Breakdown of Das Radio spielt am Nachmittag leise Musik auf meinem Balkon.
spielen
to play
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
auf
on
mein
my
die Musik
the music
leise
quiet
der Nachmittag
the afternoon
der Balkon
the balcony
das Radio
the radio
an
in
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Questions & Answers about Das Radio spielt am Nachmittag leise Musik auf meinem Balkon.
Why is Radio preceded by das instead of der or die?
In German every noun has a grammatical gender. Radio is neuter, so it takes the neuter definite article das. (It’s actually a short form of Radiogerät, which is also neuter.)
Why is the verb spielen used to mean “play music,” and why is it conjugated as spielt here?
In German you say ein Radio spielt Musik (“a radio plays music”), just like in English “the radio plays music.” Because das Radio is a third‑person singular subject, spielen is conjugated to spielt (er/sie/es spielt).
What does am stand for in am Nachmittag, and why not im or just Nachmittag?
am is a contraction of an dem. For parts of the day (morning, afternoon, evening) German uses an + dem → am. You say am Morgen, am Nachmittag, am Abend, but never im Nachmittag. You could also use the adverb nachmittags (“in the afternoons”) if you want a habitual sense.
Why is leise placed before Musik, and why doesn’t it show a different ending like leises or leiser?
Here leise is an attributive adjective modifying Musik. Since there’s no article before Musik, the adjective follows strong declension. For a singular feminine noun in the accusative, the strong ending is –e, so you get leise Musik.
Why is there no article before Musik?
Musik is an uncountable noun in German (like “music” in English). When you talk about music in general you often drop the article: leise Musik means “soft music” in a non‑specific, general sense. If you meant a particular piece of music you could say eine leise Musik, but that sounds odd here.
Why is auf meinem Balkon in the dative case, and how did mein become meinem?
Prepositions like auf can take either dative or accusative. When they indicate a static location (where something is), they use dative. Balkon is masculine, so the definite dative would be dem Balkon. With the possessive mein–, masculine dative singular is meinem. (If it were movement onto the balcony you’d use accusative: auf den Balkon.)
What is the typical order of time, manner and place in German sentences, and how does this sentence follow it?
German often follows the order:
1) Time (Wann?)
2) Manner (Wie?/Was für?)
3) Place (Wo?)
In Das Radio spielt am Nachmittag leise Musik auf meinem Balkon, you see:
– am Nachmittag (time)
– leise Musik (manner/type of music)
– auf meinem Balkon (place)