Breakdown of Am Wochenende fand im großen Saal des Rathauses eine kleine Messe statt.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
klein
small
stattfinden
to take place
Questions & Answers about Am Wochenende fand im großen Saal des Rathauses eine kleine Messe statt.
What does Am Wochenende mean and why is am used here?
Am is a contraction of an dem. When talking about time expressions involving days or parts of days, German often uses an plus the dative article. So am Wochenende literally means on the weekend.
Why is the verb split into fand and statt instead of being written together?
stattfinden is a separable verb. In the simple past (Präteritum), the stem fand (from finden) occupies the second position in the sentence, and the prefix statt moves to the end: fand … statt. In the present tense you would say findet … statt.
Why do we use im großen Saal instead of in den großen Saal?
- im is a contraction of in dem.
- Because it indicates a location (answering “where”), in takes the dative case.
- Der Saal is masculine; dative singular is dem Saal → contraction: im Saal.
- After a definite article in the dative masculine, adjectives take an -en ending: im großen Saal.
Why is des Rathauses used instead of der Rathaus to show possession?