Ich habe den falschen Termin im Kalender durchgestrichen und den neuen fett daneben geschrieben.

I crossed out the wrong date in the calendar and wrote the new one in bold next to it.

Breakdown of Ich habe den falschen Termin im Kalender durchgestrichen und den neuen fett daneben geschrieben.

• und: and
• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• neu: new
• ich: I
• haben: to have
• schreiben: to write
• den: the; (masculine, accusative)
• der Kalender: the calendar
• falsch: wrong
• daneben: next to it
• der Termin: the appointment
• durchstreichen: to cross out
• fett: in bold

Questions & Answers about Ich habe den falschen Termin im Kalender durchgestrichen und den neuen fett daneben geschrieben.

Why is it den falschen Termin but then just den neuen without repeating Termin?

Both den falschen Termin and den neuen refer to the same noun Termin (appointment), and both are in the accusative singular masculine.

• den falschen Termin = "the wrong appointment"
• den neuen (Termin) = "the new (appointment)"

In the second part, German simply leaves out the repeated noun Termin because it is clear from context. This is very common and natural:

• Ich habe den alten Computer verkauft und den neuen behalten.
  = I sold the old computer and kept the new (one).

So grammatically, you should imagine the full sentence as:

Ich habe den falschen Termin im Kalender durchgestrichen und den neuen Termin fett daneben geschrieben.

Why do the adjectives end in -en: den falschen Termin, den neuen (Termin)?

Because of case, gender, and article:

• Termin is masculine.
• It’s the direct object → accusative case.
• It has a definite article den (the masculine accusative form of der).

With a definite article in the masculine accusative, all adjectives before the noun take -en:

• den falschen Termin
• den neuen Termin
• den roten Ball
• den wichtigen Termin

So the pattern is:
definite article (den) + adjective(-en) + masculine noun (accusative)

Why is it im Kalender and not in dem Kalender?

im is simply the usual contraction of in dem:

• in dem Kalender → im Kalender

Both are grammatically correct, but in normal conversation and everyday writing, Germans strongly prefer the contracted form im Kalender.

The structure is:

• in (preposition) + dem (dative article, masculine/neuter) + Kalender
  → shows location: "in the calendar"

What case is im Kalender, and why?

im Kalender is dative.

• in can take accusative (for movement/direction) or dative (for location).
• Here it describes location: where something is crossed out → in the calendar (no movement).

So:

• in + dem Kalender → dative → contracted to im Kalender

You can think of the question Wo? (Where?):
Wo habe ich den Termin durchgestrichen? – Im Kalender.
Where did I cross out the appointment? – In the calendar.
Wo? → dative.

Why are durchgestrichen and geschrieben at the end of the clauses?

The sentence is in the Perfekt (present perfect) tense. In German:

• The finite verb (the auxiliary) goes in 2nd position.
• The past participle goes to the end of the clause.

So we have:

• Ich habe den falschen Termin im Kalender durchgestrichen …
• … und den neuen fett daneben geschrieben.

Structure:

• habe = auxiliary verb (2nd position)
• durchgestrichen / geschrieben = past participles (end of each clause)

This is the standard word order for the Perfekt in main clauses.

What exactly is the verb durchstreichen, and how does it work?

durchstreichen means "to cross out" (e.g. text in a list or calendar).

It is a separable verb:

• Infinitive: durchstreichen
• Present tense with separation:
  • Ich streiche den Termin durch. – I cross out the appointment.
• Perfekt (no separation):
  
  • Ich habe den Termin durchgestrichen. – I have crossed out the appointment.

The prefix durch- separates in present/Präteritum main clauses, but forms one word again in the past participle durchgestrichen.

It’s different from just streichen, which can mean "paint", "cancel", "strike something (from a list)" but is less specific about marking it with a line like durchstreichen is.

What does fett mean here, and what is its grammatical role?

Here fett means "in bold" (boldface type), not "fat".

In German typography/computer context, fett is the usual word for bold text:

• fett schreiben = "to write something in bold"
• fett gedruckt = "printed in bold"

Grammatically, in den neuen fett daneben geschrieben:

• den neuen = the new (appointment), direct object
• fett = describes how it was written → adverb-like use of the adjective (manner)
• daneben = where it was written (next to it)
• geschrieben = past participle of schreiben

So fett here functions as a kind of adverb of manner (like "boldly", but meaning "in bold") in the fixed expression etwas fett schreiben.

What does daneben mean in this context, and how is it different from neben?

In this sentence, daneben means "next to it" (spatially).

• neben is a preposition:
  
  • neben dem Termin = next to the appointment
• daneben is a pronominal adverb referring back to something already mentioned:
  
  • literally da + neben = "beside there" → "beside it / next to it"

In the sentence:

• There is something already in the calendar (the wrong appointment).
• The speaker writes the new one daneben = next to that entry.

You could also say more explicitly:

• … und den neuen fett neben den falschen Termin geschrieben.

But using daneben is shorter and more natural, because it refers back to the place of the crossed-out appointment.

Why is the same habe used for both durchgestrichen and geschrieben?

In coordinated structures, German normally does not repeat the auxiliary:

• Ich habe den falschen Termin durchgestrichen und den neuen fett daneben geschrieben.

You only say habe once, and it applies to both participles:

• habe … durchgestrichen
• (habe) … geschrieben

This is very common:

• Ich habe gegessen und ferngesehen.
• Sie hat das Fenster geöffnet und wieder geschlossen.

Repeating habe would be grammatically possible but sounds clumsy:

• Ich habe … durchgestrichen und habe … geschrieben. → correct but not elegant.

Why is this sentence in the Perfekt and not in a simple past (Präteritum) like Ich strich?

In modern spoken and informal written German, the Perfekt is the default past tense for most verbs, especially:

• in everyday conversation,
• in emails, messages, informal notes.

So:

• Ich habe den falschen Termin … durchgestrichen …
  sounds very natural.

The Präteritum (simple past) like Ich strich den falschen Termin durch is:

• grammatically correct,
• but sounds more formal/literary or old-fashioned for many verbs in spoken German.

There is no change in meaning, just in style/usage preference.

Could I move im Kalender to a different place, e.g. Ich habe im Kalender den falschen Termin durchgestrichen?

Yes, that is possible and correct:

• Ich habe den falschen Termin im Kalender durchgestrichen. (more common)
• Ich habe im Kalender den falschen Termin durchgestrichen.

Both are acceptable. In the Mittelfeld (the middle part of the sentence between the conjugated verb and the participle), German allows some flexibility.

General tendencies:

• Pronouns (like ihn) usually come very early.
• Short, very closely related phrases like im Kalender often come near the noun they describe.

Here, den falschen Termin im Kalender feels like a nice chunk: "the wrong appointment in the calendar", which is why the original word order sounds especially natural.

Could I say dick instead of fett (e.g. … und den neuen dick daneben geschrieben)?

Native speakers would not normally say that; they use fett for "bold" text.

• fett is the standard term in typography and on computers:
  • fett gedruckt = printed in bold
  • fett markieren = to highlight in bold
• dick means "thick" (or "fat" for objects) and is not the idiomatic word for boldface in German.

So for text formatting, you should stick to fett.