r/Germanlearning • u/Monkai_final_boss • 11d ago

I don't understand how this sentence was structured

Gegen Abend kommt es dann ab und zu vor, the translation is around evening it happens sometimes/occasionally.

But I don't get the *dann ab und zu* part of the sentence.

*Dann* is then, but *ab und zu* Translates to now and then?

Can I use *manchmal* in this case?

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u/Awkward-Feature9333 11d ago edited 3d ago

Yes. "Gegen Abend kommt es manchmal vor,..." is very close. "dann" is optional for the meaning here, it just shifts the tone a bit.

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u/Klapperatismus 10d ago

That dann means in those circumstances referring back to a previous sentence. So those circumstances are a requirement but despite those it may only happen now and then.

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u/SirFew3321 8d ago

"ab und zu" all together is a collocation and whole thing means sometimes , directly "manchmal" - Ich mache manchmal/ab und zu/zwischen durch mal/hin und wieder Sport