Wir essen heute Hähnchen.

Because the subject is wir = we.

The verb essen is conjugated like this in the present tense:

• ich esse
• du isst
• er/sie/es isst
• wir essen
• ihr esst
• sie/Sie essen

So with wir, the correct form is essen.

In a normal German main clause, the finite verb comes in second position. That is one of the most important word-order rules in German.

So in:

Wir essen heute Hähnchen.

• Wir = first position
• essen = second position
• heute = later in the sentence

This is a very natural, neutral word order.

You can also say:

Heute essen wir Hähnchen.

That is also correct, but now heute is being emphasized a bit more.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• Wir essen heute Hähnchen.
• Heute essen wir Hähnchen.

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Wir essen heute Hähnchen. = neutral statement
• Heute essen wir Hähnchen. = puts more focus on today

In both versions, the conjugated verb essen stays in second position.

Because all nouns are capitalized in German.

So Hähnchen gets a capital letter because it is a noun. The same would happen with words like:

• Haus
• Auto
• Brot
• Tag

This is a standard rule in German spelling.

When Germans talk about food in a general, menu-like way, they often leave out the article.

So Wir essen heute Hähnchen means something like:

• We’re eating chicken today
• We’re having chicken today

This sounds natural when talking about the meal.

If you use an article, the meaning can become more specific:

• Wir essen heute ein Hähnchen. = we are eating one chicken / a whole chicken
• Wir essen heute das Hähnchen. = we are eating the specific chicken already mentioned

Without the article, Hähnchen is understood more generally as the dish or type of food.

It is the accusative case, because it is the direct object of essen.

A simple way to see it:

• Wir = the people doing the action
• essen = the action
• Hähnchen = the thing being eaten

So Hähnchen is the direct object.

If you included the article, it would be:

Wir essen heute das Hähnchen.

Here, das Hähnchen is accusative, but for a neuter noun like das Hähnchen, the nominative and accusative article are both das, so the form does not change.

A rough guide is:

HÄHN-khyen or HÄHN-chen

A few important points:

• ä is not the same as English a
• h here lengthens the vowel before it
• the ch in -chen is the soft German ch sound, not an English ch as in chair
• -chen is usually pronounced lightly

A more accurate pronunciation is approximately HEHN-khen with a soft ch sound.

If you know IPA, it is roughly [ˈhɛːnçən].

-chen is a very common German diminutive ending. It often means little or makes something sound smaller or more familiar.

For example:

• Hund = dog
• Hündchen = little dog

With Hähnchen, the word historically comes from Hahn = rooster, and -chen makes it a diminutive form.

Two useful things to know about -chen nouns:

1. They are always neuter
2. They often change the vowel with an umlaut if possible

So:

• der Hahn
• das Hähnchen

They are related, but not used in exactly the same way.

• Huhn can mean chicken in a general sense, or a hen
• Hähnchen often means a young chicken or, very commonly, chicken as food, especially roast or cooked chicken

So in a sentence about a meal, Hähnchen sounds very natural.

For example:

• Wir essen heute Huhn. = possible, but less idiomatic in many everyday contexts
• Wir essen heute Hähnchen. = very natural for We’re having chicken today

Yes. German very often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially when there is a time word such as heute, morgen, or am Montag.

So:

Wir essen heute Hähnchen.

can mean:

• We are eating chicken today
• We’re having chicken today
• We will eat chicken today

German usually does not need a separate future form here, because heute already makes the time clear.