Learn Hardcore German: Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee in der Küche. - Every morning I drink coffee in the kitchen.

German main clauses follow a verb‑second (V2) rule: the conjugated verb must be the second element in the sentence, but the first element can be almost anything (subject, time, place, object, etc.).

Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee in der Küche.
– Time phrase (Jeden Morgen) is in first position, verb (trinke) is in second position, subject (ich) comes after.

You could also say:

Ich trinke jeden Morgen Kaffee in der Küche.

Both are correct and mean the same. Starting with Jeden Morgen simply emphasizes the time (“Every morning (as opposed to some other time) I drink coffee in the kitchen”).

If the verb must be second, why is trinke the third word in Jeden Morgen trinke ich …?

In German, “second position” means second element, not necessarily second word.

In Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee in der Küche:

Jeden Morgen = first element (a time phrase consisting of two words)
trinke = second element (the conjugated verb)
ich = third element (subject)

So the verb is correctly in second position, even though it is the third word.

Why is it Jeden Morgen and not Jede Morgen or Jedem Morgen?

The word Morgen (the morning) is masculine in German: der Morgen.

The determiner jeder (each/every) declines according to case and gender. For masculine singular:

Nominative: jeder (e.g. jeder Morgen)
Accusative: jeden (e.g. jeden Morgen)
Dative: jedem (e.g. an jedem Morgen)

Here, jeden Morgen is an accusative time expression (often used to talk about frequency or duration), so you need the masculine accusative form jeden.

That’s why it’s Jeden Morgen, not Jede Morgen or Jedem Morgen.

Why is Morgen capitalized? And what’s the difference between Morgen and morgen?

Morgen (capital M) is a noun and means “morning”.
- der Morgen = the morning
- jeden Morgen = every morning
morgen (lowercase m) is an adverb and usually means “tomorrow”.
- Ich komme morgen. = I’ll come tomorrow.

In Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee …, Morgen is a noun (“every morning”), so it is capitalized.

More generally, all nouns are capitalized in standard German spelling.

Is Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee in der Küche. the only correct word order? What other orders are possible?

Many other orders are possible and correct, as long as the conjugated verb stays in second position. For example:

Ich trinke jeden Morgen Kaffee in der Küche.
– Very common, neutral word order (subject first).
Ich trinke Kaffee jeden Morgen in der Küche.
– Still correct; emphasis slightly more on Kaffee before you add when and where.
In der Küche trinke ich jeden Morgen Kaffee.
– Emphasizes the place (as opposed to somewhere else).
Kaffee trinke ich jeden Morgen in der Küche.
– Emphasizes Kaffee (as opposed to tea, juice, etc.).

All these are grammatical. The choice changes the emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Why is there no article before Kaffee? Could I say einen Kaffee instead?

Kaffee can be used:

As a mass noun (coffee in general, not counted):
- Ich trinke jeden Morgen Kaffee.
  = I drink coffee (in general) every morning / I have coffee every morning.
As a countable item (usually meaning a cup or portion of coffee):
- Ich trinke jeden Morgen einen Kaffee.
  = I drink one coffee / I have a coffee every morning.

In your sentence, no article is used because we’re talking about the substance in general (a habitual action: drinking coffee as a kind of drink), not counting units.

If you want to stress that it’s one cup, then einen Kaffee is appropriate.

What case is Kaffee in here, and how can I tell if there is no article?

In Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee in der Küche, Kaffee is the direct object of the verb trinke, so it is in the accusative case.

For masculine nouns, the case is usually visible in the article, not in the noun itself. But here there is no article, so you have to use:

The function in the sentence:
- subject: ich (nominative)
- verb: trinke
- direct object: Kaffee → accusative by its role

So: Kaffee is accusative, but it looks the same as nominative because there is no article and the noun form doesn’t change.

Why is it in der Küche and not in die Küche?

The preposition in is a two‑way preposition in German. It can take either:

Dative → for location (where something is)
Accusative → for direction/motion (where something is going to)

Compare:

Ich bin in der Küche. (Wo? Where?) → dative → der
Ich gehe in die Küche. (Wohin? Where to?) → accusative → die

In your sentence, the meaning is location (“I drink coffee in the kitchen”), not movement into the kitchen. So in takes the dative:

in
- die Küche (feminine accusative) → motion into the kitchen
in
- der Küche (feminine dative) → location in the kitchen

That’s why it’s in der Küche.

What does der tell me in in der Küche?

Küche is feminine: die Küche (the kitchen).

The definite article die changes form depending on case:

Nominative feminine: die Küche
Accusative feminine: die Küche
Dative feminine: der Küche
Genitive feminine: der Küche

Because in here expresses location, it requires the dative case. So you must use the feminine dative singular form der:

in der Küche = in the kitchen (location, dative)

So der here tells you: feminine, singular, dative.

Why is Küche capitalized?

Küche is a noun (“kitchen”), and all nouns are capitalized in German spelling:

die Küche – the kitchen
das Haus – the house
der Tisch – the table

This is one of the main differences from English orthography: in German, every noun begins with a capital letter, regardless of where it appears in the sentence.

How would I make this sentence negative? Where would nicht go?

The most natural way to negate Kaffee here is to use kein (no / not any) instead of an article:

Jeden Morgen trinke ich keinen Kaffee in der Küche.
= Every morning I don’t drink any coffee in the kitchen.

Here:

keinen is the masculine accusative form of kein, matching Kaffee (masc., singular, accusative).

You can use nicht, but then you usually negate the whole statement, or contrast it with something else:

Jeden Morgen trinke ich nicht Kaffee in der Küche, sondern Tee.
= Every morning I don’t drink coffee in the kitchen, but tea.

So:

To negate the noun (“coffee”), use kein → keinen Kaffee.
To negate the verb/whole clause or contrast (“not coffee but …”), use nicht.

How do I turn Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee in der Küche. into a yes/no question?

For a yes/no question, German normally puts the conjugated verb first, followed by the subject:

Trinke ich jeden Morgen Kaffee in der Küche?
= Do I drink coffee in the kitchen every morning?

Structure:

Trinke – verb (first position in a yes/no question)
ich – subject
jeden Morgen Kaffee in der Küche – rest of the sentence

For a W‑question (question word), you add a question word before the verb:

Wann trinke ich Kaffee in der Küche? – When do I drink coffee in the kitchen?
– Jeden Morgen.

What tense/aspect is trinke, and why can it mean both “I drink” and “I am drinking”?

Trinke is the present tense (1st person singular of trinken).

German has one present tense (Präsens) that covers:

English simple present:
- Ich trinke jeden Morgen Kaffee.
  = I drink coffee every morning.
English present progressive:
- Ich trinke Kaffee.
  = I am drinking coffee.

So Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee in der Küche. describes a habitual action (like English “I drink coffee every morning in the kitchen”), but you could also translate it more loosely as “Every morning I have coffee in the kitchen.”

German doesn’t normally use a separate “am trinken” form for the progressive in standard language.

Could I use am Morgen instead of jeden Morgen? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the meaning changes:

jeden Morgen = every morning (emphasizes frequency / regularity)
- Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee.
  = I drink coffee every morning.
am Morgen = in the morning (general time of day, not necessarily every day)
- Am Morgen trinke ich Kaffee.
  = I drink coffee in the morning (as opposed to at night, for example).

So:

Use jeden Morgen when you want to say it happens every single morning.
Use am Morgen when you just want to place the action in the morning (as a time of day), without explicitly saying it happens daily.