📅🥾⛰️👫

How to Say ‘On Saturday I went hiking with friends.’ in German

Am Samstag war ich mit Freunden wandern.

ahm ZAMS-tahk vah ikh mit FROY-den VAN-dern

[ahm ZAMS-tahk vah ikh mit FROY-den VAN-dern]

💬 Usage Tip: war ich ... wandern means "I went hiking". You use sein plus an activity left in its basic form. It works the same way with other activities: Ich war schwimmen "I went swimming", Ich war einkaufen "I went shopping".

Phrase Breakdown

Am Samstag war ich

ahm ZAMS-tahk vah ikh

On Saturday I was

'Am' + day of the week = 'on'. The verb comes second, so 'war' comes before 'ich'.

Example

Am Samstag war ich zu Hause.

On Saturday I was at home.

Words in this phrase

[ahm]

on the

Contracted preposition and article used before days.

Example

Am Montag passt es leider nicht.

On Monday it unfortunately does not work.

Samstag

[ZAMS-tahk]

Saturday

The sixth day of the week.

Example

Am Samstag gehen wir essen.

On Saturday we're going out to eat.

war

[vah]

was

Past tense of 'is', used to describe something that happened or existed in the past.

Example

Er war ein großer Krieger.

He was a great warrior.

ich

[ikh]

The pronoun 'ich' in nominative form.

Example

Ich bin da.

I am here.

mit Freunden wandern.

mit FROY-den VAN-dern

hiking with friends.

'Mit Freunden' = with friends (dative plural ends in -n). 'Wandern gehen/sein' means to go hiking.

Example

Ich gehe gern mit Freunden wandern.

I like to go hiking with friends.

Words in this phrase

mit

[mit]

with; by

Preposition indicating the means or instrument used; takes the dative.

Example

Ich fahre mit dem Bus.

I go by bus.

Freunden

[FROY-den]

friends

Dative plural of 'Freund', used after 'mit'.

Example

Ich gehe mit Freunden ins Kino.

I'm going to the cinema with friends.

wandern

[VAN-dern]

hiking

Verb 'to hike'; 'wandern sein' means to have gone hiking.

Example

Wir gehen gern in den Bergen wandern.

We like to go hiking in the mountains.

Guides for German learners

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