Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro.

Since Monday I have been working at the office.

Breakdown of Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro.

• ich: I
• arbeiten: to work
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter)
• das Büro: the office
• seit: since
• der Montag: the Monday

Questions & Answers about Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro.

Why does the German sentence use arbeite (present tense) with seit, when in English we say “have been working”?

In German, seit (since/for) is normally used with the present tense to express an action that started in the past and is still ongoing.

• Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro.
  Literally: Since Monday I work in the office.
  Actual meaning: I have been working in the office since Monday.

English uses the present perfect (continuous) here, but standard German simply uses the Präsens (present).
Using Seit Montag habe ich im Büro gearbeitet is possible, but it usually emphasizes the completed activity or a period that might be over, rather than an ongoing situation. For an ongoing situation, Seit Montag arbeite ich… is the natural choice.

Why is the word order Seit Montag arbeite ich and not Seit Montag ich arbeite?

German main clauses follow the verb‑second (V2) rule:

1. Exactly one element (subject, time phrase, object, etc.) can be in position 1.
2. The conjugated verb must be in position 2.
3. The rest (subject, objects, other phrases) comes after that.

In Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro:

• Position 1: Seit Montag (time phrase)
• Position 2: arbeite (conjugated verb)
• Rest: ich im Büro

So Seit Montag arbeite ich… is correct V2 order.
Seit Montag ich arbeite… breaks the V2 rule and is ungrammatical.

Can I also say Ich arbeite seit Montag im Büro? Is there any difference?

Yes, Ich arbeite seit Montag im Büro is completely correct and very common.

Difference:

• Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro.
  – Time phrase in front position.
  – Slightly more emphasis on “since Monday”.

• Ich arbeite seit Montag im Büro.
  – Subject ich in front position.
  – Neutral, very typical word order.

Both mean the same in normal conversation. The change is mainly about information focus, not grammar.

Why is there no article before Montag in Seit Montag? Why not Seit dem Montag?

With days of the week and similar time expressions, German often uses them without an article when you mean a specific point in time in a simple, neutral way:

• Seit Montag = since Monday
• Seit gestern = since yesterday
• Seit Januar = since January

Seit dem Montag is grammatically possible but sounds marked or special. It would emphasize that particular Monday, for example in a story where that Monday has already been clearly identified and contrasted with other Mondays.

In everyday speech, for “since Monday” you just say Seit Montag with no article.

What case does seit take, and how does that affect Montag?

The preposition seit always takes the dative case.

So in full form with an article:

• seit dem Montag
  
  • dem = dative masculine singular article
  • Montag is masculine; its form doesn’t change in the dative (only the article does).

In Seit Montag, there is no article, so you don’t see the dative ending. But grammatically it is still dative.

Rule to remember: seit + dative for time and for “since/for” with time spans.

What exactly is im in im Büro, and why is it used?

im is a contraction of:

• in + dem = im

So:

• in dem Büro = in the office
• im Büro = in the office

Why dem? Because:

• Büro is neuter: das Büro.
• After in meaning “in / at (location)”, German normally uses the dative case: in dem Büro.
• Spoken and written German almost always uses the contraction: im Büro.

So im Büro = “in the office” (location, not movement).

Why is Büro capitalized and what gender is it?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, so Büro must start with a capital B.

Gender and article:

• das Büro – neuter noun
  
  • Singular: das Büro
  • Dative singular: dem Büro (hidden inside im Büro)

So in the sentence:

• im Büro = in dem Büro = in the (neuter) office, dative case.

What is the difference between im Büro and ins Büro?

This is about location vs. movement:

• im Büro = in dem Büro – in the office (location, where you are)

  • Ich arbeite im Büro. – I work in the office.

• ins Büro = in das Büro – into the office (movement, where you are going)

  • Ich gehe ins Büro. – I’m going to the office.

In Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro, you are talking about where you work (location), not about going there, so im Büro is correct.

Why isn’t there a comma after Seit Montag in this sentence?

Seit Montag is just a single prepositional phrase, not a full clause.

German punctuation rules:

• A subordinate clause at the beginning (introduced by weil, dass, als, wenn etc.) is followed by a comma:
  • Als ich nach Deutschland kam, arbeitete ich im Büro.
• A simple adverbial phrase (like a time or place phrase) at the beginning does not need a comma:
  • Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro. (no comma)
  • Im Sommer fahre ich nach Italien. (no comma)

So the sentence is correctly written without a comma after Seit Montag.

Could I say Seit Montag bin ich im Büro am Arbeiten to sound more like English “I am working”?

Native speakers do sometimes use a form like am Arbeiten (called am-Progressiv), but:

• It is regional and colloquial (especially in western Germany).
• In standard German, you normally don’t use this construction for regular, ongoing actions.

In standard German, you just say:

• Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro.

Seit Montag bin ich im Büro am Arbeiten sounds informal/colloquial, and many teachers would mark it as non‑standard or at least stylistically poor in writing.

What is the difference between seit Montag and ab Montag?

They express different time relationships:

• seit Montag = since Monday (starting in the past, continuing up to now)

  • Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro.
    → I started on Monday and I’m still working there now.

• ab Montag = from Monday (on) (starting at Monday, usually future-oriented)

  • Ab Montag arbeite ich im Büro.
    → I will start on Monday (the change starts then), not necessarily already true today.

So seit connects past to present; ab marks the starting point, often with a future or planned change.

How would the sentence change if I wanted to talk about a general habit, like “On Mondays I work in the office”?

For a regular habit on Mondays (not “since Monday”), German uses montags:

• Montags arbeite ich im Büro.
  = On Mondays I work in the office (every Monday).

Compare:

• Seit Montag arbeite ich im Büro.
  = Since (that particular) Monday, I have been working in the office (continuous period starting on that Monday).

So:

• Seit Montag → since that specific Monday (one date, continuous time)
• montags → on Mondays in general (habit, repeated pattern)