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- Topic: German >
- "Wir gehen zu einem Gebäude."
41 Comments
So vague...I'm suspicious of this group, walking to "a building". Put them on the watchlist.
I don't understand why is Dative used here. Tips & notes says:
,, Movement from one place to another -> accusative: Ich gehe in ein Haus (I am walking into a house)"
,,We are walking to a buliding" is a kind of movement from one place to another so shouldn't be Akkusative used?
In the sentence "Wir gehen zu einem Gebäude", "zu" triggers the dative case. Here's an excerpt from the Tips and Notes:
Dative prepositions always trigger the dative case. Here they are: aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, zu
So, I understand that zu is probably included here just to remind us that "zu" triggers dative. But speaking practically, is "zu" necessary? It seems like in earlier exercises, the dative articles were enough to signify the English sense of "to," making a "zu" redundant. Maybe it's that certain verbs require zu while others don't?
It absolutely IS necessary when talking about location, placement etc.
There's a difference between for instance "mit einem Freund" and "von einem Freund", yet they are both in dativ.
If you removed the prepositions, you'd be left with nonsense or a completely different meaning, depending on the verb and the context.
And as you said, when you give something to someone, that's also different, because the whole structure of and around the verb isn't just geben, it's "jemandem etwas geben".
In English, there is the "to" but in German, the "to" is basically included in the dativ structure. Hope that clarified it a bit.
I bet it can be hard to grasp things like these when your native language doesn't have inflection (for the most part) so you can stick one word to another as it stands, and without changing anything, it forms a proper sentence. German is a bit more complicated than that. I've been learning German for about 9 years now and still haven't learned shit, even though Czech, my native language, is built on inflection, so it should be easier for me. It's not :D
2007
"Zum" is the short form of "zu dem" = "to the", so that doesn't work here. The sentence would have to be "We are walking to the building" for your translation to be correct.
As igelchen said, it's a difference between cases. However, to correct your question, it should be "Darf man 'Wir gehen zum Gebäude' sagen?". "Man" isn't a noun, "man", meaning "one" as in "one could say that", is correct. The noun "A man" is "Mann". "Darf" is also already conjugated, so "sagt" should be the infinitive, "sagen". Good question!
- 1795
"Wir gehen zu einem Gebäude." means we are going to any building. "Wir gehen zum Gebäude." or "Wir gehen zu dem Gebäude." means we are going to a certain building.
I go to a building I get but where is 'walking' in that sentence ? Where does it state by what method I get to the building?
- 452
That's the important difference between the German "gehen" and the English "to go".
In these sentences the German verb already expresses that we don't use any means of transportation but our own feet. The default verb we use for "going by bike/car/taxi/train/ect." is "fahren".
The preposition 'Zu' (To) should not be confused with the adverb 'Zu' (Too / very).
Gehen means going , laufen is walking. Why is my answer wrong? How is the student to know?
- 452
As a native speaker I would always understand "Wir gehen zu einem Gebäude." as 'walking to the building'.
Gehen means going , laufen is walking.
Not necessarily. "We're going by train." = "Wir fahren mit dem Zug."
"Gehen" usually implies that we are using our own feet to get somewhere. Only general statements like "Wir gehen zur Schule." leave it open which means of transport we use. (Metaphorically it is different, though. "Geht es dir besser?" = "Are you feeling better?"; "Du gehst mir auf die Nerven!" = "You're getting on my nerves!"/"You're a pain in the ass.")
"Laufen" can mean walking, but also running. E.g.:
- "Wir haben den Bus verpasst. Jetzt müssen wir laufen." = "We missed the bus. Now we have to walk."
- "Ich gehe jeden Morgen eine Stunde laufen." = "I go running for an hour every morning."
- "Das Laufband ist kaputt." = "The treadmill is broken."
- "Wir haben uns verlaufen." = "We got lost."
- "It's working." = "Es funktioniert."
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- "Die Spülmaschine geht/funktioniert." = "The dishwasher is working."
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- "Der Fernseher läuft/funktioniert." = "The television is working."
Comments like this and your other one on this same thread--and from other native speakers who share their thoughts--are always extremely helpful, and a valuable addition to Duolingo. Thank you for taking the time!
if we'd wanted to say "we are walking to another building." should have we said: "Wir gehen zu einem anderen Gebäude?"
I use to know that with movement actions are accusative case while static actions are dative. Is there any rule to know when is accusative and when is dative?
This is a rule only for two-way prepositions (that can take both dative and accusative). "zu" is not one of them. It always takes dative.
- 1795
No. You can go "nach" a city or country, but not "nach" a building.
Ich gehe nach Berlin. Ich gehe nach Schweden. Ich gehe zu dem Gebäude. Ich gehe zur Kirche. Ich gehe zum Sportplatz. Ich gehe zum Markt. Ich gehe zum Lehrer. Ich gehe zum Fluss.
In one case "zu" means "from" and sometimes it means "to". How do you know the difference? From context?
We are going to a building I understand, gehen is going? And laufen is walking?
- 452
There are a bunch of different verbs for 'movement' in german even if you only count the ones whithout the use of any vehicles.
In general and for normal walking speed we use "gehen".
To emphasize that someone doesn't go by bike/bus/anything but really walks with his own two legs we say "zu Fuß gehen".
If we go for a walk that's "spazieren" or "spazieren gehen" (or "einen Spaziergang machen").
"laufen" may be used as a synonym to "zu Fuß gehen" or in the combination "laufen gehen" which some people use as an synonym to "joggen / joggen gehen" or in the meaning of "running".
(Machines that work are also said to "laufen" = run.)
"rennen" always expresses a fast moving speed, that's what you are doing if you try to catch the bus/train ect..
"sprinten" is focussed running at high speed, like in competitions or a very short distance (to catch a bus/train like "rennen" mentioned above) as well.
"schlendern" in opposite is very slow walking, maybe because you are tired and or bored or you are looking at some shop windows while walking down a street.
"schleichen" is very slow too, but expresses a purpose like being quiet not to wake up the baby or approaching the victim you want to murder or intentionally being a hindrance to / slowing down someone else.
- 452
Please read the comments and don't ask questions which have already been asked and answered.
