German Phrase
Schau dir alle Lampen an.
Meaning
The sentence is a friendly command telling someone to look at every lamp in the room or display. It uses the informal ‘du’ form, so it’s appropriate when speaking to friends, family, or colleagues you know well.
When to use
Use this phrase when you want to draw someone's attention to lighting fixtures – for example, while shopping for home décor, showing a friend a new interior design, or asking a colleague to check the illumination in a workspace.
✦Grammar Breakdown
SchaudiralleLampenan
Imperative (schauen)
‘Schau’ is the singular informal imperative of the verb ‘schauen’ (to look).
Reflexive pronoun (dir)
‘dir’ is the dative reflexive pronoun used with ‘sich … anschauen’ to indicate who is doing the looking.
Separable prefix (an‑)
‘an’ is the separable prefix of ‘anschauen’; in the imperative it moves to the end of the clause.
Determiner (alle)
‘alle’ is a plural determiner meaning ‘all’, used here in the accusative case.
Noun (Lampen)
‘Lampen’ is the plural of ‘die Lampe’ (lamp) and is the direct object of the verb.
🗨In Conversation
Schau dir alle Lampen an, die wir gerade installiert haben.
Take a look at all the lamps we just installed.
Wow, die neue Beleuchtung ist wirklich schön!
Wow, the new lighting is really beautiful!
✕Common Mistakes
Schau du alle Lampen an.
The pronoun ‘du’ is not used in the imperative; the reflexive dative ‘dir’ is required.
Schau dir alle Lampen.
‘Alle’ must stay in the accusative case; using the nominative ‘alle Lampen’ after the verb is acceptable, but the object case is accusative.
Schau an dir alle Lampen.
The separable prefix must stay at the end of the sentence in the imperative.
↔Alternatives
Sieh dir alle Lampen an.
Look at all the lamps.
Betrachte alle Lampen.
Observe all the lamps.
Sieh dir sämtliche Lampen an.
Take a look at every lamp.
Cultural Tip
In German the reflexive pronoun ‘dir’ signals the informal ‘du’ form. If you need to be formal, switch to ‘Schauen Sie sich alle Lampen an.’ Also, the separable prefix ‘an’ always moves to the end of the clause in the imperative, which can feel odd to English speakers.