In den Haferbrei kommen heute Rosinen und etwas Zimt.

and

Breakdown of In den Haferbrei kommen heute Rosinen und etwas Zimt.

• kommen: to come
• heute: today
• in: into

Questions & Answers about In den Haferbrei kommen heute Rosinen und etwas Zimt.

Why is it in den Haferbrei and not im Haferbrei?

Because in can take either the accusative or the dative, depending on the meaning:

• accusative = movement or direction into something
• dative = location inside something

Here, the raisins and cinnamon are being added into the porridge, so German uses in den Haferbrei.

Compare:

• In den Haferbrei kommen Rosinen. = raisins go into the porridge
• Im Haferbrei sind Rosinen. = there are raisins in the porridge

So den is there because Haferbrei is masculine and in takes the accusative here.

Why does the verb kommen come so early in the sentence?

Because this is a normal main clause in German, and in German main clauses the conjugated verb must be in second position.

The first position is taken by In den Haferbrei, so the verb comes right after it:

• In den Haferbrei | kommen | heute Rosinen und etwas Zimt.

This is often called verb-second word order.

If the subject came first, the sentence could also be:

• Rosinen und etwas Zimt kommen heute in den Haferbrei.

That version is also correct, but it gives a slightly different emphasis.

What is the subject of the sentence?