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Zu Hause?

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  • 24-04-2008 4:57pm
    #1
    **Timbuk2**
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,395 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    How come, in German, that the word for the house is -s Haus but when saying to the house its zu Hause?

    Thanks in advance!


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    #2
    ethernet
    Registered Users Posts: 3,568 ✭✭✭ethernet


    I think someone told me it was from old traditions or something (or some old and now defunct case). Could be totally wrong though.


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    #3
    An Citeog
    Registered Users Posts: 3,096 ✭✭✭An Citeog


    The word you're thinking of is Zuhause (-s) and means home. "Ich bin zuhause" (or zu Hause) means "I'm at home". "Ich gehe nachhause" (nach Hause) means "I'm going home".

    Because of the use of prepositions in German, some things can't really be literally translated from English. If you want to say I'm going to the house, it'd be: "Ich gehe ins Haus", literally meaning, "I'm going into the house". You can change the preposition, depending on what exactly you're doing, which may also change the case from the accusative to the dative or genetive.

    Anyway, basically, -s Haus means house and -s Zuhause means home.


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    #4
    **Timbuk2**
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,395 Mod ✭✭✭✭**Timbuk2**


    OK thanks, but I thought the german word for home was Heim?


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    #5
    Popel
    Registered Users Posts: 74 ✭✭Popel


    as far as i know ´heim´ is the same as ´home´ in the sense of ´old folks home´ or something like that. ´zuhause´ is ´home´ as in where you live. So it´s the sort of difference that a dictionary is generally most unhelpful with.


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    #6
    An Citeog
    Registered Users Posts: 3,096 ✭✭✭An Citeog


    **Timbuk2** wrote: »
    OK thanks, but I thought the german word for home was Heim?
    Popel wrote: »
    as far as i know ´heim´ is the same as ´home´ in the sense of ´old folks home´ or something like that. ´zuhause´ is ´home´ as in where you live. So it´s the sort of difference that a dictionary is generally most unhelpful with.

    Yep, -s Heim is the word for asylum/home. It's like saying, I'm at home vs I'm in a home!;)


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    #7
    peasant
    Registered Users Posts: 17,819 ✭✭✭✭peasant


    And to confuse everybody completely:

    Instead of: Ich gehe nach Hause you could also say: Ich gehe heim

    heimgehen = nachhause gehen :D


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    #8
    palaver
    Closed Accounts Posts: 216 ✭✭palaver


    peasant wrote: »
    And to confuse everybody completely:

    Instead of: Ich gehe nach Hause you could also say: Ich gehe heim

    heimgehen = nachhause gehen :D

    That's rather a southern German (suebian) expression :p

    Anyway, I can top the confusion: heimgehen is an oldfashioned word for "to pass away" or "to die", that is to go to the final resting place. :D


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    #9
    Persius
    Registered Users Posts: 76 ✭✭Persius


    **Timbuk2** wrote: »
    How come, in German, that the word for the house is -s Haus but when saying to the house its zu Hause?

    Thanks in advance!

    It's left over from the old dative form of the noun.

    In older German, adding an "e" to the end of a word was very common when forming the dative case. It's more or less defunct now, but there are still a few set phrases where it is used, such as "ich bin zu Hause" or "ich gehe nach Hause". As you probably know, the prepositions "zu" and "nach" always take the dative.

    There are one or two other phrases which use the old dative, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.


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