Die Kinder spielen den ganzen Tag im Park.
Why is it "den" Tag? Is this Akkusativ? Why?
(Yes I know there are no whys in grammar...but still...)
2007-10-22 01:45:46 · 4 answers · asked by Goddess of Grammar 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
This is the so called "adverbiale Akkusativ" or "Adverbialakkusativ". It marks a period of time or a length. It cannot be replaced by a "Pronomen" and it stays as it is in passive voice.
Er hat den ganzen Tag geschlafen.
Ich den halben Monat frei.
Sie hat ihr Kind den ganzen Weg getragen.
Das Kind wurde den ganzen Weg von ihr getragen.
@empress_salix: They do nothing to the day - but all day long.
The translation would be: The children are playing in the park all day long. In German you could also say: Die Kinder spielen den ganzen Tag lang im Park.
2007-10-22 03:22:00 · answer #1 · answered by Martin S 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
yes, it's accusative - just put your expressions of time in the accusative, and you'll probably be right in most cases - eg den ganzen Abend, das ganze Wochenende (which of course looks just like the nominative because it's a 'das' noun - ie neuter
remember though that where a particular preposition is used, your expression of time will fall under that rule - so you might say 'am (ie an dem) Abend/Wochenende mag ich gern ins Kino gehen' or 'während des Wochendes gehe ich oft schwimmen' - during/over the weekend I often go swimming
There are a billion whys in grammar! Sometimes we're lucky, and there's a rule you can follow that has no exceptions - German has lots of rules that behave very well indeed and don't change all the time!
2007-10-22 09:37:39 · answer #2 · answered by Mellie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have answered your own question with your observation that "..there are no whys in grammar...
2007-10-22 08:51:27 · answer #3 · answered by GrahamH 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess play is something they do to the day? Bizarre.
2007-10-22 08:58:28 · answer #4 · answered by Mich 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