Genießen Sie - This looks like a question

At the end of lesson 2.1 Paul says "Hier bitte. Genießen Sie die Tour!", which is translated as "Here you go. Enjoy the tour!." In my opinion this is a statement, he is telling Nik to enjoy the tour, so can you explain to me why it is formed as a question, like for example Sprechen Sie Deutsche? Do you speak German? My logic suggest it should be "Sie Genießen die tour". By the way I'm still enjoying the course. Regards Ken.

Hi Ken, "Genießen Sie die Tour!": this phrase is in the command form, the so called Imperative. The Imperative is usually a very strong form, for example if someone says: " Hör zu!" it really means you should listen. Usually the personal pronouns (like "you") are not used in the Imperative, the only exception is the polite "Sie" form. If you said "Enjoy the tour" to a friend you would say "Genieß die Tour", but because Paul is playing the role of an assistant at the tourist information center in Lesson 2.1 he addresses Nik in a formal way. To turn this example into a statement ("You are enjoying the tour") you would say "Sie genießen die Tour". As a question the phrase would be "Genießen Sie die Tour?". In this case the command form is meant as an encouragement, as in "please enjoy yourself on the tour". I'm glad you are still enjoying the course. :D

I was going to ask the same question about "Genießen Sie die Tour"...I thought it was stated like a question too! Look forward to hearing back[/b]

Hi you two, the clue here is the intonation, as the phrase could just as well be a question when you look at the word order. If the person you are talking to raises his or her voice at the end of the sentence than it's more likely to be a question. Unfortunately some Germans mumble and don't pronounce words very clearly, including swallowing whole syllabus. However, here is what you can do- simply say: "Wie bitte?" or "Ich verstehe Sie nicht" or "Wiederholen Sie bitte" Don't be scared to ask someone to repeat or clarify something. You are not expected to understand everything the first time. Even a native speaker doesn't understand everything straight away :wink: