Breakdown of Machen Sie im Juli oder August Urlaub?
Sie
you (formal)
oder
or
Urlaub machen
to go on holiday
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
Questions & Answers about Machen Sie im Juli oder August Urlaub?
Why do we say im Juli instead of just in Juli?
In German, months of the year are always masculine (der Juli, der August). When you say something happens during a month, you use the preposition in followed by the dative case. The word in plus the masculine dative article dem shrinks into the handy contraction im.
Do I need to repeat im before August?
No, you don't have to! Just like in English where we can say "in July or August", you can share the im across both months. Saying im Juli oder im August is also perfectly correct, but dropping the second im is shorter and very natural.
Why does the sentence use Machen instead of a word for "take"?
Languages often pair different verbs with everyday actions. While English speakers "take" a vacation, German speakers "make" a vacation (Urlaub machen). This is a fixed expression you should memorize together.
Why is Urlaub at the very end of the sentence?
In yes/no questions, the conjugated verb (Machen) must take the very first position. Because Urlaub machen is a tightly linked phrase, the word Urlaub acts a bit like a separable verb prefix and gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.