Breakdown of Der Mann steht am Auto.
der Mann
the man
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
das Auto
the car
stehen
to stand
Questions & Answers about Der Mann steht am Auto.
Why is the noun Mann preceded by der and not den?
Because Mann is the subject of the sentence and German subjects appear in the nominative case. Mann is a masculine noun, so its masculine nominative article is der. Den would be the masculine accusative article, used if Mann were a direct object instead.
What does am Auto mean, and where does am come from?
am is a contraction of an + dem. The preposition an with the dative case expresses location (“where?”). So am Auto literally means “at the car” or “by the car.”
How do you know Auto is in the dative case here?
Because the preposition an is being used to describe a static position (answering Wo? = “where?”). With static location, German uses the dative. The nominative/accusative form das Auto becomes dem Auto in the dative, hence an dem Auto → am Auto.
Can an ever take the accusative, and if so, when would that happen?