Learn Hardcore German: Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.

German main clauses follow the verb-second rule (V2 rule): the conjugated verb must be in second position in the sentence. What can be in the first position is flexible: subject, time expression, adverb, object, etc.

Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.
- 1st position: Gewöhnlich (adverb)
- 2nd position: esse (verb)
- 3rd position: ich (subject)
Ich esse gewöhnlich zu Hause zu Mittag.
- 1st position: Ich (subject)
- 2nd position: esse (verb)
- 3rd position: gewöhnlich (adverb)

Both are grammatical. Starting with Gewöhnlich puts more emphasis on the idea of usually.

Why is the verb esse in second position after Gewöhnlich and not right after ich?

In German main clauses, the finite (conjugated) verb must be in second position in the sentence, no matter what starts the sentence.

Something (subject, adverb, time phrase, etc.) comes first → Position 1
The conjugated verb comes next → Position 2
Everything else follows in any grammatically acceptable order.

So in:

Gewöhnlich (Position 1)
esse (Position 2 – verb)
ich zu Hause zu Mittag (rest of the sentence)

If you start with Ich, it’s still the same rule:

Ich (Position 1)
esse (Position 2 – verb)
gewöhnlich zu Hause zu Mittag (rest)

What exactly does Gewöhnlich mean here? Is it like normally or usually? Is it an adverb or an adjective?

In this sentence, gewöhnlich is used as an adverb and means usually, normally, or as a rule.

As an adverb (as in this sentence):
- Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.
  → Usually I eat lunch at home.
As an adjective, it means ordinary, common, not special:
- Das ist ein ganz gewöhnliches Auto.
  → That is a completely ordinary car.

So here, it describes how often you do something (frequency), not the quality of a noun.

Is Gewöhnlich the same as normalerweise or meistens? Can I swap them?

They are very similar, and you often can swap them, but there are small differences in nuance:

gewöhnlich – usually, as a rule; slightly more formal or neutral
normalerweise – normally, under normal circumstances; very common in spoken language
meistens – mostly, most of the time; can imply “more often than not”

You could say:

Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.
Normalerweise esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.
Meistens esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.

All are correct. The meaning is very close, and in everyday use they are almost interchangeable here.

Why is zu Hause written as two words? I’ve also seen zuhause as one word.

Both forms exist, but they are used slightly differently:

zu Hause (two words) – more traditional/standard spelling, especially in more formal writing.
- Ich bin zu Hause. – I am at home.
zuhause (one word) – widely used in modern German, especially in informal writing; accepted by dictionaries as well.
- Ich bin zuhause. – same meaning.

In your sentence, both are possible:

Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.
Gewöhnlich esse ich zuhause zu Mittag.

Meaning is the same: at home.

What is the difference between zu Hause and nach Hause?

These are two different expressions:

zu Hause – at home (location, where you are)
- Ich bin zu Hause. – I am at home.
- Ich esse zu Hause zu Mittag. – I eat lunch at home.
nach Hause – (to) home (direction, where you are going)
- Ich gehe nach Hause. – I am going home.
- Ich fahre nach Hause. – I’m driving home.

So zu Hause = location, nach Hause = direction.

Why do we say zu Mittag instead of just Mittag? What does zu Mittag mean?

Zu Mittag is a fixed expression meaning for lunch / at lunchtime.

Literally, it’s like saying “at midday,” but in usage it means to have lunch:

zu Mittag essen → to eat lunch

In German, mealtime expressions often use zu:

zu Mittag essen – to have lunch
zu Abend essen – to have dinner

So in your sentence:

zu Mittag = for lunch

Why is Mittag capitalized in zu Mittag?

Mittag is a noun (it means midday), and all nouns in German are capitalized:

der Mittag – midday / noon
zu Mittag essen – literally “to eat (at) midday” → to eat lunch

Even in fixed expressions like zu Mittag, Mittag stays capitalized because it is still a noun.

So:

zu Mittag – correct (capital M)
zu mittag – incorrect

Why do we have zu twice: zu Hause and zu Mittag? Doesn’t that sound strange?

It may look odd from an English perspective, but in German these are two separate fixed expressions that both use zu:

zu Hause – at home
zu Mittag – for lunch

They happen to appear in the same sentence, but they play different roles:

zu Hause → where you eat (location)
zu Mittag → what meal you are eating (time/occasion)

So the sentence:

Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.
→ Usually I eat lunch at home.

is perfectly natural in German.

Could I say Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause Mittag without zu?

That sounds odd or wrong in standard German. To express “to eat lunch” you normally use:

zu Mittag essen, or
the noun Mittagessen.

More natural alternatives:

Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.
Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause Mittagessen.
Gewöhnlich esse ich mittags zu Hause.

But Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause Mittag is not idiomatic.

What is the difference between zu Mittag essen and Mittagessen essen (or just Mittagessen)?

Both express the idea of having lunch, but the structure differs:

zu Mittag essen – verb phrase with a prepositional phrase
- Ich esse zu Mittag. – I eat lunch.
- Ich esse zu Hause zu Mittag. – I eat lunch at home.
das Mittagessen – noun (the meal itself)
- Ich esse mein Mittagessen. – I eat my lunch.
- Ich habe schon Mittagessen gegessen. – I have already eaten lunch.

In everyday speech:

Ich esse (zu Hause) zu Mittag.
Ich esse (zu Hause) Mittagessen.

are both fine and very common. zu Mittag essen sounds slightly more idiomatic and compact.

Can I change the word order to Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Mittag zu Hause?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but it is less natural. German tends to prefer a smooth, somewhat conventional order of elements.

Typical and natural orders:

Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag.
Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Mittag zu Hause. (also okay)

Putting zu Hause directly after esse is very common and sounds a bit more natural than splitting zu Hause and zu Mittag unusually.

Can I say Ich esse gewöhnlich zu Hause zu Mittag instead of starting with Gewöhnlich?

Yes, absolutely. Both are correct:

Gewöhnlich esse ich zu Hause zu Mittag. – fronted adverb, slightly more formal/emphasized.
Ich esse gewöhnlich zu Hause zu Mittag. – more neutral, very typical word order.

German allows adverbs of frequency (gewöhnlich, meistens, normalerweise) in different positions:

Ich esse gewöhnlich zu Hause zu Mittag.
Ich esse zu Hause gewöhnlich zu Mittag.

All are correct; the differences are subtle and mostly about emphasis and rhythm.

Is there any case (Akkusativ, Dativ, etc.) I need to worry about in this sentence?

Not really in this particular sentence:

ich – subject (Nominativ)
esse – verb
zu Hause – fixed phrase with zu
- Dativ (the Dativ is not visible because Hause only shows it historically; modern usage treats it as a fixed form)
zu Mittag – fixed expression; Mittag is technically a Dativ form in this set phrase

There is no direct object here (no thing being eaten is mentioned), so no extra cases to worry about beyond recognizing these fixed expressions.