Im Café trinke ich Wasser mit einem Strohhalm.

At the café I drink water with a straw.

Breakdown of Im Café trinke ich Wasser mit einem Strohhalm.

• trinken: to drink
• das Wasser: the water
• ich: I
• mit: with

Questions & Answers about Im Café trinke ich Wasser mit einem Strohhalm.

What does Im mean here, and why is it not written as in dem?

Im is a contraction of in dem.

• in = in
• dem = the (dative, masculine or neuter)

So im Café literally means in the café.

German frequently contracts in dem → im in everyday language. Other common contractions:

• an dem → am (e.g. am Tisch – at the table)
• bei dem → beim (e.g. beim Essen – while eating)
• in das → ins (e.g. ins Café – into the café)

At the start of the sentence it’s capitalized as Im simply because it’s the first word; the basic form is im.

Why is Café capitalized, and why does it have an accent?

1. Capitalization
   In German, all nouns are capitalized.
   Café is a noun (like restaurant, coffee shop), so it must start with a capital letter.

2. Accent (é)
   Café is a loanword from French.
   The é shows:

   • the stress is on the last syllable: ca-fé, not CA-fe
   • the vowel is long: [eː]

In practice, some signs might write Cafe, but Café with the accent is the standard spelling.