Breakdown of Schlaft ihr am Wochenende im Hotel?
ihr
you (informal plural)
schlafen
to sleep
das Hotel
the hotel
das Wochenende
the weekend
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
am
on the / at the
Questions & Answers about Schlaft ihr am Wochenende im Hotel?
Why does "am Wochenende" come before "im Hotel"?
In German, when you have multiple details in a sentence, time usually comes before place. This is part of the "Time, Manner, Place" rule (sometimes called TeKaMoLo). Here, the time (am Wochenende) goes before the place (im Hotel).
Wait, shouldn't the verb "schlafen" have an umlaut here (schläft)?
Why do we use am and im instead of just an and in?
Both are contractions! am is short for an dem and im is short for in dem. German combines these prepositions with the dative definite article (dem) for both time expressions (am Wochenende) and locations (im Hotel).
Why is it im Hotel (dative) and not ins Hotel (accusative)?
We use the dative case for locations when there is no movement from one place to another (answering "where?"). Sleeping is a stationary action happening entirely inside the hotel, so we use im (in + dem). If you were actively traveling to the hotel, you would use the accusative: ins Hotel (in + das).
Learn Schlaft ihr am Wochenende im Hotel 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