Learn Hardcore German: Wir beantragen heute den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt. - We are applying for the new ID card at the citizens’ office today.

The adjective neu must also match the case, gender and article. After a definite article (den), adjectives take -en in all cases except nominative singular.

So:

nominative masculine: der neue Ausweis (subject)
accusative masculine: den neuen Ausweis (object)

That’s why the sentence has den neuen Ausweis.

Why is heute in the middle of the sentence and not at the beginning?

German word order is more flexible than English, but there are rules:

The finite verb (beantragen) must be in second position in main clauses.
Adverbs like heute (today) usually go in the middle field, after the verb and subject.

In your sentence:

Wir = first element
beantragen = second element (finite verb – must be here)
heute den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt = middle field (rest of the information)

So Wir beantragen heute … is very natural.

You can also say:

Heute beantragen wir den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt.

Here Heute is first, beantragen is still second, and wir moves after the verb. Both versions are correct; they just emphasize different parts slightly:

Wir beantragen heute … → neutral, slight focus on we
Heute beantragen wir … → stronger focus on today

Could I say Wir heute beantragen den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt?

No, that sounds wrong in German.

The rule is: in main clauses, the finite verb must be in the second position. In Wir heute beantragen …, the verb is in third position:

Wir
heute
beantragen ← too late

Correct options:

Wir beantragen heute den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt.
Heute beantragen wir den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt.

In both, beantragen is the second element in the sentence.

Is beantragen a separable verb? Why isn’t it Wir tragen heute den neuen Ausweis an?

Beantragen is not separable. It’s a verb with a non‑separable prefix be-.

German has many prefixed verbs. Some prefixes are separable (like an-, auf-, ein-) and some are never separable (like be-, ver-, er-, ge-, zer-, emp-, ent-, miss-).

Rules of thumb:

If the verb starts with be-, it is non-separable.
So beantragen stays together:
- Wir beantragen den neuen Ausweis.

The verb tragen means “to carry” or “to wear”, and antragen is a completely different verb with other meanings (quite rare in modern everyday language). It has nothing to do with “applying for a document”.

So you cannot split beantragen like tragen … an. That would be a different verb and the sentence would make no sense here.

When should I use beantragen instead of other verbs like bewerben, anmelden, or fragen?

Beantragen is used for official, formal applications for a specific document, service, or decision. You always “apply for something” and that “something” is the direct object:

einen Ausweis beantragen – to apply for an ID card
Elterngeld beantragen – to apply for parental allowance
ein Visum beantragen – to apply for a visa

Compare:

sich bewerben (um/für) = to apply (for a job, program, position)
- Ich bewerbe mich um die Stelle. – I’m applying for the job.
sich anmelden (für/zu) = to register, sign up (for a course, event)
- Ich melde mich für den Kurs an. – I’m signing up for the course.
(jemanden) fragen = to ask (someone)
- Ich frage den Mitarbeiter. – I ask the employee.

So for an ID card, beantragen is the natural choice:
Wir beantragen heute den neuen Ausweis …

Why is it im Bürgeramt and not in das Bürgeramt?

In is a so‑called two‑way preposition. With these, the case depends on the meaning:

Accusative = movement into something (direction)
Dative = location in/at something (no movement)

In this sentence, you mean at/in the office as a location, not going into it. So you use the dative:

in dem Bürgeramt (dative, “in/at the citizens’ office”)

In everyday language, in dem almost always contracts to im:

in dem Bürgeramt → im Bürgeramt

If you emphasized movement into the building, then accusative would be possible:

Wir gehen in das Bürgeramt. – We go into the citizens’ office.

But beantragen … im Bürgeramt describes where the application takes place, so it’s dative (location).

What gender is Bürgeramt, and how can I see that here?

The noun is das Bürgeramt (neuter).

In the sentence you see im Bürgeramt, which is a contraction of in dem Bürgeramt. The article dem is:

dative masculine or dative neuter singular.

So from im alone you can’t see whether Bürgeramt is masculine or neuter. You need to know the noun or check a dictionary.

Typical patterns:

Many nouns ending in -amt (Amt = office) are neuter:
- das Bürgeramt, das Jugendamt, das Gesundheitsamt

That’s why the base form is das Bürgeramt.

Could I also say beim Bürgeramt instead of im Bürgeramt? What’s the difference?

Yes, you could say:

Wir beantragen heute den neuen Ausweis beim Bürgeramt.

Beim is a contraction of bei dem (at the). Both im and beim are commonly used here, but there is a slight nuance:

im Bürgeramt – literally “in the citizens’ office”, emphasizes being inside the building.
beim Bürgeramt – literally “at the citizens’ office/with the citizens’ office”, emphasizes dealing with that authority/office in a more abstract way.

In everyday speech, both are fine and often interchangeable in this context. For an ID application, im Bürgeramt is very typical, but beim Bürgeramt would not sound wrong.

Can this German present tense sentence also refer to the future, like “We will apply today …”?

Yes. German often uses the present tense + a time expression instead of a separate future tense, especially for near future plans.

Wir beantragen heute den neuen Ausweis …
can mean either:
- We are applying today … (present)
- We will apply today … (future plan)

The word heute (today) makes it clear you’re talking about something later today (or at least on this day), so it naturally has a future meaning from the speaker’s perspective.

Why do we need wir? Can I drop the subject pronoun like in Spanish or Italian?

No, in German you normally must use the subject pronoun.

German verb endings are not distinct enough in all persons to reliably identify the subject just from the verb form, and the standard language expects an explicit subject, except in a few impersonal constructions (e.g. Es regnet.).

So:

Correct: Wir beantragen heute den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt.
Incorrect: Beantragen heute den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt. (unless you mean the command “Apply for the new ID today at the office!”, but then you would use imperative forms, not wir beantragen)

In ordinary statements, wir (we) cannot be dropped.

Is there any fixed order for heute, den neuen Ausweis, and im Bürgeramt?

There is a typical order, but some flexibility too.

A common rule of thumb for adverbials in German is time – manner – place (“TMP”). In your sentence:

heute = time
im Bürgeramt = place
den neuen Ausweis = direct object (not an adverbial, but often placed near the verb)

The given order is very natural:

Wir beantragen heute den neuen Ausweis im Bürgeramt.

Other possible orders (all grammatical, but with slightly different rhythm or emphasis):

Wir beantragen heute im Bürgeramt den neuen Ausweis.
Wir beantragen den neuen Ausweis heute im Bürgeramt.

What you usually don’t do is scatter the elements in a way that breaks them up unnaturally, e.g.:

?Wir beantragen im Bürgeramt heute den neuen Ausweis. (possible, but sounds less neutral)

For standard, neutral style, the original sentence is an excellent model.