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German Phrase

Ich fahre nächsten Monat in den Urlaub.

/ɪç ˈfaːʁə ˈnɛːçstən ˈmoːnaːt ɪn deːn ˈʔuːɐ̯laʊ̯f/
Meaning"I am going on vacation next month."
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Meaning

I am going on vacation next month. The sentence uses the present tense to talk about a planned future event, a common way to express future intentions in German.

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When to use

Use this phrase when you want to tell friends, family, or colleagues about your upcoming holiday plans, especially when the focus is on the act of traveling to the vacation destination.

✦Grammar Breakdown

IchfahrenächstenMonatindenUrlaub

1

Verb fahren (travel)

‘fahren’ is used for traveling by vehicle or moving to a destination. In the present tense it follows the regular conjugation: ich fahre, du fährst, er/sie/es fährt…

2

Temporal expression without article

‘nächsten Monat’ expresses a future point in time. The adjective ‘nächsten’ takes the strong accusative ending –en because there is no article before ‘Monat’.

3

Preposition in + accusative

When ‘in’ indicates movement into a place, it governs the accusative case. Hence ‘in den Urlaub’ (into the vacation).

4

Accusative article ‘den’

‘Urlaub’ is masculine; the accusative singular article is ‘den’. This signals direction rather than location.

🗨In Conversation

A

Was hast du für den Sommer geplant?

What have you planned for the summer?

Ich fahre nächsten Monat in den Urlaub.

I'm going on vacation next month.

B

✕Common Mistakes

  • Ich fahre nächsten Monat zu den Urlaub.

    ‘zu’ takes the dative and is used for destinations without a sense of entering, e.g., ‘zu meinem Freund’. For traveling into a place you need ‘in’ + accusative.

  • Ich fahre nächsten Monat im Urlaub.

    ‘im’ (in dem) is dative and would mean ‘inside the vacation’, which is nonsensical. Use ‘in den’ for motion.

  • Ich fahre nächste Monat in den Urlaub.

    The adjective must agree with the masculine accusative noun ‘Monat’, so it becomes ‘nächsten Monat’.

↔Alternatives

  • Nächsten Monat gehe ich in den Urlaub.

    Next month I go on vacation.

  • Ich mache nächsten Monat Urlaub.

    I'm taking vacation next month.

  • Im nächsten Monat fahre ich in den Urlaub.

    In the next month I will travel on vacation.

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Cultural Tip

In German, both ‘in den Urlaub fahren’ (to travel to the vacation) and ‘Urlaub machen’ (to take a holiday) are common. The former emphasizes the journey, while the latter focuses on the time off. When speaking informally, many Germans simply say ‘Ich fahre in den Urlaub’ without specifying the month, assuming the context is clear.