Questions & Answers about Guten Abend! Wir essen jetzt.
Why does the English translation say "are eating" when there is no word for "are" in the German sentence?
German does not have a continuous tense like English. There is no direct equivalent to adding "-ing" to a verb. The single German verb essen covers both "eat" and "are eating". If you tried to translate "We are eating" word-for-word into Wir sind essen, it would sound completely wrong to a German speaker!
Why is it Guten Abend with an "-en" at the end, instead of just Gut Abend?
This greeting is actually a shortened version of "I wish you a good evening" (Ich wünsche Ihnen einen guten Abend). Because the evening is the receiving object of that hidden sentence, the describing word gut gets an -en ending. You will see this exact same pattern in Guten Morgen and Guten Tag.
Why is the word Abend capitalized?
In German, every single noun (a word for a person, place, thing, or concept) is capitalized, no matter where it appears in the sentence. Since Abend (evening) is a noun, it must start with a capital letter.
Could I change the word order and start the sentence with jetzt?
Yes, you can absolutely say Jetzt essen wir. However, remember the golden rule of German statements: the verb must stay in the second position. If you put jetzt in the first position, the verb essen stays in spot number two, meaning the subject wir has to move after it.