Im Dezember sagt mein Cousin immer, dass diese Abende das Schönste im Jahr sind.

In December my cousin always says that these evenings are the most beautiful part of the year.

Breakdown of Im Dezember sagt mein Cousin immer, dass diese Abende das Schönste im Jahr sind.

• sein: to be
• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• der Abend: the evening
• dass: that
• immer: always
• mein: my
• sagen: to say
• das Jahr: the year
• diese: these
• der Cousin: the cousin
• der Dezember: December
• das Schönste: the most beautiful thing

Questions & Answers about Im Dezember sagt mein Cousin immer, dass diese Abende das Schönste im Jahr sind.

Why is it im Dezember instead of in Dezember?

German usually uses in with the dative case for months when talking about time.

• in dem Dezember becomes im Dezember
• im is just the contraction of in dem

So im Dezember means in December or during December.

Why does the sentence start with Im Dezember?

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

Here, Im Dezember is placed first to set the time frame. Once that happens, the verb must come next:

• Im Dezember
  • sagt
    • mein Cousin
      • immer

In English, this kind of fronting is optional and does not affect verb position much. In German, it changes the word order.

Why is it sagt mein Cousin and not mein Cousin sagt?

Because Im Dezember is already occupying the first slot in the sentence.

German main clauses usually have:

1. one element in the first position
2. the finite verb in the second position

So if Im Dezember comes first, sagt has to come second, and the subject mein Cousin comes after the verb.

Both of these are possible in German, but they have different emphasis:

• Mein Cousin sagt immer ...
• Im Dezember sagt mein Cousin immer ...

What case is mein Cousin in?

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the main clause, the person doing the saying.

You can tell from the article-like word mein and the noun form:

• mein Cousin = nominative
• meinen Cousin = accusative

So here, mein Cousin is simply the subject.

Why is immer placed there?

Immer is an adverb, and in German adverbs often appear in the middle part of the clause, after the verb and often after the subject if the subject comes right after the verb.

So this order is very natural:

• Im Dezember sagt mein Cousin immer, ...

It would also be possible to move immer for emphasis in some contexts, but this placement is the most neutral and common here.

Why is there a comma before dass?

In German, subordinate clauses are normally separated from the main clause by a comma.

Since dass introduces a subordinate clause, the comma is required:

• ..., dass diese Abende das Schönste im Jahr sind.

This is stricter than in English, where comma use can be different.

What is the difference between dass and das in this sentence?

This is a very common question because both appear in the same sentence.

• dass = a conjunction meaning that
• das = here, the neuter article the

So:

• dass diese Abende ... sind = that these evenings are ...
• das Schönste = the most beautiful thing / the nicest thing

A useful shortcut:

• If it introduces a whole clause, it is usually dass
• If it belongs to a noun or noun-like word, it may be das

Why does sind come at the end of the clause?

Because dass creates a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses the finite verb usually goes to the end.

So:

• dass diese Abende das Schönste im Jahr sind

That final sind is exactly what you should expect after dass.

This is one of the most important word-order patterns in German.

Why is it diese Abende?

Diese Abende is the subject of the subordinate clause, and it is plural:

• dieser Abend = this evening
• diese Abende = these evenings

Since it is the subject, it is in the nominative plural. The plural form of the demonstrative is diese, and the plural of Abend is Abende.

Why is das Schönste capitalized?

Because Schönste is being used as a noun-like word, not just as a normal adjective.

This is called a nominalized adjective or substantivized adjective. In German, when an adjective is used as a noun, it is capitalized.

So:

• schön = beautiful
• das Schönste = the most beautiful thing / the nicest thing / the best part

That is why Schönste starts with a capital letter.

Why is it das Schönste and not am schönsten?

Both are superlative forms, but they are used differently.

• am schönsten = adverbial or predicative superlative, often like the most beautifully or most beautiful
• das Schönste = a noun phrase meaning the most beautiful thing or the nicest part

In this sentence, the speaker is identifying these evenings as a thing or concept:

• diese Abende [sind] das Schönste im Jahr

So das Schönste is the right form.

Why is it im Jahr if English would often say of the year?

German often uses im Jahr where English naturally uses of the year.

So:

• das Schönste im Jahr literally looks like the nicest thing in the year
• but idiomatically it corresponds to English the nicest thing of the year or the best part of the year

This is just a normal difference in how the two languages express the idea.

Why is the verb sind plural, even though das Schönste looks singular?

Because the verb agrees with the subject, and the subject is diese Abende, which is plural.

So the structure is:

• subject: diese Abende
• predicate expression: das Schönste im Jahr
• verb: sind

Even though das Schönste is singular in form, it is not the subject here. It is the predicate noun phrase describing diese Abende.

That is why German uses sind, not ist.