Breakdown of Ich habe dieses Wochenende frei.
ich
I
haben
to have
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
das Wochenende
the weekend
frei
free / off
Questions & Answers about Ich habe dieses Wochenende frei.
Why is frei at the very end of the sentence?
Expressions made of a verb and an adjective, like frei haben (to have time off), often act like separable verbs. The main verb (habe) takes the normal second position, and frei gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why is it dieses and not diese or dieser?
Wochenende is a neuter noun (das Wochenende), so the word for 'this' takes the neuter ending -es. A helpful tip: compound words always take the gender of their last part, which in this case is das Ende (the end).
Could I just say Ich bin frei to mean I have the day off?
No, if you say Ich bin frei, it sounds more like 'I am a free person' (as in, not in prison) rather than having a day off work. To say you have a day off from work or school, always use the phrase frei haben.
How would I change this sentence to say 'I want to have this weekend off'?
To use the modal verb wollen (to want), you would say: Ich will dieses Wochenende frei haben. The modal verb will takes the second position, pushing the entire action (frei haben) to the very end in its dictionary form.
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