Die Wippe im Park ist heute frei.

to be

Breakdown of Die Wippe im Park ist heute frei.

• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• heute: today

Questions & Answers about Die Wippe im Park ist heute frei.

Why is it die Wippe and not der or das?

Because Wippe is a feminine noun in German. Its basic dictionary form is die Wippe.

That affects:

• the article: die Wippe
• pronouns you might use later: sie for the seesaw

This is something you usually have to learn together with the noun:

• die Wippe = the seesaw

What does im Park mean exactly?

Im is a contraction of in dem.

So:

• in dem Park → im Park

Here it means in the park.

Grammatically, dem is dative case, because in can take different cases, and here it describes location rather than movement.

Compare:

• im Park = in the park / located in the park
• in den Park = into the park / moving into the park

Why is ist in the middle of the sentence?

In a normal German main clause, the finite verb goes in second position.

So in:

• Die Wippe | ist | heute frei

the verb ist is the second element.

This is one of the most important German word order rules.

You can also move another element to the front, but the verb still stays second:

• Heute ist die Wippe im Park frei.
• Im Park ist die Wippe heute frei.