Saying to in German With Nach and Zu

There are at least  half a dozen ways  to say to in German. But one of the biggest sources of to confusion comes from just two prepositions:  nach  and  zu. Fortunately, there are clear distinctions between the two. The preposition  nach, except in the idiomatic phrase nach Hause ([to] home, homeward), is used exclusively with geographic place names and points of the compass (including left and right). Most other uses of  nach  are in its meaning of after (nach der Schule   after school) or according to (ihm nach   according to him). Here are some examples of  nach  when it means to:  nach Berlin  (to Berlin),  nach rechts  (to the right),  nach Ãâ€"sterreich  (to Austria). Note, however, that plural or feminine countries, such as die Schweiz, usually use  in  instead of  nach:  in die Schweiz, to Switzerland.   The preposition  zu  is used in most other cases and is always used for to with people:  Geh zu Mutti!, Go to (your) mom! Note that  zu  can also mean too, functioning as an adverb:  zu viel, too much. Another difference between the two is that  nach  is rarely used with an article, while  zu  is often combined with an article or even contracted into a one-word compound, as in  zur Kirche  (zu der Kirche, to the church) or  zum Bahnhof  (zu dem Bahnhof, to the train station). Nach Hause  and  zu Hause Both of these prepositions are used with  Haus(e), but only  nach  means to when used with  Haus. The phrase  zu Hause  means at home, just as  zu Rom  means at/in Rome in that poetic, old-fashioned type of construction. Note that if you want to say to my house/place in German, you say  zu mir  (zu dative pronoun) and the word  Haus  is not used at all! The idiomatic expressions ​nach Hause and zu Hause follow the rules for nach  and zu  given above. Here are some more examples of the uses of  nach  and  zu  (as to): Wir fliegen  nach  Frankfurt.Were flying to Frankfurt. (geographic)Der Wind weht von Westen  nach  Osten.The wind is blowing from west to east. (compass)Wie komme ich  zum  Stadtzentrum?How to I get to the city center? (non-geographic)Ich fahre  nach  Frankreich.Im going to France. (geographic)Gehst du  zur  Kirche?Are you going to church? (non-geographic)Kommt doch  zu  uns!Why dont you guys come over to our place [to us]. (non-geographic)Wir gehen  zur  Bà ¤ckerei.Were going to the bakery. (non-geographic) Direction/Destination The preposition  zu  expresses the idea of heading in a direction and going to a destination. It is the opposite of  von  (from):  von Haus zu Haus  (from house to house). Although both of the following sentences can be translated as He is going to the university, there is a difference in the German meanings: Er geht  zur  Università ¤t. (The university is his current destination.)Er geht  an  die Università ¤t. (Hes a student. He attends the university.) Those Tricky Prepositions Prepositions in any language can be tricky to deal with. They are particularly susceptible to cross-language interference. Just because a phrase is said a certain way in English, does not mean it will be the same in German. As we have seen, both  zu  and  nach  can be used in many ways, and to in German is not always expressed with these two words. Look at these to examples in  English and  German: ten to four  (score)   zehn zu vierten to four  (time)   zehn vor vierI dont want to  Ã‚  ich will nichtto my delight  Ã‚  zu meiner Freudeto my knowledge  Ã‚  meines Wissensbumper to bumper  Ã‚  Stoßstange an Stoßstangeto town  Ã‚  in die Stadtto the office  Ã‚  ins Bà ¼roto a great extent  Ã‚  in hohem Grad/Maße However, if you follow the simple rules on this page for  nach  and  zu, you can avoid making obvious mistakes with those two prepositions when you want to say to. German Prepositions That Can Mean To All of the following prepositions mean several other things besides to: an, auf, bis, in, nach, vor, zu; hin und her  (adverb,  to and fro) Note that German also uses nouns or pronouns in the  dative case  to express to:  mir  (to me),  meiner Mutter  (to my mother),  ihm  (to him).