Im Garten gieße ich die Blumen mit der Gießkanne.

Because im is a contraction of in dem.

• in = in
• dem = the (dative singular, used here with Garten)

So:

• in dem Garten → im Garten

German usually uses a case-marked article here, so in Garten by itself is not correct in this sentence.

Also, in can take either the accusative or the dative. Here it is dative because the phrase describes a location: where the action happens.

Because German main clauses normally follow the verb-second rule.

In this sentence, Im Garten is placed first for emphasis or topic, so the conjugated verb must come next:

• Im Garten
  • gieße
    • ich
      • ...

Even though ich is the subject, it does not have to come first. What matters is that the finite verb is in the second position.

Compare:

• Ich gieße die Blumen im Garten mit der Gießkanne.
• Im Garten gieße ich die Blumen mit der Gießkanne.

Both are correct. The second one emphasizes where the action happens.

Because the subject is ich, and gießen is being conjugated in the 1st person singular present tense.

The present-tense forms are:

• ich gieße
• du gießt
• er/sie/es gießt
• wir gießen
• ihr gießt
• sie/Sie gießen

So ich gieße means I water or I pour.

Because die Blumen is the direct object of the verb gießen: it is the thing being watered.

Here, Blumen is plural, and in German the plural definite article is:

• nominative plural: die
• accusative plural: die

So in this sentence, die Blumen is accusative plural.

A learner may wonder why the form looks unchanged. That is normal: in the plural, the nominative and accusative article are often the same.

Because the preposition mit always takes the dative case.

Gießkanne is a feminine noun:

• nominative: die Gießkanne
• dative: der Gießkanne

So:

• mit der Gießkanne = with the watering can

This is one of the most important things to memorize in German: certain prepositions always require a specific case, and mit always takes dative.

There are three important noun phrases here:

1. Im Garten

   • dative
   • because in is describing a location here

2. die Blumen

   • accusative
   • because it is the direct object of gießen

3. mit der Gießkanne

   • dative
   • because mit always takes dative

So the sentence is a nice example of how German marks different roles with different cases.

Yes. That is also correct.

German word order is more flexible than English, as long as the verb-second rule is respected in main clauses.

These are both natural:

• Ich gieße die Blumen im Garten mit der Gießkanne.
• Im Garten gieße ich die Blumen mit der Gießkanne.

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Ich... puts the focus more on who is doing it.
• Im Garten... puts the focus more on where it happens.

That is correct: in is a two-way preposition.

It takes:

• dative for location: where something is happening
• accusative for direction/movement toward somewhere

Here, the sentence answers where?

• Im Garten gieße ich die Blumen. = I am watering the flowers in the garden.

So it uses dative.

Compare:

• Ich bin im Garten. = location → dative
• Ich gehe in den Garten. = movement into the garden → accusative

Yes. Gießkanne is directly related to gießen.

• gießen = to pour / to water
• die Gießkanne = watering can

So the noun is built from the same root. This kind of word family is very common in German and can help with vocabulary learning.

You may also notice the spelling:

• gießen
• Gießkanne

The ß is pronounced like ss.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• gieße ≈ GEE-suh
• Gießkanne ≈ GEESS-kahn-uh

A few key points:

• ie in German is usually a long ee sound
• ß sounds like ss
• the final -e in gieße is a light uh sound, not silent

So gieße is not pronounced like English guyse or jeece.

Not necessarily in a strict physical sense.

In German, in dem Garten / im Garten is the normal way to say in the garden or in the yard/garden area. It often means within the area of the garden, not literally enclosed inside something.

So this is a normal, idiomatic expression.

Because in German, plural nouns often do not change form between nominative and accusative.

Here:

• nominative plural: die Blumen
• accusative plural: die Blumen

So the article and noun look the same.

The role is understood from the sentence structure and the verb:

• ich = subject
• gieße = verb
• die Blumen = direct object

It is extra information, not required by the verb.

The core sentence is already complete:

• Im Garten gieße ich die Blumen.

Adding mit der Gießkanne tells you how / with what tool the action is done.

So this phrase is an adverbial prepositional phrase giving more detail, not an object required by gießen.