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When tracing the milestones of aviation history, you naturally need to state the years when major events happened. While English speakers default to saying "in 1903", German handles historical years differently.

### The "Zero Preposition" Rule

In standard German, you **never** use the word *in* directly before a year. If you want to say "in 1928", the most common way is to simply state the number all by itself, with no preposition at all.

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This works whether the year is at the beginning of the sentence, or placed later in the clause to modify an event:

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### The Phrase "im Jahr"

If you prefer to use a prepositional phrase, you must use the full phrase **im Jahr** (in the year). Saying *in 1919* is an anglicism; you must say *im Jahr 1919*.

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### Word Order Reminders

Time expressions are frequently placed at the very beginning of a sentence to set the scene. When you do this, remember that German main clauses strictly follow the "verb-second" rule. 

Whether your time expression is a single number (*1939*) or a full phrase (*im Jahr 1927*), it occupies the first grammatical position. The conjugated verb must be the very next element.

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When stating the year inside a subordinate clause (like after *weil* or *dass*), the "verb-second" rule no longer applies. The time expression stays in the middle of the clause, and the conjugated verb is pushed to the very end of the sentence, exactly as you would expect.

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Stating the year (im Jahr)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the maiden flight	der Erstflug
the milestone	der Meilenstein
the aviation	die Luftfahrt
The maiden flight in 1903 was a milestone for aviation.	Der Erstflug 1903 war ein Meilenstein für die Luftfahrt.
the pilot (m)	der Pilot
to take off (aircraft)	starten
In the year 1919, the pilot took off for the first time.	Im Jahr 1919 ist der Pilot zum ersten Mal gestartet.
1920 was a milestone because aviation grew quickly.	1920 war ein Meilenstein, weil die Luftfahrt schnell gewachsen ist.
In the year 1927, the pilot flew through the storm.	Im Jahr 1927 ist der Pilot durch den Sturm geflogen.
the pilot (f)	die Pilotin
the Atlantic	der Atlantik
to cross	überqueren
In 1928, a female pilot crossed the Atlantic.	1928 hat eine Pilotin den Atlantik überquert.
In the year 1932, the flight was admittedly dangerous, but the female pilot crossed the Atlantic again.	Im Jahr 1932 war der Flug zwar gefährlich, aber die Pilotin hat den Atlantik wieder überquert.
the airline	die Fluggesellschaft
the helicopter	der Hubschrauber
In 1939, the airline bought the first helicopter.	1939 hat die Fluggesellschaft den ersten Hubschrauber gekauft.
Because of the weather, the helicopter did not take off in the year 1939.	Wegen des Wetters ist der Hubschrauber im Jahr 1939 nicht gestartet.
The airline was successful because it bought many airplanes in 1950.	Die Fluggesellschaft war erfolgreich, weil sie 1950 viele Flugzeuge gekauft hat.
The maiden flight across the Atlantic was in the year 1919.	Der Erstflug über den Atlantik war im Jahr 1919.
last, final	letzt
Last year we were in Italy.	Letztes Jahr waren wir in Italien.
That is my last question.	Das ist meine letzte Frage.

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