ihn dunkler machen", "machen" means “make” and expresses changing the screen’s brightness. It comes at the end after the modal verb "Kann". Use the pattern "Kann ich ihn dunkler machen?" to ask about making the screen darker.
Mach
In "Mach die Helligkeit niedriger", "Mach" means “make” and gives a direct instruction. It tells the other person what action to take. Use it at the beginning of a direct command.
die
In "die Helligkeit", "die" means “the” and comes before the noun "Helligkeit". Together they identify the brightness setting being changed. Use the same article with this noun in this expression.
Helligkeit
In "Mach die Helligkeit niedriger", "Helligkeit" means “brightness”. It is the setting that should be reduced. Use it with "die" and "niedriger" when giving this instruction.
niedriger
In "Mach die Helligkeit niedriger", "niedriger" means “lower”. It describes the desired reduced level of the brightness. Use it after "die Helligkeit" in this instruction.
sollte
In "Ich sollte meine Augen auch entspannen", "sollte" means “should” and expresses self-advice or a sensible action. It is followed by the infinitive "entspannen" at the end. Use this pattern to say what you think you ought to do.
auch
In "meine Augen auch entspannen", "auch" means “too” or “also”. It adds resting the eyes to the other recommended actions. It appears before the infinitive "entspannen" here.
entspannen
In "meine Augen auch entspannen", "entspannen" means “relax” or “rest”. It is the infinitive after "sollte" and describes what the speaker should do with their eyes. Use the expression "meine Augen entspannen" when talking about resting your eyes.
Schau
In "Schau jetzt vom Bildschirm weg", "Schau" means “look” and is a direct instruction. It tells the other person where to direct their eyes. Use it at the beginning of a command addressed to one person.
jetzt
In "Schau jetzt vom Bildschirm weg", "jetzt" means “now”. It says that the instruction should happen immediately. It can be placed after the command "Schau".
vom
In "vom Bildschirm weg", "vom" means “from the” and introduces the screen as the place to look away from. It appears directly before "Bildschirm" in this expression. Use the complete phrase "vom Bildschirm weg" when telling someone to look away from the screen.
weg
In "vom Bildschirm weg", "weg" means “away”. Together with the rest of the phrase, it tells someone to direct their eyes away from the screen. Keep it at the end of the command "Schau jetzt vom Bildschirm weg".
Das
In "Das fühlt sich besser an", "Das" means “that” or “it” and refers to the result of looking away from the screen. It is the subject of the expression describing how the result feels. Use it to respond to a change or action just mentioned.
fühlt
In "Das fühlt sich besser an", "fühlt" means “feels”. It works with "sich" and the ending particle "an" to describe the result. Use the complete expression when saying how something feels.
besser
In "fühlt sich besser an", "besser" means “better” and shows that the condition has improved. It describes the result after looking away from the screen. Use it in this expression to say that something now feels improved.
später
In "Mach später noch eine Pause", "später" means “later”. It places the additional break at a time after the present moment. It appears after the command "Mach" here.
noch
In "noch eine Pause", "noch" means “another” or “an additional”. It shows that this is an extra break, in addition to any break already taken. Use it directly before "eine Pause" in this expression.
eine
In "eine Pause", "eine" means “a” or “one”. It introduces the break that the person should take later. Use it directly before the noun "Pause" in this phrase.
Pause
In "noch eine Pause", "Pause" means “break” or “rest period”. Here it refers to time away from the screen. Use the phrase "eine Pause machen" when talking about taking a break.
Grammar Points
sich ... anfühlen
Die Augen fühlen sich müde an.
dee OW-gen FUE-len zikh MUE-duh ahnThe eyes feel tired.
„sich anfühlen“ is reflexive, and the prefix „an“ moves to the end of the sentence.
vom + noun; weg at the end
Schau vom Bildschirm weg.
show fom BILT-shirm vekLook away from the screen.
„vom“ combines „von“ and „dem“; „weg“ shows separation and comes after the verb in a command.
German Vocabulary
Auge
noun
OW-guh
eye
Augen
Bildschirm
noun
BILT-shirm
screen
dunkel
adj
DOONG-kuhl
dark
dunkler
entspannen
verb
ent-SHPAN-en
to relax; to rest
Helligkeit
noun
HEL-ikh-kite
brightness
machen
verb
MAKH-en
to make; to do
müde
adj
MUE-duh
tired
niedrig
adj
NEE-drih
low
niedriger
schauen
verb
SHOW-en
to look
Schau
sich anfühlen
verb
zikh AHN-fue-len
to feel
fühlen sich ... an
vielleicht
adv
fee-LIEKHT
perhaps; may
zu hell
phrase
tsoo hell
too bright
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
My eyes feel tired.
Show Answer
Meine Augen fühlen sich müde an.The screen may be too bright.
Show Answer
Der Bildschirm ist vielleicht zu hell.Can I make it darker?
Show Answer
Kann ich ihn dunkler machen?Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
brightness
Show Answer
Helligkeitto make; to do
Show Answer
machenscreen
Show Answer
Bildschirmtired