Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an.

Today we are watching the movie in the living room.

Breakdown of Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an.

• wir: we
• heute: today
• das Wohnzimmer: the living room
• der Film: the film
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• anschauen: to look at

Questions & Answers about Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an.

Why is there an an at the end of the sentence? What does it do?

An is the separable prefix of the verb anschauen (to watch, to look at).

• The full infinitive is anschauen.
• In a main clause, separable-prefix verbs split:
  • The finite verb (the part that is conjugated) goes in second position: schauen.
  • The prefix moves to the end of the clause: an.

So:

• Infinitive: anschauen
• Main clause: Wir schauen … an.

The meaning is basically “to watch” or “to look at” something.

Why is it schauen … an and not just schauen or sehen?

All three exist, but they have slightly different usage:

• sehen – to see

  • More neutral, focuses on the act of seeing.
  • Wir sehen den Film. = We see / are seeing the film.

• (sich etwas) anschauen – to watch, to look at (often more deliberately)

  • Often used when you intentionally watch something like a film or show.
  • Wir schauen den Film an. ≈ We watch the film.

• gucken / kucken – to watch/look (colloquial, regionally common, especially in the north/west)

  • Wir gucken den Film.

In your sentence, schauen … an emphasizes that you are watching the movie (not just perceiving it visually).

Why is it den Film and not der Film?

Because Film is:

1. Masculine (der Film)
2. The direct object of the verb (what are we watching? → the film)

In German, masculine nouns change their article in the accusative case:

• Nominative (subject): der Film (The film is interesting.)
• Accusative (direct object): den Film (We watch the film.)

So in Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an, den Film is accusative masculine singular: that’s the correct form for the direct object.

How am I supposed to know that Film is masculine?

Unfortunately, you usually have to learn the gender with the noun:

• der Film (masculine)
• die Zeitung (feminine)
• das Buch (neuter)

There are some patterns (e.g. many loanwords ending in -mus are masculine, many in -ung are feminine), but Film doesn’t follow a special pattern you can deduce easily.

The best habit: always learn new nouns as article + noun, e.g. der Film, not just Film.

What does im mean? Why not in dem Wohnzimmer?

Im is just a shortened form (a contraction) of in dem:

• in (in) + dem (the, dative masculine/neuter) → im

So:

• im Wohnzimmer = in dem Wohnzimmer = in the living room

This contraction is standard and very common in spoken and written German. The “full” form in dem Wohnzimmer is possible but sounds more formal or emphatic in many contexts.

Why is it im Wohnzimmer (dative) and not ins Wohnzimmer (accusative)?

The preposition in can take dative or accusative:

• Dative → location (where?)
• Accusative → direction (where to? into where?)

In your sentence:

• You’re already in the living room watching the film → location → dative: im Wohnzimmer.

Compare:

• Wir schauen den Film im Wohnzimmer an.
  We’re watching the film in the living room. (location)

• Wir gehen ins Wohnzimmer. = in das Wohnzimmer
  We are going into the living room. (movement → direction → accusative)

Why is Wohnzimmer capitalized?

Because all nouns in German are capitalized, regardless of where they appear in the sentence.

Wohnzimmer is a noun (it’s a compound of Wohnen (to live) and Zimmer (room)), so it must start with a capital letter:

• das Wohnzimmer
• im Wohnzimmer

This is a consistent rule: every noun, always capital.

Why is heute in that position? Could it go somewhere else?

In the sentence Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an, heute is an adverb of time.

The basic rules:

• The finite verb (schauen) must be in second position.
• Elements like time, object, place go into the “middle field” between the verb (schauen) and the prefix (an).

Heute can move for emphasis, as long as schauen stays in second position and an at the end:

All of these are correct:

• Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an.
• Wir schauen den Film heute im Wohnzimmer an.
• Wir schauen den Film im Wohnzimmer heute an. (less usual, but possible)
• Heute schauen wir den Film im Wohnzimmer an. (emphasis on today)

Position changes mainly affect emphasis / what feels “in focus”, not basic grammar.

Is Wir schauen den Film heute im Wohnzimmer an also correct? Which word order is best?

Yes, Wir schauen den Film heute im Wohnzimmer an is fully correct.

Roughly speaking, typical “middle-field” order in neutral sentences is:

Time – Object – Place

So:

• Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an. (Time – Object – Place)

But German is flexible here. All of these are natural:

• Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an. (very typical)
• Wir schauen den Film heute im Wohnzimmer an. (very typical)
• Wir schauen heute im Wohnzimmer den Film an. (also possible, slightly different emphasis)

Learners are usually safe if they keep time first, then object, then place in neutral sentences.

Does Wir schauen … mean “We watch” or “We are watching”? How do you say the -ing form in German?

German does not have a separate -ing tense like English.

The Präsens (present tense) covers both:

• Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an.
  • can mean We watch the film in the living room today.
  • or We are watching the film in the living room today.

Context usually makes it clear whether it’s a general statement or something happening right now / planned for today. If needed, speakers add time expressions like jetzt (now), gerade (right now), heute Abend (this evening) for clarity.

Is schauen … an always split like this? What about infinitives, questions, and subordinate clauses?

The splitting depends on the clause type.

1. Main clause (normal statement)

   • Finite verb in 2nd position, prefix at the end:
   • Wir schauen den Film an.

2. Yes/no question (main clause)

   • Finite verb comes first, prefix at the end:
   • Schaut ihr den Film an?

3. Subordinate clause (introduced by a conjunction like weil, dass, wenn, etc.)

   • The whole verb stays together at the end:
   • …, weil wir den Film anschauen.
   • …, dass wir den Film anschauen.

4. Infinitive / modal verb construction

   • The infinitive anschauen stays together at the end:
   • Wir wollen den Film anschauen.
   • Wir werden den Film anschauen.

So: splitting (schauen … an) is typical only when the finite form of the verb is in a main clause.

Why is the verb in “second position” here? How do we count that?

German main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the sentence.

In Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an:

• Position 1: Wir (subject)
• Position 2: schauen (finite verb – must be second)
• Then comes the rest: heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an

Important:

• We count positions of sentence elements, not individual words.
• The prefix an is part of the verb, but in main clauses it moves to the end of the clause. It does not change the V2 rule; schauen is still the finite verb in second position.

If you start with another element, the verb still must be second:

• Heute (Position 1) schauen (Position 2) wir den Film im Wohnzimmer an.

Could I also say Wir sehen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer instead of using schauen … an?

Yes, you can, but there’s a small nuance:

• Wir sehen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer.

  • Grammatically correct.
  • More like “We see the film today in the living room.”
  • Often still understood as “We watch the film,” but less explicit.

• Wir schauen heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an.

  • More clearly expresses “We are watching the film (as an activity)”.

Native speakers also often say:

• Wir gucken heute den Film im Wohnzimmer. (colloquial)
• Wir sehen uns heute den Film im Wohnzimmer an. (reflexive, idiomatic way to say “watch a film”)