Learn Hardcore German: Wir hoffen auf Sonne im Park. - We are hoping for sun in the park.

hoffen auf + accusative
- Wir hoffen auf Sonne. = We are hoping for sun.
  Here auf is a preposition that always goes with hoffen in this meaning.
hoffen, dass …
- Wir hoffen, dass die Sonne scheint. = We hope that the sun will shine.

You cannot say Wir hoffen Sonne. Without auf or a dass-clause, hoffen cannot directly take Sonne as its object.

What case is Sonne in, and how can I tell?

Sonne is in the accusative case here.

Reason:

auf is a two-way preposition (Wechselpräposition), but with the verb hoffen, the combination hoffen auf is fixed and always takes the accusative.
So the prepositional object auf Sonne is accusative.

You don’t see the case directly because there is no article. If there were an article, it would be:

Wir hoffen auf die Sonne. (feminine accusative singular)

That die (not der) shows you it’s accusative.

Why is there no article in auf Sonne? Why not auf die Sonne?

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

Wir hoffen auf Sonne.
This is generic, like We’re hoping for sun / sunshine (in general).
You’re not talking about one specific “sun” but about sunny weather.
Wir hoffen auf die Sonne.
More specific: We’re hoping for the sun (as a specific thing) – maybe in contrast to clouds, rain, or something else. It sounds a bit more concrete or dramatic and is less commonly said in everyday small talk.

In German, weather words like Sonne, Regen, Schnee, Wind, Wetter often appear without an article when you mean them in a general, “some of that phenomenon” sense:

Ich mag Sonne. = I like sunshine.
Wir hatten gestern Regen. = We had rain yesterday.

Why is Sonne capitalized, but im, wir, hoffen, auf, im, Park are not (apart from the sentence start)?

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

Sonne and Park are nouns → capitalized.
wir, hoffen, auf, im are pronouns, verbs, or prepositions → normally lowercase (except at the beginning of a sentence).

This rule is independent of meaning; it’s purely grammatical: “noun = capital letter.”

What exactly is im in im Park? Is it one word or two?

im is a contraction of in dem:

in (preposition) + dem (dative article, masculine/neuter) → im

So:

im Park = in dem Park

You can almost always expand im to in dem, but in everyday speech and writing the contraction is much more common.

Why is it im Park (dative) and not in den Park (accusative)?

The preposition in is another two-way preposition.
The case depends on the meaning:

Dative → location (answering “Where?” / Wo?)
- Wir sind im Park. = We are in the park.
- Wir hoffen auf Sonne im Park. = We’re hoping for sun in the park (the location is where the hoping / the sunshine situation is).
Accusative → direction / movement (answering “Where to?” / Wohin?)
- Wir gehen in den Park. = We’re going into the park.

In your sentence, you’re talking about a place where (static location), so in + dem → im and the case is dative.

Could I also say am Park instead of im Park, and what would be the difference?

You can say am Park, but it means something slightly different.

im Park = inside the park
- You are in the park (on its grounds), or the situation you’re talking about is located within the park.
am Park = at / by the park
- Typically right next to it, at its edge, or in its immediate surroundings (e.g., a café am Park).

So:

Wir hoffen auf Sonne im Park. → You imagine yourselves in the park enjoying the sun.
Wir hoffen auf Sonne am Park. → You’re somewhere by the park (border, street, café) hoping that it will be sunny there.

Can I change the word order in this sentence, and if so, how?

Yes. German word order is quite flexible as long as you keep the finite verb in 2nd position in a main clause.

Base sentence:

Wir hoffen auf Sonne im Park.

Possible variants (all correct, with slightly different emphasis):

Im Park hoffen wir auf Sonne.
Emphasis on im Park (the location comes first).
Auf Sonne hoffen wir im Park.
Emphasis on auf Sonne (what you’re hoping for).
Wir hoffen im Park auf Sonne.
Same elements, different internal order of prepositional phrases. Neutral but a little different rhythm.

Things you must not do in a main clause:

Wir auf Sonne im Park hoffen. ✗ (finite verb hoffen is not in 2nd position)

How does Wir hoffen express time? Does it mean “We hope” or “We are hoping”?

In German, the simple present covers both English simple present and present progressive:

Wir hoffen auf Sonne im Park.
Can mean:
- We hope for sun in the park.
- We are hoping for sun in the park.

Context usually makes it clear whether it’s a general statement or something happening right now or in the near future (like planning a trip to the park).

Does auf here literally mean “on”? How should I think about hoffen auf when translating?

Literally, auf often means on / onto, but in many verb–preposition combinations it takes on a more abstract meaning that doesn’t match English 1:1.

In hoffen auf + accusative, the best English equivalent is “to hope for”:

auf Sonne hoffen ≈ to hope for sun / sunshine

So you should treat hoffen auf as a single unit:

hoffen auf etwas = to hope for something

Rather than trying to translate auf word-for-word as on in this context.

Could I replace Sonne with Sonnenschein here? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

Wir hoffen auf Sonnenschein im Park.

Sonne vs. Sonnenschein:

Sonne = the sun / sunshine (broader word; can be the star itself or its light)
Sonnenschein = sunshine, specifically the shining light of the sun, often a bit more poetic or vivid.

In everyday speech:

Wir hoffen auf Sonne im Park.
Very normal, short, and colloquial.
Wir hoffen auf Sonnenschein im Park.
Sounds a bit more descriptive or “nicer,” but still perfectly natural.