Ich lege das Buch auf das Bett.

I put the book on the bed.

Breakdown of Ich lege das Buch auf das Bett.

• ich: I
• das Buch: the book
• auf: on
• legen: to put
• das Bett: the bed

Questions & Answers about Ich lege das Buch auf das Bett.

Why does the preposition auf take the accusative here?

The preposition auf can take either accusative or dative in German, depending on whether there is movement or not. In this sentence, Ich lege das Buch auf das Bett, you’re placing (moving) the book onto the bed, so the accusative case is used. If something was just resting on the bed without movement, then you would see the dative case, for example: Das Buch liegt auf dem Bett.

What is the difference between legen and liegen?

Legen is a transitive verb that means to lay something down (or to put something somewhere), which involves an action. By contrast, liegen is an intransitive verb meaning to lie, describing the state or position of something that is already placed.

Could I say Ich lege das Buch aufs Bett instead?

Yes, you might see aufs as a contracted form of auf das, particularly in spoken language. So Ich lege das Buch auf das Bett and Ich lege das Buch aufs Bett essentially convey the same action, though the uncontracted form (auf das) often sounds slightly more formal or emphasizes the object more clearly.

Why do we use the article das for both das Buch and das Bett?

German has three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Both Buch (book) and Bett (bed) happen to be neuter nouns, so they take the article das in the nominative and accusative cases. The definite article doesn’t change form here because both nouns are neuter and appear in accusative positions.

Can the sentence be used in the present tense when describing a future action in German?

Yes, as in English, you can use the present tense in German to indicate a near-future action if the context makes it clear. For instance, you might say Ich lege das Buch gleich auf das Bett to suggest you’ll do it momentarily. However, if you want to be explicit about the future, you could use werden (the future tense), e.g., Ich werde das Buch auf das Bett legen.