In my post from yesterday, I told you how to ask for directions to particular buildings (e.g. a church or museum) or cultural gathering places (e.g. cinema and theatre). Today, I would like to teach you how to ask for addresses in German, that is, street names and places.<\/p>\n
In German culture the main part of an address is always the street name and house number, for example, Blumenstra\u00dfe 5<\/em><\/strong> (lit. Flower Street 5). In German, the most common attachments for street names are:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (die) Stra\u00dfe \u2013 street<\/p>\n (die) Allee \u2013 avenue<\/p>\n (der) Weg \u2013 lane<\/p>\n (der) Platz \u2013 square; place<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The actual name givers for street are usually, for example, prominent figures (e.g. politicians and scientists) and German town names.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are two options in German to ask for the directions to an address:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wie komme ich zu(r\/m) \u2026? \u2013 How do I get to \u2026?<\/p>\n Wie komme ich in die\/den \u2026? \u2013 lit. How do I get into the \u2026?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the feminine nouns \u201cdie Stra\u00dfe\u201d (street) and \u201cdie Allee\u201d (avenue). No matter what the actual street name is, when the name of the street end with Stra\u00dfe<\/em><\/strong> or Allee<\/em><\/strong> you always have to use the following prepositions:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wie komme ich zur Blumestra\u00dfe (5)? \u2013 How do I get to Blumenstra\u00dfe (5)?<\/p>\n Or:<\/p>\n Wie komme ich in die Blumestra\u00dfe (5)? \u2013 lit. How do I get into the Blumestra\u00dfe (5)?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Same with Allee (avenue):<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wie komme ich zur Parkallee (21)? \u2013 How do I get to Parkallee (21)?<\/p>\n Or:<\/p>\n Wie komme ich in die Parkallee (21)? \u2013 lit. How do I get into the Parkallee (21)?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since \u201cStra\u00dfe\u201d and \u201cAllee\u201d are feminine nouns in German, you have to use the prepositions \u201czur\u201d, which is a blend of \u201czu\u201d+\u201dder\u201d. Alternatively, you can also use the preposition \u201cin\u201d with the definite feminine article \u201cdie\u201d. As you can see, it does not matter whether you name the house number of your address, the structure of the sentence remains the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWeg\u201d (here: lane) and \u201cPlatz\u201d (here: square) are masculine nouns in German, thus, you have to use a different preposition. Instead of \u201czur\u201d you have to use \u201czum\u201d. Examples:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wie komme ich zum Blumenweg? \u2013 How do I get to Flower Lane<\/em>?<\/p>\n Wie komme ich zum Platz der Deutschen Einheit? \u2013 How do I get to the German Union Square<\/em>?<\/p>\n Wie komme ich zum Marlene-Dietrich-Platz? \u2013 How do I get to Marlene-Dietrich-Square<\/em>?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note: Street names are proper names, thus, they are actually not translated!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alternatively, you can also ask your question with the preposition \u201cin\u201d (like above), but only with the word \u201cAllee\u201d (avenue) because in German you can get \u2018into\u2019 a street but not \u2018into\u2019 a square. You get only get \u2018on\u2019 a square. Examples:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wie komme ich in den Einsteinweg? \u2013 lit. How do I get into Einstein Lane<\/em>?<\/p>\n Wie komme ich in den Kirschenweg? \u2013 How do I get into Cherry Lane<\/em>?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since the two examples above are possible and correct, the following are not:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wie komme ich in den Platz der Deutschen Einheit? \u2013 How do I get into the German Union Suqare<\/em>? (NOTE: WRONG!)<\/p>\n Wie komme ich in den Marlene-Dietrich-Platz? \u2013 How do I get into the Marlene-Dietrich-Square<\/em>? (NOTE: WRONG!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As you can see, when you are asking for the direction to a square you can only use the option with \u201czum\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In my post from yesterday, I told you how to ask for directions to particular buildings (e.g. a church or museum) or cultural gathering places (e.g. cinema and theatre). Today, I would like to teach you how to ask for addresses in German, that is, street names and places. In German culture the main part…<\/p>\n