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Welcome to Lesson #20 of Stress Free German, and congrats on reaching the final lesson of Volume 1. I know how much time and effort you put in to make it here, so I hope you keep your momentum going by joining me in Volume II. Just head over to StressFreeGerman.com and click on the banner.

Let’s start by recalling this phrase: We are going to the movies.

Wir gehen ins Kino.

I’m going to the museum.

Ich gehe ins Museum.

And why are they saying “ins?” As we learned back in Lesson 10, it’s a contraction of in and das.

Okay, but what about a masculine location? Hit pause and take a guess on how we might say:

I’m going to the park.

Ich gehe in den Park.

Why is it in den? Because going towards something counts as doing something to it.

Usually. Back in Lesson 14 I mentioned that there was one common exception to this idea, and now is the time to talk about it. It’s this little word zu.

Because you can also say:

Ich gehe zum Park. zum…zu dem..zum

Here’s the difference between the two. When he says…Ich gehe in den Park.

…he enters the park itself. Take a moment and see that scene. A man walking to the park and actually entering it. Ok. But when he says: Ich gehe zum Park. …he might not actually enter the park. Maybe he’s meeting friends by the entrance. Let’s try it again with another masculine location.

Der Supermarkt.

So given the phrase: I’m going to the supermarket. she might say….

Ich gehe in den Supermarkt.

…or…

Ich gehe zum Supermarkt.

With the first one, in den, she is entering the store itself. With the second one, zum, she might not actually enter the store. Maybe she’s going fairly late and the store might be closed.

Another way to visualize this is to draw an arrow piercing the location. The arrow goes into the place. That’s the German word “in.” Then imagine an arrow that ends right in front of the place itself. That would be zu.

(music)

So imagine a bank and a post office next door to each other, and an elderly woman standing outside, as if deciding which place to enter. The presence of the woman tells us that in German these two locations are both feminine. Listen…

Die Bank, Die Post

Hey…wait! Isn’t Bank the word for a bench? It is. German, too, has homonyms…words that sound the same but have different meanings. At least they’re both feminine, right?

So let’s say Thomas is going to the post office. Maybe he wants to mail something in one of the boxes outside. Or maybe he’s meeting a friend outside the building. He says…

Ich gehe zur Post.

Right? Our mental arrow ends just outside of the building. But if he intended to go inside and buy stamps, or go in and pick up a package…

Ich gehe in die Post.

Now our arrow pierces the door and goes inside. Same with the bank. Lisa is meeting a friend outside the bank. So as she heads out she informs her roommate…

Ich gehe zur Bank. zu der…zur

But if she intends to go in and make a deposit?

Ich gehe in die Bank.

Let’s try train station. You’re going there because there’s a guy who sells awesome preztels from a little cart just outside the station. So you tell your roommate…

Ich gehe zum Bahnhof.

But if you intend on going inside to buy tickets, or to wait inside for a friend’s arrival…

Ich gehe in den Bahnhof.

Normally when we say we’re going to the movies, we mean we intend to end up inside it, watching a movie.

Wir gehen ins Kino.

But if your arrow takes you only to the building itself, maybe to meet friends outside it? What would we say?

Wir gehen zum Kino.

Let’s change topics here for a bit and add a new verb. So, your friend comes over in a great mood. She shows you a train ticket and says…

Ich fahre nach London!

Clearly she’s going to London, but why didn’t she use the other version we learned:

Ich gehe…

Well, the verb fahren also conveys the idea of going somewhere, but it implies by some kind of vehicle. Car, bus, train…even a bike. So she’s saying, I’m traveling to London.

You try it. Say: I’m traveling to France.

Ich fahre nach Frankreich.

We are traveling to Austria.

Wir fahren nach Österreich.

My brother is traveling to Germany.

Mein Bruder fährt nach Deustchland.

Ask a friend: Are you traveling to Berlin?

Fährst du nach Berlin?

Maybe we can combine these two main concepts we’re working on. How might you say…

I’m going (by vehicle) to the supermarket.

Ich fahre zum Supermarkt.

I’m going inside the supermarket.

Ich gehe in den Supermarkt.

How about: I now am inside the supermarket.

Ich bin jetzt im Supermarkt.

Excellent. Back in a bit…

TIP OF THE DAY

If you think of your vocabulary in a language as a big pot of stew, then the tip today is to remember to constantly stir deep down into the pot. Keep churning the language, mixing old vocab with new. Because, as the saying goes, use it or lose. But the problem is, unless you have an unlimited amount of time, it becomes increasingly more challenging to properly stir one’s growing vocabulary stew. The trick is to choose wisely. Focus on reviewing those words which are inherently more challenging to recall. This is something we do here in this course, and will continue to do in the lessons ahead.

Speaking of which, I hope you’ll continue your journey with the team here at Stress Free German. I may be the voice of the course, but there are a lot of people who’ve come together to make this happen. Thanks need to go out to the tech guys in Hiroshima, Japan, our language partners in western Ukraine and Germany, our graphics team down in Crimea…even the financial guys in the U.S. We’re a small company but we have big ambitions: To help people realize that even the most challenging languages can be easy, even fun to learn.

(music)

Time for some review.

Try to say: Today we’re shopping in the supermarket.

Heute wir kaufen im Supermarkt ein.

We’ll learn this is a future lesson, but when a sentence starts with a time phrase (like Heute) then the verb goes in the second position. Thus we say:
Heute kaufen…. and not Heute wir…

At the bakery department of the store ask for: One wholegrain bread.

Einmal Vollkornbrot.

Your friend is always late. Tell him: Your clock is broken!

Deine Uhr ist kaputt.

As you head out to go camping, say:

I’m taking a knife with. …implying with me.

Ich nehme ein Messer mit.

Ask a friend: Are you taking his book with?

Nimmst du sein Buch mit?

I’m buying a new garbage bin.

Ich kaufe eine neue Mülltonne.

He is standing on the chair.

Er steht auf dem Stuhl.

Grandma is making a beautiful rug.

Oma macht einen schönen Teppich.

Your friend is wearing a new jacket with the logo of a German bank on it.

Ask: Do you work in a bank?

Arbeitest du in einer Bank?

Tell your boss: I give you, sir, my word.

Ich gebe Ihnen mein Wort.

We know that phrase. But now let’s try it with reported speech. So how will his wife repeat to him:

He is giving you his word.

Er gibt dir sein Wort.

We need a new cutting board.

Wir brauchen ein neus Brett.

(swell)

Thomas is meeting a friend outside the bank. As he heads out he informs his wife…

Ich gehe zur Bank. zu der…zur

Lisa is going to the train station to buy a newspaper at one of the kiosks outside it.

So she says…

Ich gehe zum Bahnhof.

There’s a good choice of cafes inside the train station, so as Hans heads out he says…

I’m going into the train station.

Ich gehe in den Bahnhof.

Katherine needs to make a deposit at the bank so she says…

Ich gehe in die Bank.

Let’s add one word into the mix that you likely already know. Wann

For example: A friend tells you that there’s a free jazz concert in the park tonight. Having to work until seven in the evening you ask:

Wann ist das Konzert?

How would you translate this next phrase?

Wann fahren wir nach Berlin?

When are we traveling to Berlin?

You try it. Ask: When are we traveling to Dublin?

Wann fahren wir nach Dublin?

When are we going shopping?

Wann gehen wir einkaufen?

When are you going to the post office? (implying going in, to mail something)

Wann gehst du in die Post?