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Learn Hardcore German: Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt. - We know the time.

Hardcore German
/Following a court hearing
/Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt.

Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt.

Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt.

We know the time.

Breakdown of Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt.

the specific point in time

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Questions & Answers about Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt.

Why is it den Zeitpunkt and not der Zeitpunkt?

Because Zeitpunkt is the direct object of the verb kennen, and direct objects take the accusative case in German.

der Zeitpunkt = nominative singular masculine
den Zeitpunkt = accusative singular masculine

Since Zeitpunkt is a masculine noun, its article changes from der to den in the accusative.

How do I know that Zeitpunkt is masculine?

You learn the gender together with the noun:

der Zeitpunkt = the point in time / moment

In German, noun gender is not always predictable, so it is best to memorize nouns with their article. Here, the dictionary form is der Zeitpunkt, so the noun is masculine.

Why is Zeitpunkt capitalized?

Because all German nouns are capitalized.

So in this sentence:

Wir = pronoun
kennen = verb
den = article
Zeitpunkt = noun

Only Zeitpunkt is capitalized because it is a noun. Wir is also capitalized here because it is the first word of the sentence.

Why is the verb kennen used here instead of wissen?

This is a very common learner question.

German usually uses:

kennen for being familiar with a person, place, or thing
wissen for knowing a fact, a piece of information, or a whole clause

So:

Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt. → we know the time/moment
Wir wissen, wann es passiert. → we know when it happens

A simple way to remember it:

kennen + noun
wissen + fact / clause

That is not a perfect rule in every situation, but it works very well for beginners.

What is the basic form of kennen, and how is it conjugated here?

The infinitive is kennen.

In the sentence Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt, the subject is wir, so the verb form is:

ich kenne
du kennst
er/sie/es kennt
wir kennen
ihr kennt
sie/Sie kennen

So kennen here is simply the present tense form for wir.

Why is the word order Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt?

This is standard German main-clause word order.

German main clauses usually have the conjugated verb in second position. Here:

Wir = first element
kennen = conjugated verb in second position
den Zeitpunkt = object

So the structure is:

subject + verb + object

This is very normal and natural in German.

Could the sentence also be written in a different word order?

Yes, German allows different word orders, but the verb in a main clause still stays in second position.

For example:

Den Zeitpunkt kennen wir.

This puts extra emphasis on den Zeitpunkt. In English, that might sound like stressing the moment/time in particular.

But the most neutral version is still:

Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt.

What exactly does Zeitpunkt mean?

Zeitpunkt literally means something like point in time.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

a specific moment
a particular time
the timing of something

It is a little more specific and formal than just Zeit. So Zeitpunkt often suggests an exact or identifiable moment rather than time in a general sense.

What is the plural of Zeitpunkt?

The plural is:

der Zeitpunkt = singular
die Zeitpunkte = plural

So you could say:

Wir kennen die Zeitpunkte.

In the plural, the article is die.

How is Wir kennen den Zeitpunkt pronounced?

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Wir ≈ veer
kennen ≈ KEN-nen
den ≈ dain
Zeitpunkt ≈ TSAIT-punkt

A more careful approximation: veer KEN-nen dain TSAIT-punkt

A few useful notes:

w in German sounds like English v
z in German sounds like ts
ei sounds like English eye

So the beginning of Zeitpunkt sounds like tsite.

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