When to use it
Use it to say where someone works.
The sentence in English: “He works at a hospital.”
"He works at a hospital" is in the simple present, with -s on "works" for "he". English uses "at" for a place of work.
- He
- pronounpersonal pronoun, third person singular
- works
- verbwork · tense: present · person: third · number: singular · the -s marks the third person singular
- at
- prepositionpreposition of place
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- hospital
- nounnoun
The sentence in German: “Er arbeitet in einem Krankenhaus.”
"Er arbeitet in einem Krankenhaus" uses the present "arbeitet". After "in" for location, German uses the dative, so "ein" becomes "einem". "Krankenhaus" literally means "sick house".
- Er
- pronoun"he"
- arbeitet
- verbarbeiten · tense: present · mood: indicative · person: third · number: singular · "works"; an extra -e- before the -t ending
- in
- prepositionpreposition "in"; with the dative it shows location
- einem
- determinerindefinite article, neuter dative: "a"
- Krankenhaus
- nounneuter compound noun: krank (sick) + Haus (house), "hospital"
What changes from one language to the other: English × German
English says "at" a hospital; German says "in". German changes the article for the case ("einem"), while English keeps "a". Both mark the third person on the verb: -s in English, -t in German.
Example conversation
— Was macht dein Bruder beruflich?
— What does your brother do for a living?
— Er arbeitet in einem Krankenhaus.
— He works at a hospital.