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Am Wochenende besuchen wir meine Schwiegereltern auf dem Land.

Am Wochenende besuchen wir meine Schwiegereltern auf dem Land.
At the weekend we visit my parents‑in‑law in the countryside.
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Questions & Answers about Am Wochenende besuchen wir meine Schwiegereltern auf dem Land.

Why is it am Wochenende and not im Wochenende or something else?

Am is the contracted form of an dem, and an is the standard preposition used for days and parts of days:

  • am Montag – on Monday
  • am Abend – in the evening
  • am Wochenende – on/at the weekend

Im = in dem is used for longer time periods like months, seasons, years:

  • im Januar – in January
  • im Sommer – in summer

You could say an dem Wochenende, but it sounds more formal or very specific (e.g. “on that particular weekend”). In normal speech, people almost always use am Wochenende.

Why does the verb come after Am Wochenende? Why is it besuchen wir and not wir besuchen?

German main clauses follow the verb‑second (V2) rule: the conjugated verb must be in the second position.

In the sentence:

  • Am Wochenende – first element (a time phrase, treated as one “slot”)
  • besuchen – second element → the verb, required in second position
  • wir meine Schwiegereltern auf dem Land – the rest of the clause

So:

  • Am Wochenende besuchen wir … (time first, verb second)
  • Wir besuchen am Wochenende … (subject first, verb second)

Both follow the same rule: only one element may stand before the finite verb.

Can I also say Wir besuchen am Wochenende meine Schwiegereltern auf dem Land? Is there a difference?

Yes, that sentence is equally correct:

  • Wir besuchen am Wochenende meine Schwiegereltern auf dem Land.

The difference is mainly in emphasis:

  • Am Wochenende besuchen wir …: emphasizes when (the weekend).
  • Wir besuchen am Wochenende …: neutral, or slightly more emphasis on we/our action.

Content-wise, both mean the same thing. Word order in German is quite flexible; moving time, place, or object around usually changes emphasis, not basic meaning, as long as the verb is still in second position.

Why is it meine Schwiegereltern and not meinen Schwiegereltern?

Schwiegereltern is plural, and it’s the direct object of besuchen, so it’s in the accusative plural.

The possessive determiner mein- declines like this (relevant forms):

  • Nominative plural: meine
  • Accusative plural: meine

In the plural, nominative and accusative look the same. Only masculine singular changes from mein (nom.) to meinen (acc.):

  • masc. sg.: mein Vater → Ich besuche meinen Vater.
  • plural: meine Eltern → Ich besuche meine Eltern.

So here:

  • Wen besuchen wir? – meine Schwiegereltern (accusative plural)
  • Correct form: meine Schwiegereltern, not meinen Schwiegereltern.
What exactly does Schwiegereltern mean? Are there singular forms?

Schwiegereltern means parents‑in‑law (your spouse’s parents). It is a plural noun.

Singular forms:

  • die Schwiegermutter – mother‑in‑law
  • der Schwiegervater – father‑in‑law

Some examples:

  • meine Schwiegereltern – my parents‑in‑law
  • meine Schwiegermutter – my mother‑in‑law
  • mein Schwiegervater – my father‑in‑law

Note that Schwieger‑ by itself isn’t used alone; it’s a fixed prefix in these family words.

Why is it auf dem Land and not in dem Land? Don’t both mean “in the country”?

German Land has two common meanings:

  1. das Land = the countryside (opposite of the city)
  2. das Land = a country / nation

The phrase auf dem Land is an idiom meaning “in the countryside / in a rural area”.

  • Sie wohnen auf dem Land. – They live in the countryside.

In dem Land would normally be understood as “in the (nation‑)state”:

  • In dem Land gibt es strenge Gesetze. – In that country there are strict laws.

So in the sentence, auf dem Land specifically expresses that the in‑laws live in a rural area, not “in that nation”.

Why is it auf dem Land (dative) and not auf das Land (accusative)?

Auf is a two‑way preposition: it can take either dative or accusative.

  • Dative (WO? – where?): location, no movement to a new place
  • Accusative (WOHIN? – where to?): direction/motion towards a place

Compare:

  • Wir sind auf dem Land. – We are in the countryside. (dative: place)
  • Wir fahren aufs Land. (auf das → aufs) – We’re going to the countryside. (accusative: direction)

In Am Wochenende besuchen wir meine Schwiegereltern auf dem Land, the phrase auf dem Land describes where the Schwiegereltern live, their location. It’s about their place (they are located there), not the motion of “going to” the countryside, so German uses dative: dem Land.

Is this sentence talking about the future? Why doesn’t it use werden (future tense) like wir werden besuchen?

German very often uses the present tense with a time expression to talk about the future:

  • Am Wochenende besuchen wir … = We will visit … at the weekend.
  • Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin. = I’m going to Berlin tomorrow.

The future tense with werden is used more sparingly, typically for:

  • Predictions/assumptions: Es wird regnen. – It will probably rain.
  • Emphasis or clarification.

In everyday speech, Am Wochenende besuchen wir meine Schwiegereltern … is the normal way to say “We’ll visit my parents‑in‑law this weekend.” You don’t need werden here.

Does Am Wochenende mean “this weekend”, “next weekend”, or “on weekends in general”?

Am Wochenende is a bit context‑dependent:

  1. This coming weekend (most common in conversation about plans)

    • If you’re talking about what you will do, people usually understand it as “this weekend”.

  2. On (the) weekend(s) in general / habitually

    • With adverbs like oft, meistens, context often makes it general:
      • Am Wochenende besuchen wir oft meine Eltern. – On weekends we often visit my parents.

  3. A specific weekend

    • With further specification:
      • An diesem Wochenende or am kommenden Wochenende – this / the coming weekend
      • An jenem Wochenende – on that (particular) weekend

In your example, if said in a normal planning context, natives will most likely understand Am Wochenende as “this coming weekend.”

Is besuchen related to suchen (“to look for”)? Is it a separable verb?

Besuchen is not a separable verb, and you should treat it as one unit with its own meaning: “to visit”.

  • Prefix be‑ is an inseparable prefix.
  • That means the verb does not split in main clauses, and the past participle is formed without ge‑:

Forms:

  • Infinitive: besuchen
  • Present: ich besuche, wir besuchen
  • Simple past: ich besuchte
  • Perfect: ich habe besucht

It’s etymologically related to suchen, but in modern German you should think of besuchen simply as “to visit (a person / place / event)”, not as “to search”.

Example:

  • Ich besuche meine Eltern. – I visit my parents / I’m visiting my parents.
Why are Wochenende, Schwiegereltern, and Land capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

In this sentence:

  • das Wochenende – noun → capitalized
  • die Schwiegereltern – noun → capitalized
  • das Land – noun → capitalized

Pronouns (like wir) and verbs (like besuchen) are not capitalized, except at the start of a sentence or in a title. This “all nouns are capitalized” rule is one of the most visible spelling differences between German and English.

Could I leave out auf dem Land and just say Am Wochenende besuchen wir meine Schwiegereltern?

Yes. Grammatically, Am Wochenende besuchen wir meine Schwiegereltern is a complete and correct sentence:

  • It tells you when (am Wochenende), who (wir), what action (besuchen), and whom (meine Schwiegereltern).

The phrase auf dem Land just adds extra information about where the in‑laws live / where the visit takes place (in the countryside). You can include it or omit it depending on how much detail you want to give.