A1 · Time and place prepositions

nächste Woche, jeden Tag

next week, every day: no preposition, accusative

Formnächst-/letzt-/jed- + Nomen (Akkusativ), ohne Präposition

Meaning and usage

With nächst-, letzt- and jed- you usually give the time without any preposition: nächste Woche, letztes Jahr, jeden Tag. The noun phrase stands alone in the accusative. These words are articles or adjective-like words, so they take the same endings as dieser: nächste Woche, letzten Monat, jedes Jahr.

A preposition is not wrong, but it changes the meaning or sounds less usual: an jedem Tag is possible, while jeden Tag is the normal choice for a repeated time. Learners often add in or an by habit from English, for example in nächste Woche, which is not German. Keep the phrase bare and use the accusative ending.

Examples 5

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  1. 1 Sprachbausteine

    Wir fahren Woche nach Berlin.

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    Correct answer: nächste

    Woche is feminine, so the form is nächste, and the time phrase needs no preposition.

    • nächstes is the form for neuter nouns, as in nächstes Jahr.
    • nächsten is the form for masculine nouns, as in nächsten Monat.
    • am nächsten am is used with days, as in am nächsten Montag, and Woche is feminine.

In this topic: Time and place prepositions

  1. am Montag, am Abend on Monday, in the evening
  2. im Januar, im Sommer in a month or season
  3. um acht Uhr at + clock time
  4. von … bis from one time or place to another
  5. nächste Woche, jeden Tag next week, every day: no preposition, accusative
  6. vor zwei Jahren ago, with a length of time
  7. Ich komme aus … saying where someone or something comes from
  8. nach Berlin, zum Arzt, in die Schule to a town, to a person, into a place
  9. zu Hause, nach Hause at home vs. going home
  10. bei at someone's home, at a company, near a place
  11. zum, zur, ins, beim, vom zum, zur, ins, beim, vom: preposition and article as one

Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.