Breakdown of Im Juli und August scheint oft die Sonne.
und
and
oft
often
die Sonne
the sun
scheinen
to shine
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
der Juli
July
der August
August
Questions & Answers about Im Juli und August scheint oft die Sonne.
Why do we use im before the months instead of just in?
All months in German are masculine. When you talk about something happening in a specific month, you use the preposition in followed by the dative case. The word in merges with the masculine dative article dem to become the contraction im.
Do I need to say im again before August?
No, you don't have to repeat it. Just like in English, the single im at the beginning smoothly covers both Juli and August.
Why does the verb scheint come before the subject die Sonne?
This is the classic German verb-second rule. Because the sentence starts with the time phrase Im Juli und August in the first position, the verb scheint must take the second position. This pushes the subject die Sonne to the other side of the verb.
Why does the adverb oft come before die Sonne here?
Normally, the subject stays as close to the verb as possible. However, when the subject is a full noun like die Sonne rather than a short pronoun, small adverbs like oft can slip in front of it. You could also say Im Juli und August scheint die Sonne oft, which is just as correct.
Learn Im Juli und August scheint oft die Sonne and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free