Breakdown of Das Einkaufen im Supermarkt macht heute Spaß.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
heute
today
Spaß machen
to be fun
der Supermarkt
the supermarket
das Einkaufen
the shopping
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Questions & Answers about Das Einkaufen im Supermarkt macht heute Spaß.
Why is Einkaufen capitalized, and is it a noun or a verb?
In German you can turn a verb into a noun (called a nominalized verb) by capitalizing the infinitive and adding an article. Here das Einkaufen is a noun meaning “the act of shopping.”
Why is the article das used before Einkaufen?
Because when you nominalize a verb, it behaves like any other noun. Einkaufen is treated as a neuter noun, so it takes the neuter definite article das.
What is the role of im in im Supermarkt, and what case does Supermarkt have?
im is a contraction of in + dem. With location meaning “in,” in governs the dative case, so dem Supermarkt becomes im Supermarkt.
Why is Spaß at the end, and what case is it in?
In the idiom Spaß machen (“to be fun”), Spaß is the direct object. Objects in German usually follow the verb and take the accusative case, so Spaß is accusative here.
What does Spaß machen mean literally and idiomatically?
Literally Spaß machen would be “to make fun,” but idiomatically it means “to be fun.” So Das Einkaufen … macht Spaß = “Shopping … is fun.”
Why is heute placed before Spaß, and could we move it elsewhere?
Heute is a temporal adverb (“today”) and fits naturally between the verb and the object. You can also put it at the beginning—German is a V2 (verb-second) language—so
Heute macht das Einkaufen im Supermarkt Spaß.
is perfectly fine.
Could we omit das before Einkaufen?
No. Whenever you nominalize a verb in German, you must use an article (definite or indefinite). You could say Ein Einkaufen … (a shopping), but you cannot drop the article entirely.