Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen.

At Christmas I eat a cookie.

Breakdown of Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen.

• essen: to eat
• ich: I
• zu: at
• Weihnachten: Christmas
• das Plätzchen: the cookie

Questions & Answers about Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen.

Why does the sentence start with “Zu Weihnachten” instead of “Ich”? Is that allowed in German?

Yes. German main clauses follow the verb‑second rule: the conjugated verb must be in second position, but what stands in first position is flexible.

• Standard / neutral: Ich esse zu Weihnachten ein Plätzchen.
  (Subject in first position, verb in second.)
• With time in first position: Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen.
  (Time phrase in first position, esse is still the second element.)

Putting “Zu Weihnachten” first emphasizes when it happens. Both versions are correct and mean essentially the same thing.

What exactly does “zu Weihnachten” mean? Is it literally “to Christmas”?

Literally, zu often means “to”, but here it’s idiomatic:

• zu Weihnachten ≈ “at Christmas / at Christmastime”

With holidays, zu + holiday name often means “on/at [that holiday]”:

• zu Weihnachten – at Christmas
• zu Ostern – at Easter
• zu Neujahr – at New Year

So, don’t translate it word‑for‑word as “to Christmas”; take it as a fixed way to say “at Christmas”.

Why is it “zu Weihnachten” and not “an Weihnachten”? Are both correct?

Both zu Weihnachten and an Weihnachten are correct, but there’s a nuance:

• zu Weihnachten
  – Very common, a bit broader: “at Christmastime / around Christmas”.
  – Focuses more on the festive period in general.

• an Weihnachten
  – More like “on Christmas (Day)”.
  – Feels a bit more like a specific day(s).

In many contexts they’re interchangeable, and learners can treat them both as “at Christmas”.
Your sentence works fine with either:

• Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen.
• An Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen.

What case is “Weihnachten” in after “zu”?

Normally, the preposition zu takes the dative case:

• zu dem Haus → zum Haus (dative)
• zu der Schule → zur Schule (dative)

With Weihnachten, you don’t see an article, so the case isn’t visible, but grammatically it’s used as a dative time expression.

You can think of “zu Weihnachten” as “(at) Christmas (time)” functioning adverbially, and for practical purposes you can just memorize zu + Feiertag (holiday) as a fixed pattern: zu Weihnachten, zu Ostern, zu Silvester.

Why is there no article, like “zu dem Weihnachten”?

German usually does not use an article with most holiday names in time expressions:

• zu Weihnachten (not zu dem Weihnachten)
• an Weihnachten (not an dem Weihnachten)
• zu Ostern, an Ostern
• zu Silvester, an Silvester

Using an article (zu dem Weihnachten) would sound strange or wrong in normal modern usage.
So the natural pattern is simply: preposition + holiday name (no article).

Why is “Weihnachten” capitalized?

Because Weihnachten is a noun, the name of the holiday Christmas. In German:

• All nouns (including names of holidays) are written with an initial capital:
  Weihnachten, Ostern, Silvester, Geburtstag, Montag.

Even when it’s used in a time expression (an Weihnachten, zu Weihnachten), it’s still a noun and stays capitalized.

Why is the verb “esse” and not something like “isst”?

“Esse” is the 1st person singular present tense form of the verb essen (to eat):

• ich esse – I eat
• du isst – you eat (singular, informal)
• er/sie/es isst – he/she/it eats
• wir essen – we eat
• ihr esst – you eat (plural, informal)
• sie/Sie essen – they / you (formal) eat

So with ich, you must use ich esse.
Ich isst or ich essen would be incorrect.

Why is it “ein Plätzchen” and not “einen Plätzchen”?

Because Plätzchen is neuter, and ein is the nominative/accusative article for neuter nouns.

Article forms (singular):

• masculine: ein (nom.), einen (acc.)
• feminine: eine (nom./acc.)
• neuter: ein (nom./acc.)

In your sentence, ein Plätzchen is the direct object (accusative).
Since Plätzchen is neuter, the correct article in accusative is ein, not einen.

So:

• Ich esse ein Plätzchen. ✔
• Ich esse einen Plätzchen. ✘ (wrong, article doesn’t match gender)

How do I know that “Plätzchen” is neuter?

One strong clue is the ending -chen. In German:

• Nouns ending in -chen (and -lein) are diminutives and are always neuter, regardless of the original noun’s gender.

Examples:

• das Haus → das Häuschen (little house)
• die Maus → das Mäuschen (little mouse)
• das Brot → das Brötchen (small bread roll)
• das Platz → das Plätzchen (literally “little place”, but in this usage: small cookie/biscuit)

So you can safely memorize: anything with -chen is “das” and uses ein in the nominative/accusative.

What is the plural of “Plätzchen”? Is it the same form?

Yes, Plätzchen has the same form in singular and plural:

• Singular: das Plätzchen – the cookie
• Plural: die Plätzchen – the cookies

In your sentence ein Plätzchen, the article ein tells you it’s singular.
For plural you might say:

• Zu Weihnachten esse ich Plätzchen. (some cookies, no article)
• Zu Weihnachten esse ich viele Plätzchen. (many cookies)

What is the difference between “Plätzchen” and “Keks”?

Both can be translated as “cookie” / “biscuit”, but:

• Plätzchen

  • Often small cookies, especially homemade ones.
  • Strong association with Christmas cookies (Weihnachtsplätzchen).
  • Feels a bit more “traditional / homemade / cute”.

• Keks (plural: Kekse)

  • More general word for cookie/biscuit, including store‑bought ones.
  • Used all year round, not especially tied to Christmas.

So “Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen” often suggests a small Christmas cookie, possibly homemade.

Could I say “Zu Weihnachten esse ich Plätzchen” without “ein”? What changes?

Yes, that’s also correct, but the meaning shifts slightly:

• Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen.
  → “…I eat one cookie” (or “a cookie” — a single one is implied.)

• Zu Weihnachten esse ich Plätzchen.
  → “…I eat cookies (in general, some cookies).”
  No specific number is given. It sounds like a general habit.

So with ein, you focus on one (or a single occasion); without it, you talk more generally about eating cookies at Christmas.

Can the present tense “esse” also refer to the future here, like “I will eat a cookie at Christmas”?

Yes. In German, the present tense (Präsens) is often used to talk about the future, especially when the time is clear from context:

• Morgen gehe ich ins Kino. – I’m going to the cinema tomorrow.
• Nächste Woche fahre ich nach Berlin. – I will go to Berlin next week.

Your sentence:

• Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen.
  → can mean “At Christmas I eat a cookie” (habit)
  → or “At Christmas I’ll eat a cookie” (future plan)

Because “zu Weihnachten” clearly marks the time, German doesn’t need a separate “will” form here.

Why is “ich” not capitalized in the middle of the sentence?

In German, the pronoun ich (I) is not capitalized in the middle of a sentence, unlike English “I”.

Capitalization rules here:

• Start of sentence: capitalize the first word (e.g., Zu).
• All nouns: capitalized (e.g., Weihnachten, Plätzchen).
• Personal pronouns: normally lowercase, except the polite Sie/Ihr.

So:

• Zu Weihnachten esse ich ein Plätzchen. ✔
• Zu Weihnachten esse Ich ein Plätzchen. ✘ (wrong, unless at the start of a sentence)