Asking for Directions in German

Asking for Directions in German In this lesson youll learn German vocabulary and grammar related to going places, asking for simple directions, and receiving directions. This includes useful phrases such as  Wie  komme  ich  dorthin? for How do I get there? Youll find all of this very helpful when traveling in Germany, so lets start the lesson. The Tips You Need to Ask for Directions in German Asking  for directions is easy.  Understanding the torrent of German you may get back is another story. Most German textbooks and courses teach you how to  ask  the questions, but fail to deal adequately with the  understanding  aspect. Thats why we will also teach you some coping skills to help in such situations.   For example, you can ask your question in such a way that it will elicit a simple ja (yes) or nein  (no), or a simple left, straight ahead, or right answer. And dont forget that hand signals always work, no matter the language. Asking Where: Wo  vs.  Wohin German has two question words for asking where. One is wo? and is used when asking the location of someone or something. The other is wohin? and this is used when asking about motion or direction, as in where to. For instance, in English, you would use where to ask both Where are the keys? (location) and Where are you going? (motion/direction). In German these two questions require two different forms of where. Wo  sind die Schlà ¼ssel?  (Where are the keys?)​Wohin  gehen Sie?  (Where are you going?) In English, this can be compared to the difference between the location question wheres it at? (poor English, but it gets the idea across) and the direction question where to? But in German you can only use  wo?  for wheres it at? (location) and  wohin?  for where to? (direction).  This is a rule that cannot be broken. There are times when  wohin gets split in two, as in: Wo gehen Sie hin? But you cant use wo without hin to ask about motion or direction in German, they must both be included in the sentence. Directions (Richtungen) in German Now lets look at some common words and expressions related to directions and the places we might go. This is essential vocabulary that you will want to memorize. Notice that in some of the phrases below, the gender (der/die/das) may affect the article, as in in  die  Kirche (in the church) or an  den  See (to the lake). Simply pay attention to those times when gender changes der  to den  and you should be okay. Englisch Deutsch along/downGo along/down this street. entlangGehen Sie diese Straße entlang! backGo back. zurà ¼ckGehen Sie zurà ¼ck! in the direction of/towards... the train station the church the hotel in Richtung auf... den Bahnhof die Kirche das Hotel left - to the left links - nach links right - to the right rechts - nach rechts straight aheadKeep going straight ahead. geradeaus (guh-RAH-duh-ouse)Gehen Sieimmer geradeaus! up to, untilup to the traffic lightup to the cinema bis zum (masc./neut.)biszur (fem.)bis zur Ampelbiszum Kino Compass Directions (Himmel Srichtungen) The directions on the compass are relatively easy because the German words are similar to their English counterparts. After you learn the four basic directions, you can form more compass directions by combining words, just as you would in English. For example, northwest is  nordwesten, northeast is nordosten, southwest is sà ¼dwesten, etc. Englisch Deutsch north - to the northnorth of (Leipzig) der Nord(en) - nach Nordennà ¶rdlich von (Leipzig) south - to the southsouth of (Munich) der Sà ¼d(en) - nach Sà ¼densà ¼dlich von (Mà ¼nchen) east - to the easteast of (Frankfurt) der Ost(en) - nach Ostenà ¶stlich von (Frankfurt) west - to the westwest of (Cologne) der West(en) - nach Westenwestlich von (Kà ¶ln)