Grammar question

In an early lession, there is the extra vocabulary:

“Er trifft sie am Flughafen”.

Yet, I don't see anyplace in levels 1, 2, or 3 where the “am” is really explained in context. The extra vocab section doesn't seem to offer grammar explanations.

I'm assuiming the “am” is the Dative for “Der Flughafen”, but it's disconcerting when it's not explained.

Did I miss this explanation?

Thanks in advance,

Hi All

In my experience with the Italian and German you can't just rey on Rocket Languages for some of the finer grammar points. I find Rocket amazing, but resort to the use of the internet as well as book learning to understand certain bits of grammar. I often have an epiphany when I come across an explanation in a book. So I switch between various tools to get an overall picture. 

I have found getting you to speak and also to increase your vocabulary and generally feel comfortable in the language Rocket is one of the best out there. But I do use a lot of other resources, otherwise I just get confused and frustrated

Sebongela

Thanks very much. Great reply! :)

I'm thinking that getting a companion book like “German Grammer Drills” ($17.95 on Amazon) if that wouldn't be too boring.

I'm already also doing daily Duolingo. 

I did the trial for Rosetta and liked the graphical way it associates things, but I'm afraid it would always be too basic. Also checked out lingoda.com, but that seemed way too expensive for learing with a one-year goal for fluency (based on my current rate, a year may be too optimistic). One subscripton I did get that is actually a lot of fun is Yabla. I still don't understand much of what's in the vidoes there, but it's a constant source of German. “Nico” and the Deutsche Welle videos are OK too.

Thanks again!

Tschüss :)

Hi JimDW

Some books are really great and some just get complicated at a very early stage. Have found some of them are great for building up the understanding slowly and steadily.

I have found going into a book shop and looking at the individual books or even a library before you buy. That way you can see if it is going to be helpful. I have taken out several books from our local library and spent time with them and done some of the work in them too. Some text books are also free and in pdf form. Once I find a book I can work with, then am happy to purchase the book. 

In Italian I have got to level 2 and have slowed down a lot, German still right at the beginning. Am also using Coffee break languages. Good free podcasts. Some of their courses I have bought too. Bought German level one, as it comes with notes and bonus audio. In the Italian bought the travel diaries and magazine, as those are extensive. When I get to the intermediate German level will buy those too. They do allow free preview if you are interested. I also use the Reading club Italian and German, but didn't think it was worth subscribing to those.

I like variety and all bits help. Use Duolingo as well as Memrise free ones. 

Happy learning 

sebongela

Hallo JimDW und sebongela!

The “am” in “Er trifft sie am Flughafen.” is short for “an dem”. It's a contraction between the preposition and the article. You're absolutely right that it's dative here. Some other examples of contractions are:

im = (in + dem)

vom = (von + dem)

beim = (bei + dem)

zum = (zu + dem)

You'll also find some explantations in lesson 4.9 ‘Prepositions With the Accusative’ under 'Contractions with Prepositions' and lesson 7.7 ‘Dates and Action in the Past: DAS PERFEKT’ under 'Dates'.

Let me know if you have any further questions :)

Tschüss!

Julia