Im Garten zähle ich die Sterne am Himmel.

In the garden I count the stars in the sky.

Breakdown of Im Garten zähle ich die Sterne am Himmel.

• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• ich: I
• der Garten: the garden
• der Stern: the star
• der Himmel: the sky
• an: at
• die: the; (plural, accusative)
• zählen: to count

Questions & Answers about Im Garten zähle ich die Sterne am Himmel.

What does “Im” mean, and why isn’t it “in dem Garten”?

“Im” is a contraction of “in dem”.

• in + dem = im
• in dem Garten → im Garten

German very often contracts certain preposition + article combinations (like in dem → im, an dem → am, bei dem → beim).

So “im Garten” literally means “in the garden” and is just the normal, shorter way to say “in dem Garten” in everyday German.

Why is it “im Garten” (dative) and not “in den Garten” (accusative)?

The preposition “in” can take either dative or accusative, depending on the meaning:

• Dative = location (where something is) → Wo?
• Accusative = movement towards (where something goes) → Wohin?

In this sentence, you are already in the garden; it’s a location, not movement:

• Wo zähle ich die Sterne? – Im Garten. (dative)

If it were movement, you’d say:

• Ich gehe in den Garten. (Where to? → accusative)

Why is the verb “zähle” in second position even though “ich” comes later?

German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule: the conjugated verb must be the second element in the sentence.

The first element here is the prepositional phrase “Im Garten”.
The second element must therefore be the verb “zähle”:

• Im Garten (1st element) zähle (2nd element) ich die Sterne am Himmel.

If you start with the subject, the verb still stays second:

• Ich (1st) zähle (2nd) im Garten die Sterne am Himmel.

Both are correct; you just change what you emphasize.

Can I also say “Ich zähle im Garten die Sterne am Himmel”? Is that different?

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

• Ich zähle im Garten die Sterne am Himmel.

The difference is mainly in emphasis and rhythm:

• Im Garten zähle ich die Sterne am Himmel.
  → Focus is first on where (in the garden).
• Ich zähle im Garten die Sterne am Himmel.
  → Focus starts with I (the person doing the action).

Grammatically, both are fine; word order here is flexible as long as the finite verb stays in second position.

Why is it “die Sterne” and not “den Sternen”?

“Die Sterne” is accusative plural, functioning as the direct object of the verb “zählen” (to count):

• Wen oder was zähle ich? – die Sterne. (accusative object → plural)

If it were dative plural (“to/for the stars”), it would be “den Sternen”, but that doesn’t fit the verb zählen here. We are counting the stars, not giving something to the stars.

So:

• ich zähle die Sterne – I count the stars (accusative)
• ich helfe den Sternen – I help the stars (dative)

How do I know that “die Sterne” is plural and not feminine singular?

The article “die” can mean:

• feminine singular: die Blume (the flower)
• any plural (all genders): die Blumen (the flowers)

Here, you know “Sterne” is plural because:

1. The noun form “Sterne” (with -e) is a common plural of “der Stern”.
2. The context: you don’t normally count one star, you count many.

So:

• der Stern → die Sterne (plural)
• die Sterne = the stars (plural), not the star (singular).

What exactly is “am Himmel”? Why not just “im Himmel”?

“Am” is a contraction of “an dem”:

• an + dem = am
• an dem Himmel → am Himmel

Both “an” and “in” can be used with Himmel, but they have different typical uses:

• am Himmel (literally: at/on the sky)
  → used for things that appear in or on the sky:
  die Sterne am Himmel, die Wolken am Himmel, der Mond am Himmel.
• im Himmel (in heaven)
  → often more religious or metaphorical:
  Gott im Himmel, der Himmel und die Erde.

So “Sterne am Himmel” is the natural, everyday expression.

Why is “am Himmel” also dative?

The preposition “an” is another two-way preposition (like in). It uses:

• Dative → location (where something is)
• Accusative → direction (where something goes)

Here, the stars are located in the sky:

• Wo sind die Sterne? – am Himmel. (dative)

So “am Himmel” = an dem Himmel (dative singular).

How is “zählen” conjugated, and does it have more than one meaning?

“Zählen” is a regular verb. Present tense:

• ich zähle
• du zählst
• er/sie/es zählt
• wir zählen
• ihr zählt
• sie/Sie zählen

It has two main meanings:

1. to count (numbers/things)

   • Ich zähle die Sterne. – I count the stars.

2. to matter / to be important / to count (figurative)

   • Nur das Ergebnis zählt. – Only the result counts / matters.

In your sentence, it’s the literal “to count” meaning.

Why are “Garten”, “Sterne”, and “Himmel” capitalized?

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

• Garten – noun (garden)
• Sterne – noun (stars)
• Himmel – noun (sky / heaven)

Verbs (zähle) and pronouns (ich) are not capitalized (except Sie for formal “you” and at the start of a sentence). So the capitalization here simply follows the standard rule: every noun starts with a capital letter.

Could I say “Im Garten zähle ich Sterne am Himmel” without “die”?

Yes, you can also say:

• Im Garten zähle ich Sterne am Himmel.

The difference is:

• mit Artikel – “die Sterne”
  → a specific set of stars (or all the stars in view): the stars.
• ohne Artikel – “Sterne”
  → more general, indefinite: (some) stars in general.

Both are grammatically correct. With “die Sterne”, it sounds a bit more like you have a specific group in mind, or you’re talking about “the stars” in that situation.

How would this sentence look as a yes/no question?

For a yes/no question in German, the finite verb goes first:

• Zähle ich im Garten die Sterne am Himmel?

You can still move the other parts around for emphasis, but the key structure is:

• Verb – Subject – (rest)
• Zähle – ich – im Garten die Sterne am Himmel?

Example answers:

• Ja, du zählst im Garten die Sterne am Himmel.
• Nein, du zählst sie vom Balkon.