Learn Hardcore German: Am Ende des Tages bin ich müde, aber zufrieden, weil wir trotz Stress freundlich miteinander geblieben sind. - At the end of the day I am tired but content because despite stress we stayed friendly with each other.

You can say am Ende vom Tag, but that sounds more casual/colloquial and is less idiomatic than am Ende des Tages. The phrase am Ende des Tages is also a fixed expression in German, both literally (at the end of the day) and figuratively (like English “when all is said and done”).

Why is it des Tages? What case is that, and why is it used here?

des Tages is genitive singular.

The noun Ende commonly takes a genitive to say the end of X:

das Ende des Films – the end of the film
das Ende des Jahres – the end of the year
am Ende des Tages – at the end of the day

So the pattern is:

das Ende + Genitive = the end of …

Because Tag is masculine (der Tag), its genitive singular is des Tages (you add -es):

Nominative: der Tag
Genitive: des Tages

Why does the sentence start with Am Ende des Tages bin ich müde instead of Ich bin am Ende des Tages müde?

Both sentences are grammatically correct.

German main clauses must keep the finite verb in 2nd position, but the 1st position can be almost anything. Here we put a time expression first for emphasis:

Am Ende des Tages (position 1)
bin (finite verb, position 2)
ich (subject, position 3)

So:

Am Ende des Tages bin ich müde. – Normal, with focus on the time.
Ich bin am Ende des Tages müde. – Also correct, with focus more on ich bin.

This kind of inversion after a fronted element is very common in German.

Why is it bin ich müde, aber zufrieden and not bin ich müde, aber ich bin zufrieden?

In German (as in English), you don’t need to repeat the same verb if it applies to both parts. The verb bin clearly belongs to both müde and zufrieden, so we say:

Ich bin müde, aber zufrieden.
(literally: I am tired but content.)

Adding ich bin again (ich bin müde, aber ich bin zufrieden) is grammatically possible but sounds clumsy and overly heavy in normal speech and writing. German likes avoiding unnecessary repetition when the meaning is obvious.

Why is there a comma before aber and before weil?

There are two different reasons:

Comma before aber
Aber links two main clauses or parts of a clause that could stand alone:
- Am Ende des Tages bin ich müde, aber zufrieden …
The comma here separates two coordinated parts with aber. This is mandatory in standard German.
Comma before weil
Weil introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause giving a reason):
- …, weil wir trotz Stress freundlich miteinander geblieben sind.
Subordinate clauses must be separated from the main clause by a comma in standard German. So the comma before weil is also mandatory.

Why is the verb at the end of the clause after weil (… geblieben sind)?

Weil is a subordinating conjunction (a Nebensatz-marker). In German, subordinate clauses have the finite verb at the end.

Structure of the weil-clause:

weil (subordinating conjunction)
wir (subject)
trotz Stress freundlich miteinander (various adverbials/predicate parts)
geblieben sind (past participle + finite auxiliary verb at the very end)

So:

Main clause: … bin ich müde, aber zufrieden,
Subordinate clause: weil wir trotz Stress freundlich miteinander geblieben sind.

That verb-final position is a defining feature of German subordinate clauses.

Why is it geblieben sind and not just blieben or haben geblieben?

There are two issues: tense and auxiliary verb.

Tense: Perfekt vs. Präteritum
Sind geblieben is the Perfekt (conversational past). In spoken German, the Perfekt is usually preferred over the simple past (blieben):
- wir sind geblieben (Perfekt – common in speech)
- wir blieben (Präteritum – more written/literary, or regional)
Auxiliary: sein vs. haben
The verb bleiben (to stay/remain) forms the Perfekt with sein, not haben:
- wir sind geblieben – correct
- wir haben geblieben – incorrect

So geblieben sind is the correctly formed Perfekt in a subordinate clause (participle + auxiliary at the end).

Why is it trotz Stress and not trotz dem Stress or trotz des Stresses?

The preposition trotz officially takes the genitive:

trotz des Stresses – despite the stress

In everyday German, many speakers also use the dative:

trotz dem Stress (colloquial, more common in speech; considered non‑standard in formal writing)

In this sentence, Stress is used without an article:

trotz Stress – despite (the) stress

That works because Stress is an uncountable noun here, and German often drops the article in such abstract, general expressions. It’s similar to English “despite stress” vs. “despite the stress”; both are possible, with the article making it more specific.

So:

Very formal/standard: trotz des Stresses
Neutral spoken/written, general: trotz Stress
Colloquial: trotz dem Stress

What exactly does miteinander mean here, and how is it different from zusammen?

Miteinander literally means with one another / with each other. It emphasizes the relationship and interactions between people.

In freundlich miteinander geblieben, the focus is:

we remained friendly in our dealings with each other
we stayed friendly towards one another

Zusammen means together, but it often focuses more on doing things jointly, being in the same place, etc.:

Wir haben zusammen gearbeitet. – We worked together.
Wir sind freundlich miteinander geblieben. – We stayed friendly with each other (our interaction remained friendly).

You could say freundlich zueinander geblieben as well; zueinander also means to one another and is very close in meaning. Miteinander is perhaps a bit more neutral/general than zueinander, which can stress direction (towards one another).

Why is freundlich not changed to something like freundlich-lich to mean “in a friendly way”? Isn’t there an adverb ending?

German does not add a special ending to form adverbs like English -ly. The adjective form is usually also the adverb form.

So:

freundlich (adjective) – a friendly person
freundlich (adverb) – behaving in a friendly way

Examples:

Sie ist freundlich. – She is friendly.
Sie spricht freundlich mit mir. – She speaks to me in a friendly way.

In freundlich miteinander geblieben, freundlich describes how we remained with each other – i.e. we remained friendly (towards each other). No extra adverb ending is needed.

Why is it freundlich miteinander geblieben and not just freundlich gewesen?

Bleiben emphasizes continuity – something remains in a certain state. Using geblieben here highlights that the friendliness lasted despite the stress:

freundlich geblieben – stayed/remained friendly (over a period of time)

If you say freundlich gewesen, you simply state that you were friendly at some point, without that same nuance of not losing that friendliness.

So:

… weil wir trotz Stress freundlich miteinander geblieben sind.
→ even though we were stressed, we still remained friendly with each other.

Why is it bin ich müde, aber zufrieden and not bin ich müde, aber zufrieden bin?

German doesn’t put the finite verb at the end of a clause in this kind of coordinated main clause with aber. The pattern is:

ich müde
aber

The verb bin already applies to both müde and zufrieden, so it stays in the first part and isn’t repeated. You cannot move bin to the end here; that would sound ungrammatical:

❌ bin ich müde, aber zufrieden bin – wrong
✅ bin ich müde, aber zufrieden – correct

Could the sentence use the simple past instead, like weil wir trotz Stress freundlich miteinander blieben? Would that sound natural?

Grammatically, yes:

…, weil wir trotz Stress freundlich miteinander blieben.

This uses the Präteritum (blieben). It’s correct German, but the style changes:

In spoken and informal German, the Perfekt (sind geblieben) is much more common.
The Präteritum (blieben) sounds more written, literary, or formal, and is region‑dependent (more natural in northern Germany than in the south).

In a neutral, everyday context, … geblieben sind is the most natural choice.