Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten.

Now and then I take a short break in the garden.

Breakdown of Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten.

• ich: I
• machen: to make
• der Garten: the garden
• die Pause: the break
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• kurz: short
• eine: a; (feminine, accusative)
• zwischendurch: in between

Questions & Answers about Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten.

What exactly does Zwischendurch mean, and how is it different from manchmal or ab und zu?

Zwischendurch literally means something like “in between times” or “in the meantime (between other activities)”.

Nuance compared with others:

• Zwischendurch – emphasizes that the action happens between other things you are doing.
  • Example idea: While I’m working, I take a short break in between.
• manchmal – “sometimes”, focusing on frequency, not on “between other activities”.
• ab und zu – “now and then”, “once in a while”; also about occasional frequency, not “between”.

So:

• Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten.
  → While doing other things (e.g. working, studying), I occasionally slip in a short break in the garden.

You would not normally replace Zwischendurch with manchmal if you want to highlight this “in-between” feeling, although in many contexts both would be understood as “from time to time”.

Can I also say Ich mache zwischendurch eine kurze Pause im Garten? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is perfectly correct.

Both are fine German:

• Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten.
• Ich mache zwischendurch eine kurze Pause im Garten.

The difference is mainly emphasis and style:

• Starting with Zwischendurch puts more emphasis on the time aspect (“from time to time / in between…”).
• Putting zwischendurch after ich mache is a bit more neutral and very common in spoken German.

Grammatically, Zwischendurch is an adverb and can move around in the “middle field” of the sentence, as long as you keep the verb in second position in main clauses (the V2 rule).

Why is it Zwischendurch mache ich and not Zwischendurch ich mache?

German main clauses obey the verb-second rule (V2): the conjugated verb must be in the second position in the sentence.

When you start the sentence with something that is not the subject (here: the adverb Zwischendurch), that thing takes position 1, and the verb must take position 2. The subject then moves after the verb:

• Position 1: Zwischendurch (adverb)
• Position 2: mache (finite verb)
• Then: ich (subject)

So:

• Ich mache zwischendurch eine kurze Pause.
  → subject first, verb second
• Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause.
  → adverb first, verb second, subject after the verb

Zwischendurch ich mache … is ungrammatical because the verb is not in second position.

Why is it eine kurze Pause and not ein kurzer Pause?

This is about gender, case, and adjective endings:

1. Pause is a feminine noun in German: die Pause.
2. In the sentence, eine kurze Pause is the direct object, so it’s accusative singular.
3. Feminine accusative singular takes the article eine.
4. With eine, the adjective gets the ending -e: kurze.

So you get:

• eine (feminine accusative article)
• kurze (adjective with the correct ending)
• Pause (feminine noun)

Forms like ein kurzer Pause are wrong because:

• ein is for masculine/neuter, not for feminine accusative.
• kurzer is the wrong adjective ending here.

Why do you say eine Pause machen (“to make a break”) and not something like “take” a break?

German uses machen with many nouns where English uses other verbs.

Eine Pause machen is the standard expression for “to take a break”.

Other options exist, but are less everyday:

• eine Pause einlegen – also “to take a break”, often a bit more formal or written.
• eine Pause nehmen – possible, but much less common; can sound unusual in many contexts.

So if you want natural German for “I take a short break in the garden (from time to time)”, Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten is exactly how a native speaker would say it.

What does im Garten mean exactly, and why is it not in den Garten?

im Garten is a contraction of in dem Garten:

• in
  • dem (dative masculine) → im

Now the case:

• German in can take dative (location: “where?”) or accusative (direction: “where to?”).
  • Dative for location: Ich bin im Garten. – I am in the garden.
  • Accusative for movement: Ich gehe in den Garten. – I go into the garden.

In the sentence Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten, you are describing where you take the break (location), not movement. Therefore you use dative → im Garten.

Could I move im Garten to a different place in the sentence, like Zwischendurch mache ich im Garten eine kurze Pause?

Yes, that’s also correct and sounds natural:

• Zwischendurch mache ich im Garten eine kurze Pause.
• Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten.

Both are fine. The difference is a slight shift in emphasis:

• … im Garten eine kurze Pause. – very slightly highlights where the break is (garden) before saying what it is (a short break).
• … eine kurze Pause im Garten. – first what it is (a short break), then where (in the garden).

Word order inside the “middle field” is fairly flexible, as long as:

• The main verb is in second position.
• The parts stay close to what they logically belong to. Both versions do.

What is the difference between eine kurze Pause and eine kleine Pause?

Both are possible, but they focus on slightly different ideas:

• eine kurze Pause – emphasizes time length: a short break, not very long.
• eine kleine Pause – can emphasize size/extent, and often still means a short break, but it’s less precise; it can sound a bit more informal or vague.

In most everyday contexts for breaks, Germans tend to say:

• eine kurze Pause machen – very idiomatic and clear (short in duration).

How would I say “I am taking a short break in the garden in between” in German? Does German have a continuous tense?

German does not have a special continuous tense like English “I am taking”. It usually uses the simple present for both:

• Zwischendurch mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten.

This can mean in context:

• “I take a short break in the garden in between (as a habit).”
• “I’m (now) taking a short break in the garden in between.” – if the situation makes that clear.

If you really want to stress “right now”, you can add an adverb:

• Gerade mache ich eine kurze Pause im Garten. – I am taking a short break in the garden right now.

What kind of word is Zwischendurch grammatically? Is it like a verb prefix?

Zwischendurch is an adverb.

• It is not a separable or inseparable verb prefix.
• It does not attach to a verb; it stands on its own, like oft, manchmal, später.

Function:

• It is a temporal adverb describing when something happens (in between other activities, from time to time).

How do you pronounce Zwischendurch?

Approximate pronunciation (IPA): [ˈtsvɪʃn̩ˌdʊʁç]

Broken down:

• Z at the start is pronounced like English ts.
• zwi- → tsvi (like tsvee).
• -sch- → sh.
• -durch:
  • dur- with a German r (often uvular, at the back of the throat).
  • -ch here is the “ich-sound” [ç], like in ich, not like the harsh ach-sound.

So roughly: TSVI-shen-DOORCH (with a soft “ch” at the end, not a “k”).

Could I leave out Zwischendurch and still have a correct sentence?

Yes. Without Zwischendurch, you simply lose the “in between / from time to time” nuance:

• Ich mache eine kurze Pause im Garten.
  → I take a short break in the garden.

This is a perfectly correct sentence; it just doesn’t say that this happens between other activities or now and then. Adding Zwischendurch adds that temporal nuance.