Learn Hardcore German: Für den Zug in die Stadt kaufe ich eine Monatskarte, weil ich täglich fahre. - For the train to the city I buy a monthly ticket because I travel daily.

Use in + accusative for direction / movement into:
- in die Stadt = into the city (movement)
Use in + dative for location / being in:
- in der Stadt = in the city (location)

In this sentence, the train goes into the city, so it is in die Stadt (accusative).

Why does the sentence start with Für den Zug in die Stadt instead of Ich?

German often puts at the beginning of the sentence whatever it wants to emphasize or frame as the topic, not always the subject.

Here, Für den Zug in die Stadt is moved to the front to highlight for which train the speaker buys the pass.

Both are correct:

Für den Zug in die Stadt kaufe ich eine Monatskarte, … (emphasis on the train)
Ich kaufe für den Zug in die Stadt eine Monatskarte, … (more neutral, emphasis on I)

In both cases, the finite verb (kaufe) still stays in second position in the main clause (see next question).

Why is it kaufe ich and not ich kaufe after that phrase?

German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule:

The conjugated verb must be the second element in the sentence.

If you start with the subject:

Ich (1st element) kaufe (2nd element) eine Monatskarte …

If you start with a different element, like Für den Zug in die Stadt:

Für den Zug in die Stadt (1st element) kaufe (2nd element) ich (3rd element) eine Monatskarte …

So when you front something other than the subject, you get inversion: kaufe ich, möchte ich, habe ich, etc.

Could I say Ich kaufe für den Zug in die Stadt eine Monatskarte instead?

Yes, that sentence is perfectly correct and natural.

Word order in German main clauses is relatively flexible as long as:

The conjugated verb is in second position, and
The subordinate-clause rules (like with weil) are respected.

Some common variants:

Für den Zug in die Stadt kaufe ich eine Monatskarte. (focus on the train)
Ich kaufe für den Zug in die Stadt eine Monatskarte. (focus on I)
Ich kaufe eine Monatskarte für den Zug in die Stadt. (focus on the ticket)

All three are grammatical; the difference is mainly emphasis / information structure.

Why is the verb at the end in weil ich täglich fahre?

weil introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause expressing a reason). In German, in subordinate clauses the conjugated verb goes to the end:

Main clause: Ich fahre täglich. (verb in 2nd position)
Subordinate clause with weil: …, weil ich täglich fahre. (verb at the end)

Pattern:

weil
- subject + other elements + verb (final)

So:

weil (subordinating conjunction)
ich (subject)
täglich (time adverb)
fahre (verb at the end)

Could I say …, weil ich fahre täglich?

No, that is ungrammatical in standard German.

In a weil-clause, the conjugated verb must be at the very end:

✅ …, weil ich täglich fahre.
❌ …, weil ich fahre täglich.

However, in a main clause, you can say:

✅ Ich fahre täglich.
✅ Täglich fahre ich.

The rule “verb comes last” applies only to subordinate clauses like those introduced by weil, dass, wenn, obwohl, weil etc.

What exactly does fahre mean here? Is it only “drive”?

The verb fahren is broader than English to drive:

fahren means to travel / go by vehicle (car, train, bus, bike, etc.).
It can mean:
- to drive (when you operate the vehicle), or
- to ride / travel (when you’re just a passenger).

In this context, with der Zug, ich fahre means something like:

“I go (by train)”
“I travel by train”
“I commute by train”

It does not imply the speaker is driving the train.

What is a Monatskarte, and why is it eine Monatskarte?

Monatskarte is a compound noun:

Monat (month) + Karte (ticket/card) → Monatskarte = “monthly pass”

Gender:

die Karte is feminine → die Monatskarte
Indefinite article (a/an) for feminine: eine

So:

eine Monatskarte = a monthly pass
die Monatskarte = the monthly pass (a specific one)

Here, the speaker is mentioning it in a general, non-specific way (“I buy a monthly pass”), so eine is used.

Why does German use an article in in die Stadt, when English often says “into town” without “the”?

German generally uses articles more often than English does.

German: in die Stadt fahren
English: “go into town” (often no the)

In German, a bare Stadt without an article here would be unusual. You normally say:

in die Stadt (accusative)
or in der Stadt (dative, if it’s location)

There are some set expressions without articles (e.g. zu Hause, in Urlaub fahren in some regions), but Stadt isn’t usually one of them in this sense, so in die Stadt is standard.

What’s the difference between täglich and jeden Tag?

Both mean that something happens every day, but there is a small stylistic difference:

täglich = “daily”, a bit more compact/formal.
- Ich fahre täglich.
jeden Tag = literally “each day / every day”, slightly more colloquial/neutral.
- Ich fahre jeden Tag.

In this sentence, both would be correct:

…, weil ich täglich fahre.
…, weil ich jeden Tag fahre.

The meaning is effectively the same.

Why is the comma before weil necessary?

In German, a comma is mandatory before a subordinate clause introduced by words like:

weil, dass, wenn, obwohl, als, während, etc.

So you must write:

…, weil ich täglich fahre.

The comma marks the start of the dependent clause, which also signals to the reader that the verb will now appear at the end of that clause.