Learn Hardcore German: Zur Entspannung mache ich abends eine kurze Meditation. - To relax I do a short meditation in the evening.

zur Entspannung = for relaxation / to relax (expressing purpose)
It’s a fixed, very common phrase in German: zur Entspannung = for the purpose of relaxing.

You could technically say zu der Entspannung, but in normal speech and writing you nearly always contract it to zur.

You would not usually say für die Entspannung here. Für is more about “for the benefit of” or “for someone/something,” while zu / zur is often used for purpose (zur Entspannung, zur Erholung, zur Pflege etc.).

Why is “Entspannung” capitalized? Is it special in this phrase?

It’s capitalized because all nouns in German are capitalized, regardless of context.

Entspannung is a noun (it’s formed from the verb entspannen).
So you always write it as die Entspannung, zur Entspannung, mit Entspannung, etc.

The capitalization has nothing to do with the preposition zu or the phrase zur Entspannung itself—it’s just the standard rule for all nouns.

Why is the word order “mache ich” instead of “ich mache” after “Zur Entspannung”?

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

Here, the first “slot” is taken by the whole phrase Zur Entspannung:

Zur Entspannung → first position (a fronted prepositional phrase)
mache → second position (the conjugated verb)
ich abends eine kurze Meditation → the rest of the sentence

So:

Zur Entspannung mache ich abends eine kurze Meditation. ✅

If you start with the subject ich, then you get:

Ich mache abends zur Entspannung eine kurze Meditation. ✅

In both cases, the finite verb (mache) is in position 2; only the element in the first position has changed. That’s why it’s “mache ich” and not “ich mache” after Zur Entspannung.

What exactly does “abends” mean here? How is it different from “am Abend”?

Abends is a time adverb meaning:

abends = in the evenings, at night in general (habitually, regularly)

So Ich mache abends … means I do it in the evenings (as a habit / usually / regularly).

Am Abend usually refers to one specific evening (or one specific day’s evening), especially in a narrative:

Am Abend mache ich eine Meditation.
→ In the evening (of that day), I do a meditation.

Rough rule:

abends → general / habitual (“in the evenings”)
am Abend → specific / one-time (“this evening / that evening / in the evening that day”)

In your sentence, abends suggests this is a regular routine.

Why is it “eine kurze Meditation” and not something like “ein kurzer Meditation” or “eine kurzen Meditation”?

You need to match gender, case, and number:

Meditation is feminine: die Meditation.
It’s the direct object of the verb mache, so it’s in the accusative case.
Feminine accusative singular with an indefinite article is:
- Article: eine
- Adjective ending: kurze

So:

eine kurze Meditation = indefinite article (fem. acc. sg.)
- adjective
  - noun

Forms you asked about:

ein kurzer Meditation → wrong article (ein is masc./neuter) and wrong case.
eine kurzen Meditation → wrong adjective ending (‑en doesn’t fit here).

Correct patterns for comparison:

Nominative: eine kurze Meditation (subject)
Accusative: eine kurze Meditation (direct object)

Since die Meditation has the same form in nominative and accusative, only the context (subject vs object) tells you which case it is. Here, it’s the object of mache, so accusative.

Why is “abends” placed between “ich” and “eine kurze Meditation”? Can it go somewhere else?

Abends is a time adverb, and German is quite flexible about adverb placement. In your sentence:

Zur Entspannung mache ich abends eine kurze Meditation.

the order is:

Prepositional phrase (purpose): zur Entspannung
Verb: mache
Subject: ich
Time adverb: abends
Object: eine kurze Meditation

Other natural options:

Ich mache abends zur Entspannung eine kurze Meditation.
Ich mache zur Entspannung abends eine kurze Meditation.
Abends mache ich zur Entspannung eine kurze Meditation.

All are grammatically fine. The differences are mainly in emphasis and style:

Abends mache ich … → emphasis on in the evenings.
Zur Entspannung mache ich … → emphasis on for relaxation (as a purpose).

What you can’t do in a main clause is move the finite verb out of second position:

❌ Zur Entspannung ich abends mache eine kurze Meditation. (wrong verb position)

Why use the phrase “eine Meditation machen” instead of the verb “meditieren”?

Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

eine Meditation machen
- slightly more concrete/activity-like
- similar to English do a meditation or do a meditation exercise
- common in everyday speech and in guided-meditation contexts
meditieren
- the straightforward verb to meditate
- feels a bit more direct and sometimes a bit more “formal” or neutral

You could absolutely say:

Zur Entspannung meditiere ich abends kurz.
(For relaxation, I meditate briefly in the evenings.)

Ich meditiere abends kurz zur Entspannung.

The original sentence just chooses a light-verb construction (eine Meditation machen), which is very common in German.

Why is “Entspannung” in the dative case after zu/zur?

Because zu always takes the dative case.

Preposition: zu
Noun: die Entspannung (feminine)
Dative feminine singular article: der

So:

zu der Entspannung → dative
contracted: zur Entspannung

You don’t see a case ending on Entspannung itself, because:

Feminine nouns often look the same in nominative and dative singular:
die Entspannung (nom.) / der Entspannung (dat.), but the noun’s form stays Entspannung.

The article der (hidden inside zur) is what actually marks the dative here.

Could this sentence also be said as “Um mich zu entspannen, …” and if so, what’s the difference?

Yes, a very natural alternative is:

Um mich zu entspannen, mache ich abends eine kurze Meditation.

Comparison:

Zur Entspannung mache ich …
- Uses a noun (Entspannung) with a preposition zu
- Slightly more compact, idiomatic, and neutral
- Very common with set phrases like zur Entspannung, zur Erholung, zur Vorbereitung
Um mich zu entspannen, mache ich …
- Uses a purpose clause with um … zu + infinitive
- Literally: In order to relax, I …
- More explicitly personal because of mich (in order for me to relax)

In most everyday contexts, they are interchangeable in meaning (for the purpose of relaxing). The um … zu version just highlights the subject’s intention a bit more clearly.

Is it possible to say “Ich mache abends eine kurze Meditation zur Entspannung” instead? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, that’s grammatically fine:

Ich mache abends eine kurze Meditation zur Entspannung.

Meaning-wise, it’s essentially the same: you’re doing the meditation for relaxation.

The difference is information structure / emphasis:

Zur Entspannung mache ich abends eine kurze Meditation.
→ Purpose (“for relaxation”) is put in the focus at the beginning.
Ich mache abends eine kurze Meditation zur Entspannung.
→ The basic action (I do a short meditation in the evening) comes first, and the purpose (for relaxation) is added at the end, almost like an afterthought.

Both are natural; you just choose based on what you want to emphasize first.

Is the whole sentence more formal or more colloquial, and how natural is it?

Zur Entspannung mache ich abends eine kurze Meditation. is:

Stylistically neutral → well-suited for both spoken and written German.
Very natural as a description of a routine.

Slight nuances:

The noun phrase eine kurze Meditation sounds a bit like something you’d find in:
- wellness / mindfulness contexts
- a personal routine description, blog, or health article

In everyday casual speech, someone might also say more simply:

Ich meditiere abends kurz, um zu entspannen.
Abends meditiere ich kurz zur Entspannung.

But the original sentence is fully natural and not particularly formal.