Word
In der Nacht schläft ein Gast auf dem Sofa.
Meaning
At night, a guest sleeps on the sofa.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of In der Nacht schläft ein Gast auf dem Sofa.
ein
a, an (eine)
in
in
schlafen
to sleep
das Sofa
the sofa
Questions & Answers about In der Nacht schläft ein Gast auf dem Sofa.
Why do we say In der Nacht for "at night"? Shouldn't parts of the day use an?
You are right that most parts of the day use an (like am Morgen or am Abend). However, die Nacht is an exception! We always use in with Nacht. Because it answers the question "when?", the preposition takes the dative case, changing the feminine article die to der.
Why is the subject ein Gast placed after the verb schläft?
In German, the conjugated verb must always be in the second position of a main clause. Because the time phrase In der Nacht takes up the first position, the verb schläft comes second, and the subject ein Gast is pushed to the third position right after it.
Why is it auf dem Sofa and not auf das Sofa?
auf is a two-way preposition. When it describes a fixed location (answering "where?"), it takes the dative case. Since the guest is just resting there and not moving onto the sofa from somewhere else, the neuter noun das Sofa changes to its dative form dem Sofa.
Why does schläft have an umlaut (ä) here?