Am Wochenende hole ich die Hausaufgabe nach.

German often puts time expressions at the beginning of a sentence to set the scene first.

So:

• Am Wochenende = at/on the weekend
• then comes the verb: hole
• then the subject: ich

This is very normal in German. Starting with the time phrase gives it a natural emphasis, like:

• Am Wochenende hole ich die Hausaufgabe nach.
• Heute lerne ich Deutsch.
• Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin.

German is flexible about what can come first, but the finite verb still has to stay in second position in a main clause.

Because in a German main clause, the conjugated verb must be in second position.

Here, the first position is already taken by Am Wochenende, so the verb must come next:

• Am Wochenende | hole | ich | die Hausaufgabe | nach.

If you start with the subject instead, then you get:

• Ich hole am Wochenende die Hausaufgabe nach.

Both are correct. The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Am Wochenende ... emphasizes when
• Ich ... emphasizes who

Am is a contraction of an dem:

• an + dem = am

Here, dem Wochenende is in the dative case.

This is because German often uses an with the dative in fixed time expressions like:

• am Montag
• am Abend
• am Wochenende

So am Wochenende is simply the standard idiomatic way to say on the weekend / at the weekend in German.

Nachholen is a separable verb. It means something like:

• to make up
• to catch up on
• to do later what should have been done earlier

So die Hausaufgabe nachholen means:

• to make up the homework
• to catch up on the homework
• to do the homework later because it was missed before

It is commonly used for missed tasks, classes, sleep, exams, appointments, and so on.

Examples:

• Ich hole den Unterricht nach. = I’m making up the missed class.
• Sie holt den Schlaf nach. = She’s catching up on sleep.

Because nachholen is a separable verb.

In a main clause, separable verbs split apart:

• the conjugated part goes to the usual verb position
• the prefix goes to the end

So:

• nachholen → hole ... nach

That is why the sentence is:

• Am Wochenende hole ich die Hausaufgabe nach.

Compare:

• Ich rufe dich an. from anrufen
• Er steht früh auf. from aufstehen
• Wir kaufen heute ein. from einkaufen

But in an infinitive or subordinate clause, it stays together:

• Ich will die Hausaufgabe nachholen.
• ..., weil ich die Hausaufgabe nachhole.

German usually uses an article more often than English does.

So where English might say simply homework, German often says:

• die Hausaufgabe
• die Hausaufgaben

In this sentence, die Hausaufgabe means the homework or the homework assignment.

If the context is clear, German still normally keeps the article.

You could also say:

• meine Hausaufgabe = my homework
• die Mathehausaufgabe = the math homework

This is a very common learner question.

In German, Hausaufgabe is a countable noun:

• die Hausaufgabe = the homework assignment
• die Hausaufgaben = the homework / the homework assignments

So German treats it more like assignment than like the English mass noun homework.

That means both of these are possible, depending on the situation:

• Ich mache die Hausaufgabe. = I’m doing the homework assignment.
• Ich mache die Hausaufgaben. = I’m doing my homework / the homework assignments.

In your sentence, the singular suggests one specific assignment or one set being treated as a unit.

Yes, absolutely, if you mean multiple homework tasks.

Then the sentence would be:

• Am Wochenende hole ich die Hausaufgaben nach.

That sounds very natural too.

The difference is just:

• die Hausaufgabe = one assignment / one homework task / homework treated as one item
• die Hausaufgaben = multiple assignments

Both are possible depending on context.

Hole is present tense.

But in German, the present tense is very often used to talk about the future, especially when there is a time expression that makes the future meaning clear.

Here, Am Wochenende already tells you when, so German does not need a separate future form.

So this present-tense sentence naturally means something like:

• I’ll make up the homework on the weekend.

This is extremely common in German:

• Morgen gehe ich zum Arzt.
• Nächste Woche schreibe ich die Prüfung.

Yes, that is also correct.

German word order is flexible as long as the main rules are respected:

• the conjugated verb stays in second position
• the separable prefix stays at the end

So these are both fine:

• Am Wochenende hole ich die Hausaufgabe nach.
• Ich hole die Hausaufgabe am Wochenende nach.

The first one highlights when. The second one is more neutral or highlights I.

Because all nouns are capitalized in German.

So:

• das Wochenende
• die Hausaufgabe
• der Lehrer
• die Schule

This is one of the most visible spelling differences between German and English.

In your sentence:

• Wochenende is a noun
• Hausaufgabe is a noun

So both begin with capital letters.

Not exactly.

• am Wochenende means on the weekend / at the weekend
• übers Wochenende usually means over the weekend, often emphasizing duration across the weekend

Examples:

• Am Wochenende hole ich die Hausaufgabe nach.
  = I’ll make up the homework on the weekend.

• Ich bleibe übers Wochenende in Berlin.
  = I’m staying in Berlin over the weekend.

In many contexts, am Wochenende is the most natural choice for a simple planned action happening then.

Usually, yes.

Nachholen implies that something was:

• missed,
• delayed,
• or not done at the proper time,

and is now being done later.

So in this sentence, the idea is not just I do the homework on the weekend, but more specifically:

• I’m making it up later
• I didn’t do it when I should have

If you simply wanted to say I’m doing the homework on the weekend, without the idea of catching up, you might say:

• Am Wochenende mache ich die Hausaufgabe.

But nachholen adds the sense of making up for being late or missing it.

Yes, it is natural and correct.

It sounds like standard everyday German and follows normal patterns:

• time phrase first: Am Wochenende
• verb in second position: hole
• subject after the verb: ich
• object: die Hausaufgabe
• separable prefix at the end: nach

So it is a very useful model sentence for learning both:

• word order
• and separable verbs in German.