German Phrase
Probier mal einen erzwungenen Neustart.
Meaning
The sentence is a casual suggestion to perform a forced reboot of a device or system. It’s often used when something has frozen or is not responding, and a normal restart hasn’t helped.
When to use
Use this phrase in informal tech support, among friends, or in a workplace when you want to advise someone to restart a computer, smartphone, router, or any electronic device by forcing it to shut down and start again.
✦Grammar Breakdown
ProbiermaleinenerzwungenenNeustart
Imperativ (Probier)
‘Probier’ is the informal singular imperative of ‘probieren’ (to try). It drops the ‘-e’ ending in casual speech.
Modal particle ‘mal’
‘mal’ softens the command, making it sound like a friendly suggestion: ‘just try…’
Accusative case ‘einen’
‘einen’ is the masculine accusative indefinite article, required because ‘Neustart’ is the direct object.
Weak adjective declension ‘erzwungenen’
After an indefinite article, the adjective takes the weak ending ‘-en’ in the accusative masculine singular.
Masculine noun ‘Neustart’
‘Neustart’ (restart) is a masculine noun; its accusative form is identical to the nominative.
🗨In Conversation
Mein Laptop hängt seit Minuten, ich komme nicht weiter.
My laptop has been frozen for minutes, I can’t get anything done.
Probier mal einen erzwungenen Neustart, das hilft oft.
Try a forced restart, that often helps.
✕Common Mistakes
Probieren mal einen erzwungenen Neustart.
In the imperative you drop the infinitive ending; use ‘Probier’ for informal singular.
Probier mal einen erzwungenes Neustart.
After ‘einen’ the adjective must take the weak ‘-en’ ending, not ‘-es’.
Probier mal ein erzwungener Neustart.
That would be nominative, but the noun is the direct object, so accusative ‘einen’ is required.
↔Alternatives
Versuch mal einen erzwungenen Neustart.
Give a forced restart a try.
Mach einen erzwungenen Neustart.
Do a forced restart.
Starte das Gerät zwangsweise neu.
Restart the device forcibly.
Cultural Tip
In German IT slang, ‘erzwungener Neustart’ is a common term for a hard reset, especially when a device doesn’t respond to normal shutdown commands. The particle ‘mal’ makes the command sound less abrupt and more collegial, which is typical in informal workplace communication.