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Im September helfen meine Enkel im Garten, während ich ihnen Tee mache.

Im September helfen meine Enkel im Garten, während ich ihnen Tee mache.
In September my grandchildren help in the garden while I make tea for them.
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Questions & Answers about Im September helfen meine Enkel im Garten, während ich ihnen Tee mache.

Why is it im September and not in September?

im is the contraction of in dem.

With months, German normally uses in + dative, so you say:

  • im September
  • im Mai
  • im Winter

So im September is the normal German way to say in September.

Why is the verb before the subject in Im September helfen meine Enkel?

German main clauses follow the verb-second rule. The finite verb must come in the second position.

So if the sentence starts with the time expression Im September, that takes the first position, and the verb helfen must come next:

  • Meine Enkel helfen im Garten.
  • Im September helfen meine Enkel im Garten.

In the second version, meine Enkel comes after the verb because Im September is occupying the first slot.

Why is it helfen and not hilft?

Because the subject is meine Enkel, which is plural.

The verb helfen is conjugated like this:

  • ich helfe
  • du hilfst
  • er/sie hilft
  • wir helfen
  • ihr helft
  • sie/Sie helfen

Only the du and er/sie/es forms change the stem vowel to i. The plural form stays helfen.

Why does Enkel not change in the plural?

Because Enkel is one of those German nouns whose singular and plural can look the same.

So you get:

  • der Enkel = grandson / grandchild
  • die Enkel = grandsons / grandchildren

In this sentence, you know it is plural because of:

  • meine instead of mein
  • the plural verb helfen
Why is it meine Enkel and not meinen Enkel?

Here meine Enkel is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative plural.

The possessive word mein- changes its ending depending on case and number. In the nominative plural, it becomes meine:

  • mein Enkel = my grandson / my grandchild
  • meine Enkel = my grandchildren

If it were accusative masculine singular, you would get meinen, but that is not what is happening here.

Why is it im Garten and not in den Garten?

Because this sentence describes a location, not movement toward a destination.

German uses:

  • in + dative for location: im Garten = in the garden
  • in + accusative for direction or movement: in den Garten = into the garden

Compare:

  • Meine Enkel helfen im Garten. = They are working there.
  • Meine Enkel gehen in den Garten. = They go into the garden.
Why is there a comma before während?

Because während introduces a subordinate clause.

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

  • Im September helfen meine Enkel im Garten, während ich ihnen Tee mache.

This is standard German punctuation.

Why does mache come at the end of the clause?

Because während is a subordinating conjunction, and subordinating conjunctions send the finite verb to the end of the clause.

So:

  • main clause order: ich mache ihnen Tee
  • after während: während ich ihnen Tee mache

This also happens with words like:

  • weil
  • dass
  • obwohl
  • wenn
What case is ihnen, and why is it used here?

ihnen is dative plural, and here it means to them or for them.

In this sentence:

  • ich = subject
  • ihnen = indirect object, dative
  • Tee = thing being made

So ich ihnen Tee mache means I make tea for them.

This is a very common pattern in German:

  • jemandem etwas machen
  • jemandem etwas geben
  • jemandem etwas bringen
Why does ihnen come before Tee?

Because in German, an unstressed pronoun often comes before a full noun phrase.

So this sounds natural:

  • ich ihnen Tee mache

That is especially common when the pronoun is dative and the noun is the thing involved:

  • Ich gebe ihm das Buch.
  • Sie bringt uns Kaffee.
  • Ich mache ihnen Tee.

So the order here is very typical German word order.

Why is it ihnen with a lowercase letter, not Ihnen?

Lowercase ihnen means to them.

Capital Ihnen is the formal to you.

So:

  • ich ihnen Tee mache = I make them tea
  • ich Ihnen Tee mache = I make you tea in a formal situation

That capital letter makes an important difference.

Why is there no article before Tee?

German often leaves out the article with food and drink words when they are used in a general way, especially in common expressions.

So Tee machen is perfectly natural.

You could compare:

  • Ich mache Tee.
  • Sie kocht Kaffee.
  • Wir machen Frühstück.

If you wanted to emphasize a tea as one serving, you might say einen Tee, but the version without an article is the more neutral wording here.

Can während mean something other than while?

Yes.

In this sentence, während is a conjunction meaning while because it is followed by a clause:

  • während ich ihnen Tee mache

But während can also be a preposition meaning during:

  • während des Sommers = during the summer

So the meaning depends on what comes after it:

  • während + clause -> while
  • während + noun phrase -> during