German Phrase
Halt deine Tasche gut fest.
Meaning
A direct command telling someone to hold their bag tightly so it doesn’t slip or fall. The addition of ‘gut’ adds extra emphasis, similar to ‘hold your bag really tight.’
When to use
Use this phrase when you need to ensure a bag stays secure – for example on a moving vehicle, a crowded train, or when handing a bag to a child. It’s informal, so reserve it for friends, family, or peers.
✦Grammar Breakdown
HaltdeineTaschegutfest
Imperative (du)
For the informal 'du' form, drop the infinitive ending -en and add a hyphen-less stem: halten → Halt.
Possessive adjective
‘deine’ matches the feminine noun ‘Tasche’ in case (accusative) and number.
Adverbial intensifier
‘gut’ intensifies ‘fest’, together meaning ‘tightly’ or ‘very firmly’.
Word order
In a simple imperative clause, the verb comes first, followed by object and adverbial modifiers.
🗨In Conversation
Halt deine Tasche gut fest, sonst fällt sie runter.
Hold your bag tightly, otherwise it will fall.
Keine Sorge, ich halte sie fest.
Don’t worry, I’ll hold it tight.
✕Common Mistakes
Halten deine Tasche gut fest.
The infinitive ‘halten’ cannot be used in an imperative; drop the -en to get ‘Halt’.
Halt dein Tasche gut fest.
‘Tasche’ is feminine, so the possessive must be ‘deine’, not ‘dein’.
Halt deine Tasche gutes fest.
‘Gut’ is an adverb here, not an adjective; it stays unchanged and does not take an ending.
↔Alternatives
Halte deine Tasche fest.
Hold your bag tight.
Bitte halte deine Tasche gut fest.
Please hold your bag tightly.
Halten Sie Ihre Tasche gut fest.
Hold your bag tightly. (formal)
Cultural Tip
In German, adding ‘gut’ before ‘fest’ is a common way to stress the degree of firmness. The informal imperative can sound abrupt, so in public or with strangers you’d usually soften it with ‘Bitte’ or switch to the formal ‘Sie’ form: ‘Bitte halten Sie Ihre Tasche gut fest.’