Breakdown of Die Studentin arbeitet am Wochenende im Café.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
arbeiten
to work
das Wochenende
the weekend
das Café
the café
an
on
die Studentin
the female student
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Questions & Answers about Die Studentin arbeitet am Wochenende im Café.
Why is it Die Studentin and not Der Student?
Because the sentence refers to a female university student. German marks grammatical gender on many nouns:
- der Student = male student
- die Studentin = female student
- plural: die Studenten (male/mixed), die Studentinnen (female only)
Here, die is the nominative singular feminine article agreeing with Studentin.
What case is Die Studentin, and how would it change in other cases?
Die Studentin is nominative (the subject doing the action). For a singular feminine noun like Studentin:
- Nominative: die Studentin (subject)
- Accusative: die Studentin (direct object)
- Dative: der Studentin (indirect object)
- Genitive: der Studentin (possessive)
How is the verb arbeiten conjugated here, and why arbeitet?
The subject is third person singular (she), so present tense is arbeitet.
- ich arbeite
- du arbeitest
- er/sie/es arbeitet
- wir arbeiten
- ihr arbeitet
- sie/Sie arbeiten
German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule, so the finite verb arbeitet sits in the second position.
What does am mean in am Wochenende?
am is a contraction of an dem. It uses the dative case:
- an + dem Wochenende → am Wochenende = “on/at the weekend” Using an for time expressions like days and weekends takes the dative.
Why is Wochenende in the dative case?
Because of the preposition an in a temporal expression. Time expressions with an (days, dates, weekends) take dative: am Montag, am 1. Mai, am Wochenende. So it’s dem Wochenende under the hood.
Why is it im Café and not ins Café?
German two-way prepositions like in take:
- Dative for location (no movement): im Café = in dem Café = “in the café”
- Accusative for direction (movement into): ins Café = in das Café = “into the café” Here, she is working at a location, not moving into it, so dative (im) is correct.
Can I change the word order? For example, start with the time?
Yes. German allows flexible order of sentence parts, but the finite verb stays second:
- Am Wochenende arbeitet die Studentin im Café. (time in first position; verb still second)
- Im Café arbeitet die Studentin am Wochenende. (place first) Meaning stays the same; word order shifts emphasis.
Is there a preferred order for the adverbials here?
Yes. A common guideline is Time–Manner–Place (TMP). In this sentence:
- Time: am Wochenende
- Place: im Café So … am Wochenende im Café follows a natural pattern. You can still reorder for emphasis, as shown above.
Does am Wochenende mean one specific weekend or weekends in general?
It can mean either, depending on context:
- Specific upcoming/mentioned weekend: “(this) weekend”
- Habitual: “on weekends” To be explicit:
- Specific: an diesem Wochenende
- Habitual: jedes Wochenende or an den Wochenenden
What’s the difference between Café and Kaffee?
- das Café = a café (the place)
- der Kaffee = coffee (the drink) Don’t mix them up: im Café = “in the café”; Kaffee is the beverage.
Why is Café written with an accent, and is Cafe also okay?
Standard spelling uses the acute accent: Café (plural Cafés). You will see Cafe on signs or informally, but in careful/formal writing, keep the accent.
Why are these words capitalized?
All German nouns are capitalized: Studentin, Wochenende, Café. Verbs like arbeitet are not capitalized in normal running text.
How do I pronounce the tricky parts?
- Die Studentin: initial St- is pronounced like English “sht” [ʃt] → roughly “sh-too-DEN-tin”
- arbeitet: r is uvular; ei = “eye” sound → “AR-bye-tet”
- Wochenende: ch in Woch- is like “Bach,” not “church” → “VOCH-en-en-de”
- Café: stress the second syllable → “ka-FEY”
Could I use bei instead of in for workplaces?
- im Café arbeiten = work in/at a café (the place/venue)
- bei Starbucks arbeiten / bei einer Firma arbeiten = work at a company/employer Use in for being inside a venue; use bei for working for an organization or person.
What are the plurals of the nouns here?
- die Studentin → die Studentinnen
- das Café → die Cafés
- das Wochenende → die Wochenenden
Does the present tense here also cover the future?
Yes. German present can express scheduled/near-future actions:
- Die Studentin arbeitet am Wochenende im Café. = She works / She’s working / She will be working this weekend. For extra clarity about the future, you can say wird … arbeiten, but it’s often unnecessary.
Is there any separable-prefix verb behavior here?
No. arbeiten has no separable prefix. If you add one, it would separate: e.g., mitarbeiten → Sie arbeitet am Wochenende mit. But the base verb here is simple.
Why is it die if this is singular? Isn’t die also plural?
Correct: die is used for both
- nominative/accusative feminine singular (here: die Studentin), and
- all plural nouns (e.g., die Studentinnen). Context and the noun’s form tell you which it is.
Could I use an indefinite article here?
Yes. If the person is not previously known/specified:
- Eine Studentin arbeitet am Wochenende im Café. Use die when the listener/reader can identify the specific student already mentioned or implied.