Abends ist das Bad frei, da die Kinder schon schlafen.

In the evening the bathroom is free, since the children are already sleeping.

Breakdown of Abends ist das Bad frei, da die Kinder schon schlafen.

• sein: to be
• das Kind: the child
• schlafen: to sleep
• schon: already
• abends: in the evening
• das Bad: the bathroom
• frei: free
• da: since

Questions & Answers about Abends ist das Bad frei, da die Kinder schon schlafen.

What exactly does Abends mean here, and how is it different from am Abend?

Abends is an adverb meaning “in the evenings / at night (as a general habit)”.

• Abends ist das Bad frei
  → In the evenings, the bathroom is free (regularly/habitually).

Compare:

• Am Abend ist das Bad frei.
  → In the evening the bathroom is free (more like: this evening, or in that specific evening context).

So:

• abends = regularly, as a general time of day (like “at night / in the evenings”).
• am Abend = on a particular evening or a more concrete evening period.

In the sentence, Abends is capitalized only because it’s at the beginning of the sentence; normally it’s written abends.

Why does the sentence start with Abends? Could I also say Das Bad ist abends frei?

Yes, you can also say Das Bad ist abends frei. Both are correct.

German main clauses normally place the finite verb in second position (the “V2 rule”). Only one element can be in the first position, and then the verb comes.

• Abends (1st element) ist (2nd = verb) das Bad frei
• Das Bad (1st element) ist (2nd = verb) abends frei

Starting with Abends emphasizes the time (“In the evenings…”) and sounds very natural when the time frame is important. Starting with Das Bad emphasizes the bathroom instead.

Why is it das Bad and not something like die Bad or another word for bathroom?

Bad is a neuter noun in German, so its article in the nominative singular is das: das Bad.

Meanings:

• das Bad can mean:
  • bathroom (the room)
  • bath (the act of bathing), depending on context.
• Other related words:
  • das Badezimmer – more explicitly “bathroom”
  • die Badewanne – “bathtub”

In everyday speech, das Bad very often means “the bathroom” as a room in the house. In this sentence, it obviously refers to the bathroom that can be used once the kids are asleep.

So das is correct because Bad is neuter:

• das Bad (nom.)
• des Bades (gen.)
• dem Bad (dat.)
• das Bad (acc.)

Why is it ist das Bad frei and not something like ist das Bad freies?

Here frei is a predicative adjective (part of the predicate, describing the subject das Bad after sein), not an attributive adjective before a noun.

• Predicative use (after sein, werden, bleiben, etc.):

  • Das Bad ist frei. → The bathroom is free.
    No adjective ending.

• Attributive use (before a noun):

  • ein freies Bad → a free bathroom
    Here frei gets an ending (-es) because it directly modifies the noun.

In the sentence, frei completes the verb ist and describes the state of das Bad, so no extra ending is added.

Why is there a comma before da, and what kind of clause is da die Kinder schon schlafen?

The comma marks the beginning of a subordinate clause (Nebensatz).

• Abends ist das Bad frei → main clause (Hauptsatz)
• da die Kinder schon schlafen → subordinate clause, introduced by da

In German:

• Main clause (Hauptsatz): verb is in second position.
  
  • … ist das Bad frei
• Subordinate clause (Nebensatz with conjunction like da, weil, dass): the conjugated verb goes to the end.
  • da die Kinder schon schlafen

So the comma is required before da because it introduces a full subordinate clause whose verb (schlafen) is final.

What’s the difference between da and weil here? Could I use weil instead of da?

You can say:

• Abends ist das Bad frei, weil die Kinder schon schlafen.

Both da and weil introduce a reason (a causal clause), but there is a nuance:

• weil = “because”
  
  • Neutral, very common.
  • Can introduce new or emphasized reasons.
• da = often closer to “since / as”
  
  • Often used when the reason is already known, obvious, or not the main focus.
  • Slightly more formal or literary than weil, especially at the start of a sentence.

In this sentence, da fits nicely because it gives a background reason that is not especially dramatic: the bathroom is free since the children are already asleep. Using weil is perfectly correct but a bit more neutral and direct.

Why is the verb schlafen at the end of da die Kinder schon schlafen?

