Breakdown of An dem Tisch sitzen vier Personen.
der Tisch
the table
vier
four
an
at, on (vertical) / to (addressee) / of (in quantity/stock expressions)
sitzen
to sit
die Person
the person (individual)
Questions & Answers about An dem Tisch sitzen vier Personen.
Why isn't an dem combined into am?
You will often see them combined as am Tisch. Keeping them separate as an dem Tisch usually adds a little bit of emphasis, pointing to a specific table. It sounds more like 'At that table' instead of just 'At the table'.
Why do we use an for 'at' instead of bei or zu?
An is the right preposition when you are right at the edge or border of something, which perfectly describes sitting at a table. Bei means 'near' or 'at someone's place', and zu is used for movement towards a destination.
Why is Tisch in the dative case here?
An is a two-way preposition. It takes the dative case when answering the question 'Where?' (a fixed location) and the accusative case for 'Where to?' (a movement). Since the people are already seated and not moving to the table, it describes a fixed location, so we use the dative dem.
Why does the verb sitzen come before the subject vier Personen?
German main clauses follow a strict 'verb-second' rule. Since the sentence starts with the location phrase An dem Tisch in the first position, the verb sitzen must take the second position. This pushes the subject vier Personen right after the verb.
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