Breakdown of Am Sonntag machen meine Schwester und ich einen Ausflug in den Zoo.
Questions & Answers about Am Sonntag machen meine Schwester und ich einen Ausflug in den Zoo.
am is the contraction of an dem. With days of the week, German normally uses an to express on, so am Sonntag means on Sunday.
You will see the same pattern with:
- am Montag
- am Dienstag
- am Freitag
So this is a very common time expression pattern.
It most often means on Sunday or this Sunday, depending on context.
In some contexts, it can also refer to something habitual, but German often uses forms like sonntags to make the repeated meaning clearer.
For example:
- Am Sonntag gehen wir in den Zoo. = On Sunday / This Sunday we are going to the zoo.
- Sonntags gehen wir oft spazieren. = On Sundays we often go for a walk.
This is because German main clauses follow the verb-second rule. The finite verb usually comes in the second position.
Here, Am Sonntag is placed first, so the verb machen must come next:
- Am Sonntag = first element
- machen = second element
- meine Schwester und ich = subject, after the verb
A more neutral order is also possible:
- Meine Schwester und ich machen am Sonntag einen Ausflug in den Zoo.
Both are correct. Starting with Am Sonntag simply puts more emphasis on the time.
Because the subject is meine Schwester und ich, which means my sister and I. That is a plural subject, equivalent to we, so the verb must be in the wir form:
- ich mache
- du machst
- er/sie macht
- wir machen
Since two people are doing the action, German uses machen.
Both are grammatically possible, but meine Schwester und ich sounds more natural and polite in German, just as English often prefers my sister and I over I and my sister.
So this is mostly a matter of natural usage and style, not grammar.
Ausflug is a masculine noun: der Ausflug.
In this sentence, it is the direct object of machen, so it must be in the accusative case. The masculine accusative form of ein is einen:
- nominative: ein Ausflug
- accusative: einen Ausflug
That is why the sentence has einen Ausflug machen.
Yes. It is a very normal and common expression. Literally, it is to make an excursion/trip, but in natural English it usually means to take a trip, go on an outing, or go on an excursion.
German often uses machen in expressions like this:
- einen Ausflug machen
- einen Spaziergang machen
- eine Reise machen
So even if machen looks very general, this phrase is completely idiomatic.
Because in den Zoo expresses movement toward a destination: they are going to the zoo.
The preposition in can take two different cases:
- accusative for movement/direction
- dative for location
So:
- in den Zoo = into/to the zoo
- im Zoo = in dem Zoo = in the zoo
Compare:
- Wir gehen in den Zoo. = We are going to the zoo.
- Wir sind im Zoo. = We are in the zoo.
Because Zoo is masculine: der Zoo.
When in shows direction or movement, it takes the accusative case. The masculine accusative form of der is den:
- nominative: der Zoo
- accusative: den Zoo
So in den Zoo is exactly what you would expect from:
- a masculine noun, and
- a preposition showing movement.
Because they are nouns, and in German all nouns are capitalized.
That includes:
- der Sonntag
- die Schwester
- der Ausflug
- der Zoo
This is one of the most noticeable differences from English spelling. German capitalizes nouns everywhere in the sentence, not just at the beginning.