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Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung.

Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung.
In the evenings we read together in our apartment.
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Questions & Answers about Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung.

Why is Abends capitalized, and what does the -s at the end mean?

Abend is a noun in German (meaning “evening”), and German capitalizes all nouns.

When you add -s to certain time-of-day nouns, they become adverbs meaning “in the … / on …s”:

  • morgens – in the mornings
  • mittags – at midday / at lunchtimes
  • abends – in the evenings
  • nachts – at night(s)

So Abends literally comes from der Abend, but with -s it’s used as a time adverb: “in the evenings”. It stays capitalized because it’s historically a noun, and many style guides keep that capitalization.

What’s the difference between Abends and am Abend? Can I use both?

Both are correct, but they’re used a bit differently:

  • Abends = “in the evenings” (habitual, repeated action)

    • Abends lesen wir … = We usually read in the evenings.

  • am Abend = “in the evening” (more like one specific evening, or a more concrete time frame)

    • Am Abend lesen wir … can be used for a specific evening, or more generally, but it often feels less clearly habitual than abends.

For describing a regular habit (like in your sentence), Abends is the most natural choice. For talking about a particular evening, am Abend is more typical.

Why is it lesen wir and not wir lesen after Abends?

German main clauses are “verb-second” (V2): the finite verb must be in second position in the sentence, no matter what comes first.

In your sentence:

  1. Abends = first element (time adverb)
  2. lesen = finite verb → must come second
  3. wir = subject
  4. zusammen in unserer Wohnung = the rest

So:

  • Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung. ✅ (correct V2 word order)
  • Abends wir lesen zusammen in unserer Wohnung. ❌ (verb is not in second position)

If you start with the subject instead, the verb follows it:

  • Wir lesen abends zusammen in unserer Wohnung. ✅ (here wir is first element, lesen is second)
Can I also say Wir lesen abends zusammen in unserer Wohnung? Is there a difference in meaning?

Yes, you can; it’s fully correct:

  • Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung.
  • Wir lesen abends zusammen in unserer Wohnung.

Both mean the same in most contexts. The difference is in emphasis:

  • Starting with Abends emphasizes the time (“In the evenings, we read…”).
  • Starting with Wir emphasizes the subject (“We read in the evenings…”).

In everyday speech, both sound natural. Germans often front time expressions like Abends when they want to set the scene.

What tense is lesen here? Does it mean “we read” or “we are reading”?

Lesen here is in the present tense (wir lesen).

German present tense can correspond to:

  • English simple present: “We read (in the evenings).”
  • English present continuous: “We are reading (in the evenings).”

In this sentence, with Abends, it clearly describes a habitual action:
“In the evenings, we (usually) read together in our apartment.”

So it includes the idea of regularity without needing a special tense form.

What does zusammen add to the sentence? Could I leave it out or use gemeinsam instead?

Zusammen means “together (with each other)” and highlights that the activity is shared.

  • Abends lesen wir in unserer Wohnung.
    → Just states the fact that “we read”; it doesn’t explicitly say it’s a joint activity (though it’s implied by wir).

  • Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung.
    → Explicitly emphasizes the shared nature: we do this activity together.

You could also use gemeinsam:

  • Abends lesen wir gemeinsam in unserer Wohnung.

Zusammen is more colloquial and very common; gemeinsam sounds a bit more formal or “nice”/emphatic but is also common. In many contexts, they’re interchangeable.

Why is it in unserer Wohnung and not in unsere Wohnung?

Because of case and the preposition in:

  • in is a two-way preposition (Wechselpräposition).
    • With dative → location (where something is).
    • With accusative → direction/motion (into where something is moving).

Your sentence describes a location (where the reading happens), not movement:

  • Wo lesen wir? – In unserer Wohnung. → location → dative

So Wohnung must be in the dative case.
Unsere Wohnung would be nominative or accusative, which is wrong for a static location with in.

Correct: in unserer Wohnung (dative).
Incorrect here: in unsere Wohnung (would suggest movement into the apartment).

What case is unserer Wohnung, and how can I tell?

Unserer Wohnung is dative feminine singular.

How to see that:

  1. The preposition in with a location → dative.
  2. Wohnung is a feminine noun: die Wohnung.
  3. Dative singular feminine for a noun with a possessive like unser- takes the ending -er:
  • Nominative: unsere Wohnung (our apartment – subject)
  • Accusative: unsere Wohnung (our apartment – direct object)
  • Dative: unserer Wohnung (to/at/in our apartment)

Because of in + location, we need the dative, so unserer Wohnung is correct.

What gender is Wohnung, and how does that affect unserer?

Wohnung is feminine: die Wohnung.

The gender matters because German possessive determiners (mein, dein, sein, unser, euer, ihr, Ihr) change their ending depending on:

  • gender (masculine / feminine / neuter),
  • number (singular / plural),
  • and case (nominative / accusative / dative / genitive).

For feminine singular dative, the pattern with unser- is:

  • der Wohnung (the apartment)
  • unserer Wohnung (our apartment)

So the -er ending in unserer is triggered by feminine + dative + singular.

Could I say zu Hause instead of in unserer Wohnung? What’s the nuance?

Yes, you can; they overlap but aren’t identical:

  • zu Hause = “at home” (more about the feeling/state of being at home)

    • Abends lesen wir zusammen zu Hause.

  • in unserer Wohnung = “in our apartment” (emphasizes the specific place, a flat rather than e.g. a house, hotel, etc.)

    • Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung.

If you simply want to say “at home”, zu Hause is very common and natural.
In unserer Wohnung is a bit more specific and concrete about the type of dwelling and ownership.

Where would nicht go if I wanted to say “In the evenings we don’t read together in our apartment”?

The usual position for nicht here is before the part of the sentence you want to negate, but after the core verb phrase.

Two common versions:

  1. Negating the whole activity (reading together in the apartment):

    • Abends lesen wir nicht zusammen in unserer Wohnung.

  2. Or:

    • Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung nicht.
      (This sounds like you’re contrasting with some other place/time; less neutral.)

The most natural, neutral negation is:

  • Abends lesen wir nicht zusammen in unserer Wohnung.

Word order:

  • Abends (time)
  • lesen (finite verb)
  • wir (subject)
  • nicht (negation)
  • zusammen in unserer Wohnung (rest)
Can I say Abends lesen wir in unserer Wohnung zusammen instead? Is that still correct?

Yes, it’s grammatically correct:

  • Abends lesen wir zusammen in unserer Wohnung.
  • Abends lesen wir in unserer Wohnung zusammen.

Both are possible. The difference is subtle:

  • … zusammen in unserer Wohnung.
    → Feels like “together in our apartment” is one chunk.

  • … in unserer Wohnung zusammen.
    → Slightly more focus on “in our apartment”, with zusammen tagged on at the end.

In practice, most speakers would prefer … zusammen in unserer Wohnung in this exact sentence, but the alternative word order is not wrong.