Breakdown of Ich kann beim Flug nicht schlafen.
ich
I
nicht
not
schlafen
to sleep
können
can / to be able to
Questions & Answers about Ich kann beim Flug nicht schlafen.
Why is it beim and not just bei?
beim is a contraction of the preposition bei and the dative article dem. Because the word for flight is masculine (der Flug), and the preposition bei always forces the following noun into the dative case, der changes to dem. We combine them into beim.
Why does beim translate to 'during the' here? I thought it meant 'at' or 'with'.
You are right that bei usually means 'at' a place or 'with' a person. However, when you use bei before an event or an activity, like der Flug (the flight), it takes on a temporal (time-related) meaning. It translates to 'during' or 'at the time of' that event.
Why is nicht placed right before schlafen?
In German, the word nicht (not) usually comes after time phrases like beim Flug. When you have a modal verb like kann, the nicht is typically pushed toward the end of the sentence, sitting right in front of the main verb (schlafen) to negate that specific action.
Why is schlafen at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses the modal verb können (conjugated here as kann). A modal verb always takes the second position in the sentence and pushes the main action verb (schlafen) all the way to the end in its dictionary (infinitive) form.