Breakdown of Wir möchten nach dem Essen in die Stadt gehen.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
wir
we
gehen
to go
die Stadt
the city
das Essen
the meal
möchten
would like to
nach
after
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Questions & Answers about Wir möchten nach dem Essen in die Stadt gehen.
Why do we use möchten instead of wollen?
Möchten is a more polite or softer form of expressing desire in German. It literally stands for “would like to,” whereas wollen is stronger and means “to want.” People often use möchten in spoken language to sound more polite or less demanding.
What does nach dem Essen mean, and why is dem used here?
Nach dem Essen translates to “after the meal.” In this phrase, Essen is treated like a noun (meaning “meal” or “food”), and because “Essen” is neuter (das Essen), we need dem for the dative case after nach (a preposition that always requires the dative in German).
Why is the word order nach dem Essen in die Stadt gehen rather than placing nach dem Essen at the end of the sentence?
In German, prepositional phrases can move around, but it’s common to set the time element (nach dem Essen) before mentioning where you’re going (in die Stadt). Placing nach dem Essen at the start or in the middle is more natural to German ears and clarifies when you plan to go. You could grammatically put nach dem Essen at the end, but it would sound less typical.
Why do we say in die Stadt and not in der Stadt?
In die Stadt indicates a movement toward something and uses the accusative case (die Stadt) to show direction. In der Stadt would use the dative case and mean “in the city” (location rather than movement). Since we’re going somewhere, we use the accusative.
Why is it Wir möchten ... gehen instead of Wir möchten ... gehen wollen?
In German, you don’t pair two modal verbs in the same simple sentence the way English sometimes does (e.g., “We would like to want to go…”). If you already have möchten (a modal), you just follow it directly with the infinitive of the main verb (gehen). Adding wollen would be redundant and is not standard usage.