In German subordinate clauses with conjunctions like da, weil, dass, wenn, obwohl, etc., the conjugated verb always goes to the end of the clause.

Structure here:

• da (conjunction)
• die Kinder (subject)
• schon (adverb)
• schlafen (verb, final position)

So:

• Main clause: Die Kinder schlafen schon. (verb in 2nd position)
• Subordinate clause: … da die Kinder schon schlafen. (verb final)

This verb-final rule is one of the key differences between main and subordinate clauses in German.

Why is schon before schlafen and not after, like in English “sleep already”?

Word order rules for German adverbs are different from English. In many simple clauses, temporal adverbs like schon (meaning “already”) typically come before the main verb in subordinate clauses.

• Subordinate clause: da die Kinder schon schlafen
  → literally: “since the children already sleep”

In a main clause, you’d usually say:

• Die Kinder schlafen schon.

So the normal pattern is:

• Subject – (adverb(s)) – verb in main clauses, e.g.
  
  • Die Kinder schon schlafen → wrong
  • Die Kinder schlafen schon → correct
• Conjunction – subject – adverb(s) – verb in subordinate clauses, e.g.
  
  • da die Kinder schon schlafen → correct

Placing schon before schlafen is just standard adverb–verb order in German, not something special about this sentence.

What exactly does schon mean here, and is it the same as bereits?

In this context, schon means “already” in a temporal sense:

• Die Kinder schlafen schon.
  → The children are already asleep.

Schon here = bereits, which is a bit more formal or written:

• Die Kinder schlafen bereits.
  → also The children are already asleep.

So:

• schon = everyday, very common.
• bereits = often slightly more formal or stylistically elevated.

There are other uses of schon (for emphasis, softening, etc.), but in this sentence it’s purely temporal: “already”.

Why is it die Kinder and not something like den Kindern or der Kinder?

Kinder is the plural of das Kind (the child):

• Singular: das Kind
• Plural: die Kinder

In the clause die Kinder schon schlafen, die Kinder is the subject of the verb schlafen. Subjects are in the nominative case.

Plural nominative of Kind is die Kinder.

For comparison:

• Nominative: die Kinder schlafen. – The children are sleeping.
• Dative: mit den Kindern – with the children
• Genitive: der Kinder – of the children
• Accusative: Ich sehe die Kinder. – I see the children.

Because here they are doing the action of sleeping, we use nominative: die Kinder.

Why are Bad and Kinder capitalized?

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

• das Bad – Bad is a noun.
• die Kinder – Kinder is also a noun (plural of Kind).

So they are capitalized by rule. Additionally:

• Abends is capitalized here only because it’s the first word of the sentence. Normally it is written abends (lowercase), since it’s an adverb, not a noun.

Can the sentence order be changed, for example: Das Bad ist abends frei, da die Kinder schon schlafen?

Yes, that version is also correct:

• Das Bad ist abends frei, da die Kinder schon schlafen.

Both:

• Abends ist das Bad frei, da die Kinder schon schlafen.
• Das Bad ist abends frei, da die Kinder schon schlafen.

are grammatical. The difference is emphasis:

• Abends ist das Bad frei…
  → Focus on when it is free (the evening time).
• Das Bad ist abends frei…
  → Focus on the bathroom and then specify that it’s free in the evenings.

Verb position (second in the main clause, final in the subordinate clause) stays the same; only which element comes first in the main clause changes.

Could I say Abends ist das Bad frei, denn die Kinder schlafen schon? What’s the difference to da?

Yes, you can say:

• Abends ist das Bad frei, denn die Kinder schlafen schon.

Differences:

• da / weil introduce subordinate clauses → verb goes to the end:
  • …, da die Kinder schon schlafen.
• denn introduces a coordinating clause (like “for/because”) → no verb-final, normal main-clause order:
  • …, denn die Kinder schlafen schon.

Nuances:

• denn often feels a bit more written or explanatory, like “for” or “because” in English when you add an explanation:
  • The bathroom is free in the evenings, for the children are already asleep.
• da is more like “since/as” and keeps the cause in the background.
• weil is neutral “because”

All three (da, weil, denn) are grammatically possible here; the main differences are style, emphasis, and clause type (subordinate vs. coordinate).