Wohin? - Where to?

Fragen und Antworten

Picking up where we left off—for directions within town—here are some more examples (below). But first, a quick comment about in vs zu. What is the difference between saying Ich gehe ins Kino or Ich gehe zum Kino? - Using ins Kino implies you are going inside (to see a movie), while zum Kino implies you are going to that location (to meet someone out front, etc.).

PLACES TO GO - 2 In der Stadt / In Town
This section is vocabulary for places in town. Both the basic word and the "to" phrase are given for each item. For example, die Bäckerei is the bakery, but if we want to say "to the bakery," it's zur Bäckerei (the short form of zu der Bäckerei). Some of the phrases below may have more than one way to say "to." We have listed the most common way. Note the following contractions: ins = in das, zum = zu dem, zur = zu der
Englisch	Deutsch
bakery - to the bakery	die Bäckerei - zur Bäckerei
bank - to the bank	die Bank - zur Bank
bar/pub - to the bar/pub	die Kneipe - in die Kneipe
butcher to the butcher	der Fleischer/der Metzger zum Fleischer/zum Metzger
hotel - to the hotel	das Hotel - zum Hotel
market/fleamarket to the market	der Markt/der Flohmarkt zum Markt/zum Flohmarkt
cinema - to the movies/cinema	das Kino - ins/zum Kino
the post office - to the post office	die Post - zur Post
restaurant - to the restaurant	das Restaurant - ins/zum Restaurant
to a/the Chinese restaurant	zum Chinesen
to an/the Italian restaurant	zum Italiener
to a/the Greek restaurant	zum Griechen
school - to school	die Schule - zur Schule
the shopping center to the shopping center	das Einkaufszentrum zum Einkaufszentrum
the traffic light/signal (up) to the signal	die Ampel bis zur Ampel
the train station - to the station	der Bahnhof - zum Bahnhof
work - to work	die Arbeit - zur Arbeit
the youth hostel to the youth hostel	die Jugendherberge in die Jugendherberge
ANDERSWO - ELSEWHERE
the lake - to the lake	der See - an den See
the sea - to the sea	die See/das Meer - ans Meer
the toilet/restroom to the toilet/restroom	die Toilette/das Klo/das WC zur Toilette/zum Klo/zum WC

Here are some sample questions and answers related to asking and giving directions.

FRAGEN und ANTWORTEN Questions and Answers in German and English

In the sentences below, the TO-phrases are in bold type – both in German and English. There is some grammar here that we will ignore until a later lesson. For now, learn the patterns for the various articles (der/die/das) for each gender (masc./fem./neuter). NOTE: The sentences below are answers to the question in red (rot).

Wohin fahren Sie? / Wohin fährst du? Where are you going? (driving/traveling)

Ich fahre morgen an den See. I'm going to the lake tomorrow.

Ich fahre morgen nach Dresden. I'm going to Dresden tomorrow.

Wie komme ich... How do I get...

...zur Bank? - Gehen Sie zwei Straßen und dann rechts. ...to the bank? - Go two blocks (streets) and then right.

...zum Hotel? - Fahren Sie diese Straße entlang. ...to the hotel? - Drive down/along this street.

...zur Post? - Gehen Sie bis zur Ampel und dann links. ...to the post office? - Go up to the traffic light and then left.

NOTE: For the items above, if you are walking, you use gehen; if you are driving, you use fahren.

Extra-Ausdrücke Extra Expressions

an der Kirche vorbei past the church am Kino vorbei past the cinema

rechts/links an der Ampel right/left at the traffic light

am Marktplatz at the market square an der Ecke at the corner

die nächste Straße the next street über die Straße across/over the street über den Marktplatz across the market square

vor dem Bahnhof in front of the train station vor der Kirche in front of the church