June 7, 2020
"nach", "zu" and "in" in German
"nach", "zu" and "in" in German
Many people are unclear about the usage of the prepositions "nach", "zu" and "in" when talking about "going somewhere". I see mistakes concerning this point in many users' contributions. So I thought I write a more elaborate explanation so that I can link it to future corrections I do.
We use "nach" when we talk about going to a country, a state/province, a city, a village or an island, and if we refer to it by its name. Examples:
* Wir fahren nach Österreich (China, Brasilien...).
* Wir fahren nach Bayern (Kalifornien, Bahia, Guangdong, ...)
* Wir fliegen nach New York (Berlin, Auckland, ...)
* Wir fahren nach Elba (Kreta, Grönland, ...)
However, there are countries, provinces etc. that have an article. In this case, we use "in". Examples:
* Wir fliegen in die USA (in die Schweiz, in den Iran, ...)
* Wir fahren in die Steiermark.
* Wir wandern in das Nachbardorf.
We use "zu" when we talk about going to persons, building, events. Examples:
* Wir fahren zur Oma (zum Onkel, zu unseren Eltern).
* Wir gehen zur Schule (zum Bahnhof, zur Universität).
* Wir gehen morgen abend zum Konzert.
We use "in" when we imply that we go into the building or place. Examples:
* Wir gehen in den Park (ins Kino, in die Schule).
The differentiation here is sometimes not 100% clear.
* Wir gehen zur Schule. and Wir gehen in die Schule. means the same. Either "walk to school" or "attend school".
* Wir gehen zum Kino sounds awkward, unless the context is going to the cinema and waiting for someone outside it. Everybody says Wir gehen ins Kino.
Avoid sentences like "Ich fahre mit dem Auto in die Schule", because it implies driving into the school building. This is, I guess, not possible even in the most car-crazy countries. Even though native speakers might say this, I suppose it's marked as an error in your exams. "Ich fahre zur Schule" is safe.
I hope this helps future learners of German.
If it needs elaboration, please comment and I will do my best.
I am, by the way, a native speaker but not a language/grammar teacher.
So I thought I should write a more elaborate explanation so that I can link it to any future corrections I domake.
Sentences in written formal English will never begin with "So". In this sentence it can be dropped entirely and begin with the subject "I" instead. Additionally, as the other correction says, "I thought I write a..." should be "I thought I SHOULD write a..." or "I thought I COULD write a...".
"... future corrections I do." This isn't wrong exactly but in formal writing "... future corrections I make." is going to sound more official and authoritative, at least in American English. I can't speak to whether it's wrong or right in British English but I would suspect "make" would be preferred there as well instead of "do".
We use "nach" when we talk about going to a country, a state/province, a city, a village or an island, and if we refer to it by its name.
This is another style correction, what you had before isn't wrong by itself. It just seems redundant (it just seems like you're saying the same thing twice).
We use "zu" when we talk about going to persons,ople, a building, or events.
Comma-separated lists can be tricky but there's a simple rule. Take the sentence and break down the list into individual items and if it still makes sense then the sentence is correct. In this case:
"We use "zu" when we talk about going to persons."
The usage of persons is unnatural and most native English speakers, or rather American English speakers, will use "going to (visit) people".
"We use "zu" when we talk about going to building."
This isn't grammatically correct. We can replace "building" with "a building" or, better yet to make the list completely plural, "buildings".
"We use "zu" when we talk about going to events."
This is good.
Feedback
Your vocabulary and grammar is overall very good. I'd recommend learning and using more connective words "and, but, though" and so on to help your sentences flow better. Overall though, very well done. You're fully comprehensible so it's just a matter of improving style at this point.
So I thought I would write a more elaborate explanation so that I can link it to any future corrections I do.make.¶
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"nach", "zu" and "in" in German |
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"nach", "zu" and "in" in German |
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Many people are unclear about the usage of the prepositions "nach", "zu" and "in" when talking about "going somewhere". |
|
I see mistakes concerning this point in many users' contributions. |
|
So I thought I write a more elaborate explanation so that I can link it to future corrections I do. So I thought I would write a more elaborate explanation so that I can link it to any future corrections I
Sentences in written formal English will never begin with "So". In this sentence it can be dropped entirely and begin with the subject "I" instead. Additionally, as the other correction says, "I thought I write a..." should be "I thought I SHOULD write a..." or "I thought I COULD write a...". "... future corrections I do." This isn't wrong exactly but in formal writing "... future corrections I make." is going to sound more official and authoritative, at least in American English. I can't speak to whether it's wrong or right in British English but I would suspect "make" would be preferred there as well instead of "do". |
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We use "nach" when we talk about going to a country, a state/province, a city, a village or an island, and if we refer to it by its name. We use "nach" when we talk about going to a country, a state/province, a city, a village or an island This is another style correction, what you had before isn't wrong by itself. It just seems redundant (it just seems like you're saying the same thing twice). |
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Examples: |
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* Wir fahren nach Österreich (China, Brasilien...). |
|
* Wir fahren nach Bayern (Kalifornien, Bahia, Guangdong, ...) |
|
* Wir fliegen nach New York (Berlin, Auckland, ...) |
|
* Wir fahren nach Elba (Kreta, Grönland, ...) |
|
However, there are countries, provinces etc. |
|
that have an article. |
|
In this case, we use "in". |
|
Examples: |
|
* Wir fliegen in die USA (in die Schweiz, in den Iran, ...) |
|
* Wir fahren in die Steiermark. |
|
* Wir wandern in das Nachbardorf. |
|
We use "zu" when we talk going to persons, building, events. |
|
Examples: |
|
* Wir fahren zur Oma (zum Onkel, zu unseren Eltern). |
|
* Wir gehen zur Schule (zum Bahnhof, zur Universität). |
|
* Wir gehen morgen abend zum Konzert. |
|
We use "in" when we imply that we go into the building or place. |
|
Examples: |
|
* Wir gehen in den Park (ins Kino, in die Schule). |
|
The differentiation here is sometimes not 100% clear. |
|
* Wir gehen zur Schule. |
|
and Wir gehen in die Schule. |
|
means the same. |
|
Either "walk to school" or "attend school". |
|
* Wir gehen zum Kino sounds awkward, unless the context is going to the cinema and waiting for someone outside it. |
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Everybody says Wir gehen ins Kino. |
|
Avoid sentences like "Ich fahre mit dem Auto in die Schule", because it implies driving into the school building. |
|
This is, I guess, not possible even in the most car-crazy countries. |
|
Even though native speakers might say this, I guess it's marked as an error in your exams. |
|
"Ich fahre zur Schule" is safe. |
|
I hope this helps future learners of German. |
|
If it needs elaboration, please comment and I will do my best. |
|
I am, by the way, a native speaker but not a language/grammar teacher. |
|
We use "zu" when we talk about going to persons, building, events. We use "zu" when we talk about going to pe Comma-separated lists can be tricky but there's a simple rule. Take the sentence and break down the list into individual items and if it still makes sense then the sentence is correct. In this case: "We use "zu" when we talk about going to persons." The usage of persons is unnatural and most native English speakers, or rather American English speakers, will use "going to (visit) people". "We use "zu" when we talk about going to building." This isn't grammatically correct. We can replace "building" with "a building" or, better yet to make the list completely plural, "buildings". "We use "zu" when we talk about going to events." This is good. |
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Even though native speakers might say this, I suppose it's marked as an error in your exams. |
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