Am Waldrand machen wir abends ein Lagerfeuer.

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Breakdown of Am Waldrand machen wir abends ein Lagerfeuer.

• machen: to make
• abends: in the evening
• ein: a; (neuter, accusative)

Questions & Answers about Am Waldrand machen wir abends ein Lagerfeuer.

What exactly does am mean in am Waldrand, and why not just say an dem Waldrand or im Waldrand?

am is a contraction of an dem:

• an = at / on (vertical surface or general vicinity)
• dem = dative singular of the masculine/neuter article der
• an dem Waldrand → am Waldrand

So am Waldrand literally means “at the edge of the forest”.

Why not im Waldrand?

• in (im = in dem) means inside something.
• The Waldrand is the edge of the forest, not something you are inside.
  So the natural preposition is an (“at”), not in.

You can say an dem Waldrand, but in normal speech and writing, Germans nearly always use the contraction am.

What case is Waldrand in here, and how can I tell?