Die Bluse hängt am Haken.

The blouse hangs on the hook.

Breakdown of Die Bluse hängt am Haken.

• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• an: on
• hängen: to hang
• der Haken: the hook
• die Bluse: the blouse

Questions & Answers about Die Bluse hängt am Haken.

What does the word am mean in this sentence?

am is the contraction of an dem. So am Haken literally means at/on the hook. German often contracts:

• an dem → am (masculine/neuter dative singular), e.g., am Fenster, am Meer
• Note: an der (feminine dative) does not contract.

Why is it am Haken (dative) and not accusative?

Because an is a two-way preposition. It takes:

• Dative for a fixed location (Where? Wo?) → Die Bluse hängt am Haken (an + dem)
• Accusative for movement to a place (Where to? Wohin?) → Er hängt die Bluse an den Haken (an + den)

Why use hängt instead of just ist?

Both are possible, but hängt is more precise because it describes the manner of being attached. Die Bluse hängt am Haken emphasizes the hanging state. Die Bluse ist am Haken is acceptable in everyday speech but more general.

What are the genders and plurals of Bluse and Haken, and how do the articles work?

• die Bluse (feminine), plural die Blusen
• der Haken (masculine), plural die Haken In the sentence, die Bluse is the nominative subject. am Haken is dative masculine (an + dem Haken). With an indefinite article: eine Bluse; an einem Haken (dative masc.).

How is hängen conjugated here, and what’s the difference between transitive and intransitive uses?

• Here it’s intransitive, 3rd person singular present: hängt (base form hängen).
• Mini present conjugation: ich hänge, du hängst, er/sie/es hängt, wir hängen, ihr hängt, sie hängen.
• Intransitive (no direct object): Die Bluse hängt am Haken. Simple past: hing; perfect: hat gehangen.
• Transitive (with direct object): Er hängt die Bluse an den Haken. Simple past: hängte; perfect: hat gehängt.

Why use an here and not auf or in?

Use an for being attached to or located at a vertical surface/point of contact: an der Wand, am Haken.

• auf = on top of a horizontal surface (auf dem Tisch).
• in = inside something (in der Tasche).
  A hook is a point you hang something on → an is the natural choice.

Can I change the word order to start with the place?

Yes: Am Haken hängt die Bluse. German main clauses are verb-second, so when you front Am Haken, the verb hängt still comes second.

How would I say “The blouse is hanging on a hook”?

Die Bluse hängt an einem Haken.
That’s dative masculine singular after an (location): einem Haken.

How do I say it in the plural?

• One hook, multiple blouses: Die Blusen hängen am Haken.
• Multiple hooks (location, dative plural): Die Blusen hängen an den Haken.
• If you describe motion to multiple hooks (accusative plural): Er hängt die Blusen an die Haken.

How do I pronounce the key words?

• Bluse: BLOO-zuh (u like in “blue”; final e is a schwa)
• hängt: HENGKT (short e; ng as in “sing”; final -kt cluster)
• Haken: HAH-ken (long a; final -en is a weak syllable)

Why are Bluse and Haken capitalized?

All nouns are capitalized in German. Bluse and Haken are nouns, so they take capital letters.

How do adjectives work here?

Attributive adjectives go before the noun and take endings:

• Die rote Bluse hängt am alten Haken.
• Patterns here: nominative feminine singular → rote; dative masculine singular after am → alten.

What pronoun would replace die Bluse?

sie (feminine singular): Sie hängt am Haken.
For der Haken (masc.), the pronoun would be er (though not needed in this sentence).

Is am Haken ever idiomatic?

In this sentence it’s literal. Colloquially, there’s jemanden am Haken haben (to have someone on the hook, i.e., to have them lined up or hooked), but am Haken by itself usually describes a literal hook.