Breakdown of Die Revolution war am dreißigsten November.
sein
to be
der November
November
am
on the / at the
dreißigste
thirtieth
die Revolution
the revolution
Questions & Answers about Die Revolution war am dreißigsten November.
Why is it dreißigsten with an -n at the end, rather than dreißigste?
The ending changes because of the word am before it. The word am is short for an dem, which puts the phrase in the dative case. When ordinal numbers 20 and up follow am in a date, they take the -en ending (adding an -n to the base -ste). So, "the 30th" is der dreißigste, but "on the 30th" is am dreißigsten.
Why is dreißigsten spelled with an ß instead of a z?
This is a special spelling exception for the number 30. Most German tens use a z (like 20 = zwanzig, 40 = vierzig). But 30 is spelled dreißig. Therefore, its ordinal form keeps that sharp "s" sound and is spelled dreißigsten.
Why do we use am before the date here?
In German, the preposition an is always used to say "on" for days of the week and specific dates. Because these time expressions use the dative case, an merges with the "the" word dem to become the contraction am.
Why use war in this sentence?
The sentence describes a historical event in the past, so it translates to "The revolution was...". The word war is the simple past tense form of sein (to be) for singular, third-person subjects like die Revolution.
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