German help

Guest 224   Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:17 am GMT
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
Arthur   Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:07 pm GMT
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".
Parisien   Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:45 pm GMT
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?".
Guest   Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:30 pm GMT
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.
Parisien   Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:21 pm GMT
How would you say:
"That is 'why' I did it.":

"Deshalb tat ich es "
oder
"Deswegen tat ich es"
oder
"Darum tat ich es."
Guest   Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:00 am GMT
Good thread...
Claudia von Kassel   Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:30 pm GMT
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.
Travis   Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:39 pm GMT
>>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".
Arthur   Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:11 pm GMT
Travis,

You are completely right. Thank you for pointing it out.