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Ich weiß noch nicht, ob wir im Dezember zu Hause kochen oder im Restaurant essen.

Ich weiß noch nicht, ob wir im Dezember zu Hause kochen oder im Restaurant essen.
I still do not know whether we will cook at home in December or eat at a restaurant.
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Questions & Answers about Ich weiß noch nicht, ob wir im Dezember zu Hause kochen oder im Restaurant essen.

Why is it ich weiß and not ich kenne?

German uses wissen for knowing a fact, a piece of information, or the answer to a question.

  • Ich weiß ... = I know ...
  • kennen is used for being familiar with people, places, books, etc.

Because this sentence is about knowing whether something will happen, wissen is the correct verb.

  • Ich weiß noch nicht, ob ... = I don’t know yet whether ...

You would use kennen in sentences like:

  • Ich kenne Berlin.
  • Ich kenne ihn.
What does noch nicht mean?

Noch nicht means not yet.

So:

  • Ich weiß nicht = I don’t know
  • Ich weiß noch nicht = I don’t know yet

The word noch adds the idea that the situation may change later. It is very common in German.

What does ob mean here?

Here, ob means whether or sometimes if in English.

It introduces an indirect yes/no question:

  • Ich weiß noch nicht, ob ... = I don’t know yet whether ...

This is different from English if meaning a condition.

Compare:

  • Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt. = I don’t know whether he’s coming.
  • Wenn er kommt, ... = If he comes, ...

So in this sentence, ob does not mean a condition. It means whether one option or the other is true.

Why is there a comma before ob?

Because ob introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses are normally separated by a comma.

Main clause:

  • Ich weiß noch nicht

Subordinate clause:

  • ob wir im Dezember zu Hause kochen oder im Restaurant essen

German commas are used more regularly than English commas in this kind of structure, so this comma is required.

Why are kochen and essen at the end?

Because the part starting with ob is a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses the conjugated verb typically goes to the end.

That is why you get:

  • ob wir ... kochen
  • ob wir ... essen

Here there are two alternatives joined by oder:

  • zu Hause kochen
  • im Restaurant essen

A detail that often confuses learners: kochen and essen look like infinitives, but here they are actually the present-tense forms for wir.

  • wir kochen
  • wir essen

So they are not infinitives here; they just happen to have the same form as the infinitive.

Why does German use the present tense here instead of a future tense?

German very often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially when there is a clear time expression.

Here, im Dezember already makes the future time clear, so German does not need werden.

  • wir kochen / wir essen can mean we cook / we are cooking / we will cook / we will eat, depending on context
  • im Dezember tells you this is about the future

So this is completely natural German. A version with werden is possible in some contexts, but it is usually less natural here.

Why is it im Dezember?

Im Dezember means in December.

Im is a contraction of:

  • in + dem = im

Months are usually used with in in German when you mean in a particular month:

  • im Januar
  • im Mai
  • im Dezember

Also, Dezember is capitalized because months are treated as nouns in German.

Why is it zu Hause, but im Restaurant?

These are just two different expressions for location.

  • zu Hause = at home
  • im Restaurant = in the restaurant / at the restaurant

Zu Hause is a fixed expression meaning at home.
Im Restaurant uses the normal preposition in + dative article:

  • in dem Restaurant → im Restaurant

So both phrases describe where the action happens, but they use different standard German patterns.

A useful contrast:

  • zu Hause = at home
  • nach Hause = homeward / to home

And:

  • im Restaurant essen = eat at the restaurant
  • ins Restaurant gehen = go into/to the restaurant
Why isn’t wir repeated before essen?

Because the subject wir applies to both options.

The sentence gives two alternatives:

  • wir ... zu Hause kochen
  • wir ... im Restaurant essen

German, like English, often leaves out repeated words when they are already understood. So after oder, it is not necessary to say wir again.

You could expand it mentally like this:

  • ob wir im Dezember zu Hause kochen oder wir im Restaurant essen

But that sounds repetitive and unnatural. The shorter version is the normal one.

What exactly does oder connect in this sentence?

Oder connects the two alternatives being considered:

  • zu Hause kochen
  • im Restaurant essen

So the speaker does not yet know which of the two plans will happen.

It is not just connecting the verbs by themselves; it is really connecting two whole idea-units:

  • cook at home
  • eat at a restaurant

That is why each side has its own place expression:

  • zu Hause
  • im Restaurant