Describe everyday routines

Jeden Tag

Say how often and at what part of the day you do an activity using jeden Tag, jeden Morgen, jeden Abend and am Wochenende.

Before this lesson: know basic present-tense ich forms and verb-second statements. Use the present tense for a routine: Ich lerne jeden Tag Deutsch. means I study German every day. Learn the time expressions as chunks: jeden Tag = every day; jeden Morgen = every morning; jeden Abend = every evening. These masculine time expressions use the accusative form jeden without a preposition. This is not a rule to put jeden in front of every noun. Compare Ich trinke jeden Morgen Kaffee. with Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee. Both describe the same routine. When the time expression comes first, the verb follows the whole expression, before ich. Jeden Abend koche ich. means Every evening I cook. Am Wochenende habe ich frei. means I am off work at the weekend. Frei haben describes time off; it does not mean having an empty object. Am Wochenende can describe a particular weekend or a regular habit, depending on context; it does not by itself explicitly say every weekend. Morgen is capitalised in jeden Morgen because it means the morning; tomorrow is normally morgen.

Choose the activity and frequency together. With a time-first opening, place the conjugated verb immediately after the complete time expression.

Describe when you study, drink coffee and cook. Explain your time off without assuming that another person has the same work schedule.

Ich lernt uses the wrong ending; use Ich lerne. Jeden Morgen ich trinke puts the verb too late; use Jeden Morgen trinke ich Kaffee.

jeden Tag, jeden Morgen, jeden Abend: learn each whole time expression. Compare am Wochenende habe ich frei with ich habe am Wochenende frei.

Give a partner three true routines. Ask what they do in the morning and evening. Do not mark a different personal routine as a language error.