Breakdown of Am besten gehst du zum Arzt.
du
you (informal singular)
gehen
to go
der Arzt
the doctor
am besten
best (of all); it would be best to
Questions & Answers about Am besten gehst du zum Arzt.
How does am besten work in this sentence?
am besten is the irregular superlative form of gut (good). When a superlative stands on its own to describe an action, rather than directly in front of a noun like 'the best doctor', it always needs am and an -en ending. Starting a sentence with Am besten is a very common way to give advice in German, meaning 'It is best if...' or 'Ideally...'.
Why is the verb gehst before the subject du?
In a German main clause, the conjugated verb must be the second idea in the sentence. Because the phrase Am besten takes up the first position, the verb gehst has to come next. This pushes the subject du into the third position.
Why do we use zum here to mean 'to the'?
When you are going to a person or a professional's workplace (like a doctor or a friend), you use the preposition zu. The word zu always forces the following noun into the dative case. Since Arzt is masculine (der Arzt), it changes to dem Arzt. German naturally combines zu dem into the short word zum.
The translation says 'It would be best if you went'. Where is the 'if' or 'would' in the German sentence?
They aren't there! German expresses this kind of advice much more directly than English. Instead of using a complex 'if' sentence with conditional verbs, Germans just use Am besten followed by a normal present-tense statement. It literally translates to 'At best you go to the doctor.'
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