German help
wieso
weshalb
warum
All the above words mean "why?" in German, so when do I know when to use which?
When do I know how to use "zu" and "nach?"
Can someone tell me or can someone lead me to some links?
Thanks
Guest 224,
wieso, warum and deshalb (and the less common weswegen) are interchangeable. The most commonly used word is warum, but it doesn't mean that there is a difference at all, at least as far as I know.
So it is with the answer words: darum, deshalb and deswegen.
Nach in its function of movement preposition is used when you are going/traveling to another town, thorpe, city, country, contintent.
If you are going to another place/area/district/building/company/institution within the same city for most of the cases "zu" is used, and sometimes "in" (with accusative) is used as well, but never "nach".
wieso, weshalb, warum ...
'Why' can also be rendered with 'wozu' when the question is implicitly "what's that for", "which purpose does it serve".
An example: "Why more taxes?" would translate in German "Wozu höhere Steuern?".
How would you say:
"That is 'why' I did it."
would that be a case where 'weshalb' would predominate over 'warum'? 'Warum' just doesn't sound right to me.
How would you say:
"That is 'why' I did it.":
"Deshalb tat ich es "
oder
"Deswegen tat ich es"
oder
"Darum tat ich es."
I tend to equate "warum" with "why" and "wieso" with "how come" -- they mean basically the same thing, as in English, and are interchangeable. I don't think "weshalb" is used as much as "warum" and "wieso." Hope this helps.
>>Nach in its function of movement preposition is used when you are going/traveling to another town, thorpe, city, country, contintent.
If you are going to another place/area/district/building/company/institution within the same city for most of the cases "zu" is used, and sometimes "in" (with accusative) is used as well, but never "nach".<<
One exception to this is that "nach Haus(e)" is used to mean "to home" whereas "zu Haus(e)" means "at home".
Travis,
You are completely right. Thank you for pointing it out.