Learn Hardcore German: Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt. - In winter the room often stays cold.

Using in Winter without the article is not idiomatic in this time-expression; Germans normally say im Winter, im Sommer, etc., just like English usually says in the winter, not in winter (though English allows both).

Why is Winter capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized. Winter is a noun, so it must start with a capital letter.

This is true for the names of seasons (Frühling, Sommer, Herbst, Winter), days of the week, months, and all other nouns.

What case is Winter in, and why?

Winter is in the dative case here, because it’s part of the expression im Winter (in dem Winter).

The preposition in can take accusative or dative:

Accusative for movement into something:
- Ich gehe in den Raum. – I go into the room.
Dative for location or time:
- Ich bin in dem Raum. – I am in the room.
- Im Winter – in the winter (time expression → dative)

So Winter is dative masculine, but the noun itself doesn’t change form; you only see the dative in the article dem → im.

Why does the sentence start with Im Winter instead of Der Raum?

German has a strong verb-second (V2) word order in main clauses: the conjugated verb must be in second position.

You can put different elements in first position to highlight them:

Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt. (time is emphasized)
Der Raum bleibt im Winter oft kalt. (subject is emphasized / more neutral)

In both cases, bleibt is still the second element. If you started with Im Winter, you cannot then put der Raum before bleibt, because the verb must come second, not third.

So Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt is correct;
Im Winter der Raum bleibt oft kalt is wrong.

What does bleibt mean here, and how is it different from ist?

bleibt is the 3rd person singular of bleiben = to remain / to stay.

Der Raum ist kalt. – The room is cold. (a simple statement of its current state)
Der Raum bleibt kalt. – The room stays/remains cold. (it’s cold and does not get warm)

In Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt, the idea is that in winter the room doesn’t warm up, it remains cold. You could say Im Winter ist der Raum oft kalt, which is also correct, but bleibt adds a nuance of persistence over time.

Why is it der Raum and not den Raum or dem Raum?

Der Raum is the subject of the sentence, so it’s in the nominative case.

der Raum = nominative masculine singular (subject)
den Raum = accusative masculine singular (direct object)
dem Raum = dative masculine singular (indirect object / certain prepositions)

Here, the room is doing the “remaining cold”, so it must be nominative: der Raum.

What is the difference between Raum and Zimmer?

Both can translate as room, but they’re used differently:

der Raum – more general: space, area, room (as a concept), or a room in an abstract or official sense.
- Arbeitsraum (work space), Rauchen im Raum verboten (smoking in the room prohibited)
das Zimmer – a specific room in a building, especially in a home or hotel.
- Wohnzimmer (living room), Schlafzimmer (bedroom), Hotelzimmer (hotel room)

In many everyday contexts about rooms in a flat or house, Zimmer is more common:
Im Winter bleibt das Zimmer oft kalt would usually sound more domestic/household-like.

Why doesn’t kalt have an ending (like kalter, kalte)?

Here kalt is a predicate adjective (after bleibt, describing the state of the subject), not an adjective directly before a noun.

Der Raum bleibt kalt. (predicate adjective → no ending)
der kalte Raum (attributive adjective before a noun → needs an ending)

In German:

Attributive adjective (before a noun): gets endings – ein kalter Raum, der kalte Raum
Predicate adjective (after verbs like sein, werden, bleiben): no endings – Der Raum ist kalt, Der Raum bleibt kalt

What does oft mean, and how does it compare to manchmal or häufig?

oft = often, frequently
manchmal = sometimes
häufig = frequently (a bit more formal or “stronger” than oft, and often used in writing)

In Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt, oft tells you that this happens frequently, not just occasionally.

Where can oft go in this sentence? Are there other correct word orders?

Typical, natural options:

Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt.
Der Raum bleibt im Winter oft kalt.
Der Raum bleibt oft im Winter kalt. (possible but sounds less natural; emphasis is strange)

General rule of thumb: frequency adverbs like oft usually come before the main descriptive element (here: kalt) and after the subject/verb complex:

Der Raum bleibt oft kalt.
Der Raum ist oft kalt.

Putting oft at the very end (Der Raum bleibt kalt oft) is wrong.
Putting it at the very beginning (Oft bleibt der Raum im Winter kalt.) is also correct but changes focus to how often it happens.

Could I leave out oft and just say Im Winter bleibt der Raum kalt?

Yes.

Im Winter bleibt der Raum kalt. – In winter, the room stays cold.
Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt. – In winter, the room often stays cold.

Without oft, it sounds more like a general fact: it stays cold (almost always).
With oft, you say it happens frequently, but you leave room for exceptions.

Is Im Winter ist der Raum oft kalt also correct, and is there any difference?

Yes, it’s correct:

Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt. – The room stays/remains cold; it doesn’t get warm.
Im Winter ist der Raum oft kalt. – The room is often cold (neutral statement about its state).

In many everyday contexts, both are possible and the difference is small, but bleibt adds more of a feeling that the coldness persists or that attempts to heat it up aren’t very successful.

Can I say Im Winter bleibt oft der Raum kalt? What changes?

Grammatically, yes: Im Winter bleibt oft der Raum kalt.

By moving oft before der Raum, you slightly shift the emphasis. It can sound like you’re contrasting der Raum with something else:

Im Winter bleibt oft der Raum kalt (…aber andere Zimmer werden warm).
– In winter, it’s often the room that stays cold (…but other rooms get warm).

In everyday speech, the more neutral and common version would be:

Im Winter bleibt der Raum oft kalt.

How do you pronounce Raum, bleibt, and Winter?

Approximate pronunciations (using English-like guidance):

Raum – like roum in English “round”, with a long ow sound: [raʊm]
- au in German = [aʊ], like ow in now
bleibt – roughly like blypt: [blaɪpt]
- ei in German = [aɪ], like eye
- final -bt is pronounced, though the b is quite soft
Winter – like VIN-ter: [ˈvɪntɐ]
- W in German sounds like English V
- final -er is often like -a in unstressed syllables (-ɐ)

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:
Im VIN-ter BLAIPT der RAUM oft KALT. (very approximate)