Breakdown of Am Abend schläft unser Haustier zufrieden neben dem Sofa.
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
schlafen
to sleep
der Abend
the evening
unser
our
Questions & Answers about Am Abend schläft unser Haustier zufrieden neben dem Sofa.
Why does the sentence start with Am Abend, and why is schläft in the second position?
In German main clauses the finite verb must be in the “second slot.” When you put a time expression like Am Abend (a prepositional time phrase) in the first slot, the verb schläft automatically moves into slot two. This is called the V2 rule (verb–second word order).
What exactly is am in Am Abend, and why don’t we say im Abend or um Abend?
am is the contraction of an dem. German uses an dem (→ am) with days or parts of the day: am Morgen, am Abend, am Wochenende. You use im (in dem) for months or seasons (im Juni, im Winter) and um for exact clock times (um 8 Uhr).
Why is it unser Haustier and not unsres Haustier or unsere Haustier?
Haustier is a neuter noun in the nominative case (it’s the sentence’s subject). The possessive pronoun unser- must agree in gender, number, and case with Haustier. For neuter nominative, unser remains uninflected.
Why is it neben dem Sofa and not neben das Sofa?