Breakdown of Wir bauen morgens das Schlagzeug im Stadion auf.
wir
we
morgens
in the morning
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
aufbauen
to build up
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
das Schlagzeug
the drum kit
das Stadion
the stadium
Questions & Answers about Wir bauen morgens das Schlagzeug im Stadion auf.
Why does morgens come before im Stadion?
This follows the German "Time before Place" rule. When a sentence has multiple details, we usually state when something happens (morgens) before where it happens (im Stadion). You might hear this called the TeKaMoLo rule, where "Te" (Time) comes before "Lo" (Location).
Why is the direct object (das Schlagzeug) in the middle of the time and place?
In German word order, a known direct object usually comes after the time adverb but before the place. So the standard flow here is: Time (morgens) -> Object (das Schlagzeug) -> Place (im Stadion).
Where does the auf at the end of the sentence come from?
It belongs to the separable verb aufbauen (to set up). In a normal present-tense sentence, the main part of the verb (bauen) takes the second position, and the prefix (auf) gets kicked all the way to the end of the sentence.
Why use morgens instead of am Morgen?
Adding an "s" to times of day and making them lowercase turns them into adverbs that describe a habit. am Morgen means "in the morning" (usually a specific one), while morgens means "in the mornings" or "every morning," which matches the English translation here.
Why is it im Stadion and not ins Stadion?
im is short for in dem. The preposition in is a "two-way" preposition. Because the band is setting up the drums in a fixed location (answering "where?" rather than "to where?"), we use the dative case. The neuter word das Stadion changes to dem Stadion in the dative case.
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