GermanFluent

A1 · Time and place prepositions

nach Berlin, zum Arzt, in die Schule

to a town, to a person, into a place

Formnach + Ort (town/country) | zu + Person/Gebäude | in + Artikel + Ort

Meaning and usage

German has three common ways to say 'to': nach for towns and countries without an article, zu for people and buildings, and in for going inside a place or for countries with an article. The choice depends on the destination, not on the verb.

Use nach with names like Berlin or München, and with countries like Deutschland or Frankreich. Use zu with people (zum Arzt, zu Maria) and with buildings or institutions (zur Schule, zum Bahnhof). Use in when you go inside a building or a place, often with a definite article: in die Schule, ins Kino, in den Bahnhof. The common mistake is using nach with people or buildings, or forgetting the article after in when the meaning is 'into'.

Examples 5

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  1. 1 Sprachbausteine

    Morgen fahre ich Berlin.

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    Correct answer: nach

    nach is used with towns and countries without an article, so nach Berlin is correct. zu and in are not used with bare town names in this meaning.

    • bei means 'at' or 'near', not 'to', so bei Berlin does not fit the meaning.
    • in can mean 'to' with places that take an article, but Berlin has no article, so in Berlin would mean 'in Berlin', not 'to Berlin'.
    • zu is used for people and buildings, not for towns, so zu Berlin is not correct here.

In this topic: Time and place prepositions

  1. am Montag, am Abend on Monday, in the evening
  2. im Januar, im Sommer in a month or season
  3. um acht Uhr at + clock time
  4. von … bis from one time or place to another
  5. nächste Woche, jeden Tag next week, every day: no preposition, accusative
  6. vor zwei Jahren ago, with a length of time
  7. Ich komme aus … saying where someone or something comes from
  8. nach Berlin, zum Arzt, in die Schule to a town, to a person, into a place
  9. zu Hause, nach Hause at home vs. going home
  10. bei at someone's home, at a company, near a place
  11. zum, zur, ins, beim, vom zum, zur, ins, beim, vom: preposition and article as one

Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.