"Der Zaun um den Park ist alt."

Translation: The fence around the park is old.

[Deutsch_Mark]

could it not mean "at the park"? Or am I translating 'um' too literally? e.g. at 10 o'clock = um 10 uhr

[Drphilismydaddy]

well, if it wasn't the exact time, because 'um' also translates to 'around', like saying 'around 10 o'clock.' I think you can use it after something happened, eg batman stopped the joker around 10 pm, or like meet me around 10 am.

[leylandski]

In literally the previous question it asked me what "um" meant and the correct and was "at", so why is "the fence at the park is old" wrong?

[SillyLilyAJ]

"Um" means "at" when used with time and "around" when used with location.

[skyknight]

A good picture summarizing the location prepositions here: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Z9TO8fqjmo/T1lDYCWiInI/AAAAAAAAAKA/bzLx474f8MM/s1600/preposiciones+%25281%2529.jpg

As a general rule all of location prepositions could require Akkusativ or Dativ. If they indicate movement Akkusativ. Otherwise they present the state of the object and require Dativ.

[JayveeDy]

why is it 'den Park' and not 'dem Park'. I thought the park here should be in the dative case. shouldn't it?

[pilot_c]

use this O, FUDGE take accustive
ohne, fur, um, durch, gegen

[jwbards]

But you forgot the e ... entlang.

[IsobelRoxburgh]

What's wrong with "The fence ROUND the park..." That would be more natural speech here in Scotland.

[ratmotor13]

But the fence runs around the perimeter of the park, and Duolingo wants to differentiate between the word "round" as in "a round ball" and "around" as in "We are walking around the block".

[SeanCellerOBryan]

Huh yeah but 'round' as in 'the fence round the park' is not the same as 'round' like 'a round ball'. Homonyms.

[Drphilismydaddy]

in 'a round ball,' round is an adjective and in 'round the block,' round is a preposition. Anyone should be able to see the difference.

[Zaubers]

It is "den park" because the "um" triggers Accusative, right?

[jkshf]

Yes, um uses Akkusativ.

[Guilherme.Breda]

in this sentence we are not dealing with an action how could i recognize that this phrase is acusative?
(desconsedering the fact that this sentence has a ``DEN´´)

[PrincessKevin]

What is wrong with translating it as "The fence at the park is old"? I thought 'um' could also be translated 'at.'

[gumarcher]

why the Park is accusative object (den) here?

[alitraore]

I was told that the verb should always be at the second position.
Why it is not the case here.

[IsobelRoxburgh]

My understanding is that it is in the second place.
Question - "What is old?"
Answer - "The fence around the park."
In this case the subject is not a single word. It is a phrase and the phrase occupies the first position so the verb is in second position.
I hope my understanding is correct.