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Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten.

Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten.
I will reach the train station in twenty minutes.
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Questions & Answers about Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten.

Why does the sentence use erreiche instead of something like ankomme? Aren’t both “arrive”?

German has two common ways to express to arrive / to get to a place:

  • erreichen – literally to reach.

    • Transitive verb: it takes a direct object in the accusative.
    • Focus: you manage to reach / get to something (a destination, a goal, a person by phone, etc.).
    • Example: Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten. – I’ll reach the station in twenty minutes.

  • ankommen (an) – to arrive (at).

    • Intransitive verb with a preposition: you arrive at somewhere.
    • Common pattern: ankommen + an + Dativ
    • Example: Ich komme in zwanzig Minuten am Bahnhof an. – I’ll arrive at the station in twenty minutes.

So erreiche here emphasizes reaching the station as a goal. With ankommen, you’d say am Bahnhof instead of den Bahnhof, and put an at the end because ankommen is separable:

  • Ich komme am Bahnhof an.
Why is it den Bahnhof and not der Bahnhof?

Der Bahnhof is the nominative form (used for the subject of a sentence).

In this sentence, the subject is ich. The station is the direct object, so it must be in the accusative case:

  • Masculine singular definite article:
    • Nominative: der Bahnhof (subject)
    • Accusative: den Bahnhof (direct object)

Pattern for masculine der-words:

  • der Mann sieht den Bahnhof. – The man sees the station.
  • Ich sehe den Bahnhof. – I see the station.
  • Ich erreiche den Bahnhof. – I reach the station.

Because Bahnhof is masculine and is the direct object, den is required.

How do I know that Bahnhof is masculine, and what are its other forms?

Grammatical gender in German is partly predictable, but you mostly have to learn it with each noun.

For Bahnhof:

  • Gender: masculine
  • Base form: der Bahnhof – the station
  • Plural: die Bahnhöfe – the stations

Common singular forms:

  • Nominative: der Bahnhof – Der Bahnhof ist groß.
  • Accusative: den Bahnhof – Ich erreiche den Bahnhof.
  • Dative: dem Bahnhof – Ich stehe vor dem Bahnhof.
  • Genitive: des Bahnhofs – die Nähe des Bahnhofs

There’s no strong rule that forces Bahnhof to be masculine; it’s something you memorize as der Bahnhof. Many nouns in -hof (e.g. der Bauernhof) are masculine, which can help as a pattern.

Why is the time phrase in zwanzig Minuten at the end? Could I move it?

The default neutral word order in main clauses is:

Subject – Verb – (objects / adverbials)

So the sentence is:

  • Ich (subject)
  • erreiche (verb, 2nd position)
  • den Bahnhof (direct object)
  • in zwanzig Minuten (time adverbial)

You can move the time phrase to the first position for emphasis or because time is the topic:

  • In zwanzig Minuten erreiche ich den Bahnhof.

Rules:

  • In a main clause, the finite verb must be in 2nd position (the V2 rule).
  • Only one element can be in the first position, but that element can be long (e.g. a full time phrase).

Both are correct:

  • Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten.
  • In zwanzig Minuten erreiche ich den Bahnhof.

The second one slightly emphasizes the time (“In twenty minutes, I’ll reach the station”).

Why is the present tense used? Shouldn’t it be future tense like ich werde den Bahnhof erreichen?

German often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially when the future is fairly certain, like schedules or plans:

  • Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten. – I’ll reach the station in twenty minutes.
  • Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin. – I’m going / I’ll go to Berlin tomorrow.

You can use the future tense:

  • Ich werde den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten erreichen.

But in everyday speech, the simple present with a time expression (in zwanzig Minuten) is more natural and common. The future tense often sounds more formal, more distant, or is used when you really want to stress the future aspect.

What exactly does in zwanzig Minuten mean? “In twenty minutes from now” or “within twenty minutes”?

In this context, in zwanzig Minuten means “in twenty minutes from now” – at a point in time twenty minutes later:

  • Now: 10:00
  • In zwanzig Minuten: 10:20

So the sentence means: At 10:20, I will reach the station.

If you wanted to emphasize “within twenty minutes” (anytime before twenty minutes have passed), you would usually need more context or a different phrasing, for example:

  • Ich erreiche den Bahnhof innerhalb von zwanzig Minuten. – I’ll reach the station within twenty minutes.

Compare other time prepositions:

  • in zwanzig Minuten – in twenty minutes (from now)
  • nach zwanzig Minuten – after twenty minutes (have passed)
  • seit zwanzig Minuten – for twenty minutes (already ongoing)
Could I say Ich komme in zwanzig Minuten am Bahnhof an instead? Is that correct, and what’s the difference?

