Learn Hardcore German: Abends höre ich die Nachrichten im Radio. - In the evening I listen to the news on the radio.

In German, the verb normally has to be in the second position in a main clause (the so‑called V2 rule). The element in first position is flexible.

Abends höre ich die Nachrichten im Radio.
– First position: Abends (time)
– Second position: höre (verb)
– Then subject: ich

You can absolutely say:

Ich höre abends die Nachrichten im Radio.

Both sentences are correct and mean the same. The difference is emphasis:

Abends höre ich … – emphasizes the time (In the evenings, that’s when I listen…).
Ich höre abends … – neutral, slightly more emphasis on I as the subject.

German word order often follows Time – Manner – Place, and both versions fit that pattern in different ways.

What’s the difference between Abends, am Abend, and jeden Abend?

All three can translate to something like “in the evening(s)”, but they differ slightly:

abends (lowercase in the middle of a sentence):
Adverb meaning “in the evenings / in the evening as a rule, usually in the evening”.
→ Abends höre ich … = In the evenings (generally, as a habit), I listen …
am Abend:
Literally “on the evening”, usually one specific evening or a more concrete time frame.
→ Am Abend höre ich die Nachrichten. = In the evening (as opposed to morning/afternoon), I listen to the news.
jeden Abend:
“every evening”, very explicit about frequency.
→ Jeden Abend höre ich die Nachrichten. = I listen to the news every evening.

In many everyday contexts, abends and jeden Abend can overlap, but abends sounds a bit more like a general habit, not always strictly every single evening.

Is Abends a noun here? Why is it capitalized?

In this sentence, abends is actually an adverb, not a noun. It belongs to a group of time adverbs ending in -s: morgens, mittags, abends, nachts.

It is capitalized only because it’s at the beginning of the sentence. If it appeared in the middle, it would be:

Ich höre abends die Nachrichten im Radio.

So:

Function: adverb of time (“in the evenings”)
Capitalization: only due to sentence position, not because it’s a noun.

Why is it höre ich and not ich höre like in English “I listen”?

German main clauses usually have the finite verb in the second position (V2 word order):

First element: Abends (time adverb)
Second element: höre (conjugated verb)
Third element: ich (subject)

So after Abends, the verb must come next, which gives:

Abends höre ich …

If you start the sentence with Ich, then you say:

Ich höre abends die Nachrichten im Radio.

In both cases, the verb remains second, but different elements occupy the first slot.

Why is höre in the present tense? Could this also mean “I listen to the news every evening” and not just “I am listening”?

Yes. German present tense (Präsens) is used both for:

An action happening now
Regular, habitual actions

So Abends höre ich die Nachrichten im Radio can mean:

In the evenings I listen to the news on the radio (habit), or
This evening / generally in the evening I’m listening to the news on the radio.

In English you distinguish “I listen” vs. “I am listening”, but German often uses just the present tense for both meanings; context usually makes it clear.

Why is it die Nachrichten and not something like die Nachricht?

Nachrichten is the plural of die Nachricht.

die Nachricht = a (single) message, news item
die Nachrichten (plural) = news (as a program or a collection of news items)

When you talk about “the news” as a program (TV news, radio news), German almost always uses the plural:

die Nachrichten sehen = to watch the news
die Nachrichten hören = to listen to the news

So die Nachrichten here really means “the news program / the news”, not just one individual message.

What gender is Nachricht, and why is the article die in this sentence?

The noun Nachricht has feminine gender in German:

Singular: die Nachricht
Plural: die Nachrichten

In the sentence, we have Nachrichten in the accusative plural (direct object of höre):

Nominative plural: die Nachrichten
Accusative plural: die Nachrichten

For feminine nouns, the article die stays the same in nominative and accusative plural, so you also see die here.

Why does German say im Radio instead of something like auf dem Radio, like English “on the radio”?

This is mainly an idiomatic difference between English and German.

English: on the radio
German: im Radio, literally “in the radio”

In German, media are often conceptualized differently:

im Radio = on the radio
im Fernsehen = on TV
in der Zeitung = in the newspaper

So im Radio is simply the fixed, natural expression for “on the radio”. Auf dem Radio would sound wrong and suggest something physically on top of the radio device.

What exactly is im in im Radio? Why not just in dem Radio?

im is a contraction of:

in
- dem → im

We use dem because Radio is neuter:

das Radio (nominative singular)
Dative singular: dem Radio

The preposition in with a static location (no movement into something) normally takes the dative case:

in dem Radio → “in the radio (set)” / “on the radio (medium)”

In everyday German, you almost always use the short form:

im Radio (not in dem Radio in most contexts)

Why does in take the dative here and not the accusative?

The preposition in can take either dative or accusative, depending on meaning:

Dative: location / where something is (no movement)
→ im Radio = (news is) “in/on the radio” (place)
Accusative: direction / where something is going (movement)
→ Ich gehe ins Radio would be odd in normal speech, but grammatically means “I go into the radio (station/building).”

In our sentence, you are not moving something into the radio; you are simply listening to something that is (broadcast) on the radio, so it’s a static location → dative: im Radio.

Can I change the word order to Abends höre ich im Radio die Nachrichten? Is that still correct?

Yes, it’s grammatically correct:

Abends höre ich die Nachrichten im Radio.
Abends höre ich im Radio die Nachrichten.

Both respect the verb-second rule and are understandable. The difference is a subtle shift in emphasis / rhythm:

… die Nachrichten im Radio. – The unit die Nachrichten im Radio feels like one block (“the news on the radio”).
… im Radio die Nachrichten. – Slight extra emphasis on im Radio (on the radio, not somewhere else).

In everyday speech, … die Nachrichten im Radio is more common and feels more natural.

What is the usual word order pattern for elements like time, object, and place in German sentences like this?

A common guideline for German word order is:

Time – Manner – Place

In this sentence:

Abends – time
die Nachrichten – (direct object; can be seen as “what” you listen to)
im Radio – place / medium (a kind of “where”)

So:

Abends (Time) höre ich die Nachrichten (Object / Manner-ish) im Radio (Place).

Another very typical arrangement is to put a time word at the beginning when you want to set the scene:

Abends höre ich die Nachrichten im Radio.
Morgens trinke ich Kaffee.
Sonntags gehe ich ins Kino.

The object can move a bit, but Time → (Object/Manner) → Place is a good rule of thumb for neutral word order.

Could I also say Abends höre ich mir die Nachrichten im Radio an? What is the difference?

Yes, you could say:

Abends höre ich mir die Nachrichten im Radio an.

Here you’re using the separable verb anhören (to listen to, to listen to something carefully) plus a reflexive pronoun mir.

Nuances:

Abends höre ich die Nachrichten im Radio.
→ Simple “I listen to the news on the radio in the evenings.”
Abends höre ich mir die Nachrichten im Radio an.
→ Slightly more deliberate, like “I (for myself) listen to the news on the radio (as something I consume attentively).”

Both are correct; the version without mir … an is more straightforward and fully sufficient here.

How do you pronounce Nachrichten correctly?

Key points:

Na-: like “nah” in English, but short: [na]
-ch-: here it’s the “ach-sound” (), a voiceless velar fricative (same as in Bach, nach).
-ri-: like “ri” in “rich”, but with a German r.
-chten:
- ch again as in Bach ()
- t is clearly pronounced
- en is usually reduced, a bit like -ən.

Approximate IPA: [ˈnaːxʁɪçtən] (in many accents the r is a uvular sound).

So you have two “ch” sounds in the word, both pronounced like in Bach / nach, not like the soft ch in ich.