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Breakdown of Ein Meeting im Büro dauert oft zwanzig Minuten.
in
in
oft
often
das Büro
the office
zwanzig
twenty
die Minute
the minute
dauern
to last
das Meeting
the meeting
dem
the; (neuter, dative)
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“How do German cases work?”
German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.
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Questions & Answers about Ein Meeting im Büro dauert oft zwanzig Minuten.
Why is Meeting capitalized, and what is its German gender?
All German nouns are capitalized, even English loanwords like Meeting. In German, Meeting is neuter: the definite article is das Meeting, the indefinite is ein Meeting (in nominative case).
What case is used in im Büro, and why is it contracted that way?
im is the contraction of in + dem. Because in here expresses location (“where” something happens), it takes the dative case. Büro is neuter (das Büro), so dem Büro becomes im Büro.
Why is the verb dauern used here, and how does it work?
dauern means “to last” or “to take (time).” It’s intransitive and doesn’t take a direct object. Instead, you follow dauern with a time expression in the accusative (here zwanzig Minuten) to show how long something lasts.
Why is oft placed between dauert and zwanzig Minuten, and can it be moved?
oft is an adverb of frequency. In a main clause German typically places such adverbs after the finite verb. So dauert oft zwanzig Minuten is natural. You can also start the sentence with Oft (“Oft dauert ein Meeting im Büro zwanzig Minuten”) for emphasis, but you may not break the verb-second rule by inserting oft before the subject.
Why is zwanzig Minuten uninflected and without an article?
When a cardinal number is greater than one, the noun stays in the plural without an article or adjective ending. That’s the standard way to express durations: zwanzig Minuten (not der zwanzig Minuten or zwanzig Minutenen).
Could I use an ordinal number like zwanzigste here to express “twenty minutes”?
No. Ordinal numbers (zwanzigste) indicate sequence or position (“the twentieth minute”), not duration. To talk about how long something lasts, you always use cardinal numbers in the accusative plural: zwanzig Minuten.
Can I say das Meeting instead of ein Meeting in this sentence?
Yes—if you mean a specific meeting both speaker and listener know about: Das Meeting im Büro dauert oft zwanzig Minuten. But if you’re speaking generally about meetings in the office, you use the indefinite article ein.