German Grammar for Beginners: Time Words with Dative (A1)
Do you want to talk about your plans in German? To say when you do something, you need temporal prepositions (time words). In German, these words love the dative case.
Do not worry! It is very easy. Let us look at the most important words you need every day.
1. “Am” — For Days and Weekends
Use am when you talk about days of the week, times of the day, or the weekend.
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Am Montag (On Monday)
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Am Samstag (On Saturday)
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Am Wochenende (On the weekend)
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Am Abend (In the evening)
Example: Am Samstag lerne ich Deutsch. (On Saturday, I learn German.)
2. “Im” — For Months and Seasons
Use im when you talk about months or the seasons of the year.
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Im Januar (In January)
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Im Sommer (In the summer)
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Im Winter (In the winter)
Example: Ich habe im Juli Urlaub. (I have vacation in July.)
3. “Von … bis” — From … to
When you want to show a start time and an end time, use von and bis.
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Von Montag bis Freitag (From Monday to Friday)
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Von 8 Uhr bis 16 Uhr (From 8 o’clock to 4 o’clock)
Summary Table for Beginners
| German Word | English Meaning | When to use it? |
| Am | On / In the | Days, Weekend, Times of day |
| Im | In / In the | Months, Seasons |
| Von … bis | From … to | Time periods |
Important A1 Words to Learn
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Der Tag — The day
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Die Woche — The week
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Das Wochenende — The weekend
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Die Ferien (Plural) — The vacation / holidays