Am Sonntag möchte ich morgens weiterschlafen.

On Sunday I would like to keep sleeping in the morning.

Breakdown of Am Sonntag möchte ich morgens weiterschlafen.

• ich: I
• der Sonntag: the Sunday
• möchten: would like to
• morgens: in the morning

Questions & Answers about Am Sonntag möchte ich morgens weiterschlafen.

What exactly does am in Am Sonntag mean?

Am is a contraction of an dem.

• an = “on” (when used with days and dates)
• dem = dative form of the masculine article der (“the”)

So Am Sonntag literally is an dem Sonntag → “on the Sunday,” which in natural English is just “on Sunday.”

In German, days of the week usually appear with an + dative when you say on [day]:

• am Montag – on Monday
• am Freitag – on Friday

Could I say An Sonntag or Im Sonntag instead of Am Sonntag?

No, those would be wrong in standard German.

• For days of the week, German uses an + dative, and almost always in the contracted form am:
  • ✅ am Sonntag
  • ❌ an Sonntag
  • ❌ im Sonntag

im = in dem (“in the”), and you don’t say “in Sunday” in German for time expressions, just like you don’t in English.

Why does Sonntag take the dative case here?

Because of the preposition an.

In time expressions (days, dates, parts of the day), normally governs the case: