In den Sommerferien kochte meine Tante jeden Abend Kartoffeln für die hungrigen Passagiere auf ihrem kleinen Boot.

During the summer holidays my aunt cooked potatoes every evening for the hungry passengers on her small boat.

Breakdown of In den Sommerferien kochte meine Tante jeden Abend Kartoffeln für die hungrigen Passagiere auf ihrem kleinen Boot.

• in: in
• klein: small
• kochen: to cook
• auf: on

Questions & Answers about In den Sommerferien kochte meine Tante jeden Abend Kartoffeln für die hungrigen Passagiere auf ihrem kleinen Boot.

Why is In den Sommerferien used with den, and why is Sommerferien plural?

• Sommerferien is one of those German nouns that exists only in the plural form (you say die Ferien, never a singular).
• Because in is a two-way preposition, it takes the dative case when indicating a time period (no movement).
• The dative plural of die Ferien is den Ferien (with an extra -n). Hence In den Sommerferien means “during the summer holidays.”

Why does the finite verb kochte come immediately after In den Sommerferien, even before the subject meine Tante?

German main clauses follow the Verb-second (V2) rule:

1. Whatever element (subject, adverbial, object) you put first, the finite verb must be in the second position.
2. Here In den Sommerferien is fronted, so the verb kochte stays in position 2, and then the subject meine Tante follows.

What case is meine Tante in, and why isn’t there a definite article before it?