Breakdown of In unserem Waggon war es ruhig genug, dass ich sogar ein paar Seiten lesen konnte.
sein
to be
in
in
ich
I
ruhig
quiet
Questions & Answers about In unserem Waggon war es ruhig genug, dass ich sogar ein paar Seiten lesen konnte.
Why is it in unserem Waggon and not in unseren Waggon?
Because in is a two-way preposition in German: it can take either the dative or the accusative.
- Dative = location, when something is in a place
- Accusative = direction, when something is going into a place
Here, the sentence describes a location: the quietness existed inside our train car, so German uses the dative:
- in unserem Waggon = in our carriage / in our train car
That is why unserem has the dative ending -em.
Compare:
- Ich bin in unserem Waggon. = I am in our carriage.
- Ich gehe in unseren Waggon. = I am going into our carriage.
What does Waggon mean? Is it a common word?
Waggon means a railway car, carriage, or train compartment/car depending on context.
It is a real German word, but in everyday modern German, many speakers more often say things like:
- Wagen
- Zugwagen
- Abteil if they mean a compartment
Waggon is perfectly understandable, but it can sound a bit more formal, literary, or old-fashioned depending on the context.
Why does the sentence begin with In unserem Waggon?