Breakdown of Das Geschäft an der Ecke schließt um acht.
acht
eight
um
at (time)
an
at, on (vertical) / to (addressee) / of (in quantity/stock expressions)
schließen
to close
die Ecke
the corner
das Geschäft
the shop; the deal
Questions & Answers about Das Geschäft an der Ecke schließt um acht.
Why do we use an instead of in or auf for "on the corner"?
In German, an is used for being at or right next to a borderline or intersection, like a street corner (an der Ecke). In der Ecke would mean inside a corner of a room, and auf der Ecke is mostly used in Northern German dialects but isn't standard German.
Why is it an der Ecke (dative) and not an die Ecke (accusative)?
The word an is a two-way preposition. Because the shop is sitting statically at the corner, we are answering a "where?" (wo?) question rather than expressing movement to a destination. Therefore, we use the dative case for the feminine noun die Ecke, which becomes der Ecke.
What is the difference between using schließt and macht ... zu here?
schließt (from schließen) and macht zu (from zumachen) both mean "closes." Zumachen is more colloquial and frequently used in everyday spoken German, so you will often hear Das Geschäft macht um acht zu. Schließen sounds slightly more formal or official, which is very common for posted business hours.
Does Geschäft always refer to a physical shop?
Not always. While it means a physical shop or store in this sentence, Geschäft can also mean "business," "deal," or "transaction" in broader contexts. If you want a word that only means a physical store, you can use der Laden.
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