Yes, that sentence is correct and very natural:

  • Ich komme in zwanzig Minuten am Bahnhof an. – I’ll arrive at the station in twenty minutes.

Key points:

  • ankommen is a separable verb:
    • ankommen → komme … an
  • With ankommen, you normally use an + Dativ for the place:
    • am Bahnhof = an dem Bahnhof (Dative)

Difference in nuance:

  • Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten.

    • Slightly more neutral/goal-oriented: “I reach / get to the station in twenty minutes.”

  • Ich komme in zwanzig Minuten am Bahnhof an.

    • More specifically “I arrive at the station in twenty minutes,” highlighting arrival.

Both are fine; ankommen am Bahnhof is probably the most idiomatic everyday way to say arrive at the station.

Can I drop the ich and just say Erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten?

Normally, no. In German, you usually cannot drop the subject pronoun like in Spanish or Italian.

  • Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten. – correct
  • Erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten. – incorrect as a normal statement

The only time you can leave out ich here is if you are giving yourself a command (a sort of “to-do” list) or talking to yourself:

  • Erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten! – imperative, like telling yourself: “Reach the station in 20 minutes!”

But as a normal declarative sentence, German expects an explicit subject, so you keep ich.

Is erreichen always used with a direct object like den Bahnhof?

Yes, erreichen is a transitive verb in this sense and normally needs a direct object in the accusative:

  • Ich erreiche den Bahnhof. – I reach the station.
  • Wir erreichen unser Ziel. – We reach our goal.
  • Ich konnte dich nicht erreichen. – I couldn’t reach you (by phone).

So in your sentence, den Bahnhof is required; Ich erreiche in zwanzig Minuten on its own would sound incomplete.

What’s the pronunciation of erreiche and Bahnhof?

erreiche

  • Syllables: er–rei–che
  • Pronunciation (roughly): [eˈʁaɪ̯çə]
    • er: like air without the strong r-sound (but with a German r)
    • ei: like English eye
    • ch after ei: the “ich-sound” [ç], like in ich – not a hard “k”
    • Final e: a short, unstressed -e, like a very weak “uh”

Bahnhof

  • Syllables: Bahn–hof
  • Pronunciation (roughly): [ˈbaːnhoːf]
    • Bahn: baahn (long a, like father), the h indicates vowel length
    • hof: hohf, with long o
    • Stress: on the first syllable: BAHN-hof

So the whole sentence roughly: [ɪç eˈʁaɪ̯çə den ˈbaːnhoːf ɪn ˈtsvantsɪç ˈmiːnʊtn̩].

When would I say am Bahnhof or zum Bahnhof instead of den Bahnhof?

It depends on the verb and the meaning:

  • den Bahnhof – accusative (direct object)

    • With verbs like sehen, erreichen, verlassen:
      • Ich erreiche den Bahnhof. – I reach the station.
      • Ich sehe den Bahnhof. – I see the station.
      • Ich verlasse den Bahnhof. – I leave the station.

  • am Bahnhof – an + Dativ, location at/near the station

    • With verbs of being or arriving:
      • Ich bin am Bahnhof. – I am at the station.
      • Ich komme am Bahnhof an. – I arrive at the station.

  • zum Bahnhof – zu + Dativ, movement towards the station

    • Ich gehe zum Bahnhof. – I go to the station.
    • Wir fahren zum Bahnhof. – We drive to the station.

So:

  • den Bahnhof – the station as an object you reach/see/leave.
  • am Bahnhof – being/arriving at the station.
  • zum Bahnhof – going to the station.
Is there a plural version of this sentence, like if I’m talking about several stations?

Yes. The plural of Bahnhof is Bahnhöfe:

  • Ich erreiche die Bahnhöfe in zwanzig Minuten. – I reach the stations in twenty minutes.

Changes:

  • die is both nominative and accusative plural article.
  • Bahnhöfe adds -e and the umlaut (a → ä).

But in real life, it’s rare to say you “reach several stations” in one time; mostly you’d talk about einen Bahnhof (one station) or describe the route differently.

Could in zwanzig Minuten also appear directly after the verb, like Ich erreiche in zwanzig Minuten den Bahnhof?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct, though slightly more marked in neutral contexts:

  • Ich erreiche in zwanzig Minuten den Bahnhof.

This can sound a bit more focused on the time, or appear in contexts where den Bahnhof is already known and therefore pushed to the end. All of these are valid:

  1. Ich erreiche den Bahnhof in zwanzig Minuten. – most neutral.
  2. In zwanzig Minuten erreiche ich den Bahnhof. – emphasizes the time.
  3. Ich erreiche in zwanzig Minuten den Bahnhof. – unusual but possible; can occur in spoken emphasis or specific contexts.

For everyday use, option 1 and 2 are most common.