berühre deine Zehen
The English phrase "touch your toes" is translated into German as berühre deine Zehen.
The phrase is used to instruct someone to bend forward at the waist until their fingers reach their toes. You can also use the separable verb phrase fass deine Zehen an if you want to imply a more physical or tactile sense of touching or grabbing.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the imperative verb berühre (touch), the possessive pronoun deine (your) and the noun Zehen (toes).
Which one should you use?
Use berühre deine Zehen for a singular person in an informal setting, whereas berührt eure Zehen is used when addressing a group of people informally. For a formal context, use Berühren Sie Ihre Zehen! or the more polite Bitte berühren Sie Ihre Zehen!
How does it change in a sentence?
The default form berühre deine Zehen is the singular imperative. When addressing a group informally, use the plural imperative berührt eure Zehen. In formal address, the verb changes to berühren and is paired with the polite pronoun Sie and the possessive Ihre (as seen in Berühren Sie Ihre Zehen!).
Did you know?
- The verb berühren can also mean 'to move someone emotionally', so saying someone was berührt can mean they were touched by a story or a gesture.
- In many German sports contexts, instructions are often given in the infinitive form, such as Zehen berühren!, rather than the imperative. This sounds clipped and telegraphic to English ears, which are used to hearing 'touch your toes' as a full sentence.
- The word Zehen comes from the same root as the English word 'toe', making them ancient cognates from a shared Proto-Germanic ancestor.
Examples in context
- Berühre deine Zehen ganz langsam.Touch your toes very slowly.
Example conversation
A fitness instructor is leading a yoga class.
- HannahBitte beuge dich vor und berühre deine Zehen.Please bend forward and touch your toes.
- FelixIch kann meine Zehen kaum berühren.I can barely touch my toes.
- HannahDas ist völlig normal am Anfang.That is completely normal at the beginning.
- FelixOkay, ich versuche es noch einmal.Okay, I will try it once more.
