Breakdown of Heute Abend bleibe ich zu Hause.
ich
I
bleiben
to stay
zu Hause
at home
heute Abend
this evening, tonight
Questions & Answers about Heute Abend bleibe ich zu Hause.
Why is it bleibe ich instead of ich bleibe?
In German statements, the verb must always be the second idea (or 'element'). Because the time expression Heute Abend takes up the first position, the verb bleibe must come next in position two, which pushes the subject ich to position three.
The translation says 'this evening'. Why use heute instead of a word for 'this'?
To say 'this morning' or 'this evening', German literally says 'today morning' or 'today evening'. You combine heute (today) with the time of day to get phrases like heute Morgen, heute Nachmittag, and heute Abend.
Doesn't zu usually mean 'to'? Why does it mean 'at' in this sentence?
Usually, yes! However, zu Hause is a special, fixed expression that means 'at home' (when you are already resting in a place). If you want to talk about going home (moving to a destination), you use a different fixed phrase: nach Hause.
Why does Hause have an extra 'e' at the end? Isn't the word for house just Haus?
It is! The extra 'e' is just a leftover from a very old German grammar rule. Today, you don't need to worry about that old rule; you just need to memorize the extra 'e' as a required part of the set phrases zu Hause (at home) and nach Hause (going home).
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