Ich bin heute Morgen ins Café gegangen und habe danach im Kino einen lustigen Film gesehen.

I went to the café this morning and then watched a funny film at the cinema.

Breakdown of Ich bin heute Morgen ins Café gegangen und habe danach im Kino einen lustigen Film gesehen.

• und: and
• in: in
• dem: the
• ich: I
• gehen: to go
• heute: today
• sehen: to see
• der Morgen: the morning
• das Café: the café
• danach: then
• das Kino: the cinema
• lustig: funny
• der Film: the film

Questions & Answers about Ich bin heute Morgen ins Café gegangen und habe danach im Kino einen lustigen Film gesehen.

Why is ins Café used in the sentence, and what does it represent?

Ins Café is a contraction of in das Café. In German, when indicating movement into a place, the preposition in takes the accusative case. Since Café is a neuter noun (das Café), in das contracts to ins. This phrase means “to the café.”

Why does the sentence use two different auxiliary verbs—bin with gegangen and habe with gesehen?

In German perfect tense constructions, the selection of the auxiliary verb depends on the main verb’s type. Verbs that indicate movement or a change of state (like gehen) are paired with sein (thus bin gegangen), whereas most other verbs, including those of perception (like sehen), take haben (hence habe gesehen). This distinction is a key part of forming the perfect tense in German.

How do heute Morgen and danach function in this sentence?

Heute Morgen means “this morning” and sets the time for the first action (going to the café). Danach translates as “afterwards” and signals the sequence of events, showing that the action of watching the film in the cinema occurred after visiting the café.

Why does the sentence use ins Café in the first clause and im Kino in the second clause?

The difference lies in the implication of movement versus static location. Ins Café (from in das Café) uses the accusative case to indicate movement—the speaker went into the café. In contrast, im Kino is a contraction of in dem Kino, which uses the dative case to denote a location where an activity takes place (watching the film) without suggesting movement into the space.

Why is the noun phrase written as einen lustigen Film rather than another form?

The noun Film is masculine in German. When it serves as the direct object of a verb like sehen, it must appear in the accusative case. This changes the indefinite article from ein to einen, and the adjective lustig takes the corresponding ending (-en) for a masculine accusative singular. Thus, it becomes einen lustigen Film.

What is the overall structure of this sentence, particularly regarding the formation of the perfect tense and the use of conjunctions?

The sentence is composed of two coordinated clauses connected by und (“and”). In each clause, the perfect tense is formed by placing the auxiliary verb in the second position and the past participle at the end. In the first clause, ich bin heute Morgen ins Café gegangen, bin occupies the second position, and gegangen comes at the end. In the second clause, habe appears in the second position of the clause habe danach im Kino einen lustigen Film gesehen, with gesehen at the end. This structure—with coordinated clauses and properly positioned auxiliary verbs and past participles—is typical in German perfect tense constructions for narrating past events.