Breakdown of Die Ferien fangen im Juli an.
in
in
anfangen
to start
der Juli
July
die Ferien
the school holidays
Questions & Answers about Die Ferien fangen im Juli an.
Why is the verb plural (fangen) when we usually say "the vacation starts" in English?
In German, die Ferien (the holidays or vacation) is always a plural noun. Because it is plural, the verb must also take the plural form fangen. There is no singular form for school or work holidays in German.
Why is an at the very end of the sentence?
The infinitive of the verb is anfangen (to start), which is a separable verb. In a regular main clause like this, the main part of the verb (fangen) takes the second position, and the prefix (an) is pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why do we use im before Juli?
To say that something happens "in" a certain month or season, German uses the preposition in. Since all months are masculine (like der Juli), it takes the dative case here (dem). The words in and dem combine to form the short word im.
Could I use the verb beginnen instead of anfangen here?
Yes, you could say Die Ferien beginnen im Juli. Both verbs mean "to start" or "to begin". The verb anfangen is used a lot in everyday spoken German, while beginnen sounds just a little bit more formal, but both are completely correct in this context.