Breakdown of Am Schluss des Films sind alle glücklich.
sein
to be
der Film
the film
glücklich
happy
des
the; (masculine or neuter, genitive)
Questions & Answers about Am Schluss des Films sind alle glücklich.
What does am in Am Schluss stand for, and why not im Schluss?
Am is a contraction of an dem:
- an dem Schluss → am Schluss
Similarly, im is in dem:
- in dem Film → im Film
Both an and in can refer to time, but German uses fixed combinations (set phrases). For “at the end” (in a temporal sense), the normal expression is:
- am Schluss
- am Ende
- zum Schluss
You would not say im Schluss in standard German for “at the end.” So the choice of am here is mostly idiomatic: am Schluss is simply the established phrase.
What’s the difference between am Schluss and am Ende (and zum Schluss)?