The last lesson I completed translated the sentence "I have to get to the conference room" as "Ich muss zum Konferenzraum fahren". It's not clear to me why the word "fahren" is used instead of "gehen". Is it OK to also use "gehen"? Does substituting one word for the other change the meaning of the sentence (e.g. one word connotes driving, whereas the other word connotes getting there on foot)?
Why should I use fahren instead of gehen?
PaulS108
November 4, 2019
sfpugh
November 5, 2019
I think fahren normally, but not exclusively, implies driving or using a means of transport which doesn't seem suitable here.
Looking in the Duden dictionary I see that it can sometimes mean to move hastily or hurry to a particular place. I sounds as though that might work here.
I wonder what the tutor thinks.
Looking in the Duden dictionary I see that it can sometimes mean to move hastily or hurry to a particular place. I sounds as though that might work here.
I wonder what the tutor thinks.
Julia-Rocket-German-Tutor
November 6, 2019
Hallo PaulS108 und sfpugh,
Lesson 2.4 “Traveling On Business“ is about two people sharing a taxi and I believe that’s the reason why they chose to use the word fahren here. However, gehen and fahren are usually not interchangeable and it depends on the context which word is more appropriate to use.
For example, if the conference room was nearby and you wanted to walk there, you could say Ich muss zum Konferenzraum gehen. - “I have to go to the conference room.“
Most of the time, fahren means “to drive“ or “to go [by vehicle]“ and is associated with anything that has wheels (the car, taxi, bus, bicycle, shopping trolley, etc.).
Gehen translates to “to go“ or “to walk“ but doesn’t necessarily imply getting there on foot, e.g.: Ich muss jetzt einkaufen gehen. - “I have to go grocery shopping now.“ (You might walk or drive to the supermarket - it’s not being specific about how you plan to get there)
I hope this helps.
Let me know if you have any further questions!
Grüße
Julia
Lesson 2.4 “Traveling On Business“ is about two people sharing a taxi and I believe that’s the reason why they chose to use the word fahren here. However, gehen and fahren are usually not interchangeable and it depends on the context which word is more appropriate to use.
For example, if the conference room was nearby and you wanted to walk there, you could say Ich muss zum Konferenzraum gehen. - “I have to go to the conference room.“
Most of the time, fahren means “to drive“ or “to go [by vehicle]“ and is associated with anything that has wheels (the car, taxi, bus, bicycle, shopping trolley, etc.).
Gehen translates to “to go“ or “to walk“ but doesn’t necessarily imply getting there on foot, e.g.: Ich muss jetzt einkaufen gehen. - “I have to go grocery shopping now.“ (You might walk or drive to the supermarket - it’s not being specific about how you plan to get there)
I hope this helps.
Let me know if you have any further questions!
Grüße
Julia
sfpugh
November 7, 2019
Ah! I don't have level 1 so I couldn't see the context. Out of context it sounded as though they were already in the conference centre and needed to get to the conference room and so would be unlikely to drive.
Is the use of fahren to imply hurry actually used? It seemed pretty far down the list of meanings in Duden.
Is the use of fahren to imply hurry actually used? It seemed pretty far down the list of meanings in Duden.
Julia-Rocket-German-Tutor
November 11, 2019
Hallo sfpugh,
fair enough! I just had a look at the list of meanings for fahren on the Duden website. The word fahren cannot be translated as to move hastily or hurry. The examples listed there are quite uncommon expressions.
Good words to use for saying "to hurry" or "to rush" are sich beeilen and eilen, for example:
Beeil dich! - "Hurry up!"
Er muss nach Hause eilen. - "He has to rush home."
Hope this clears things up!
Julia
fair enough! I just had a look at the list of meanings for fahren on the Duden website. The word fahren cannot be translated as to move hastily or hurry. The examples listed there are quite uncommon expressions.
Good words to use for saying "to hurry" or "to rush" are sich beeilen and eilen, for example:
Beeil dich! - "Hurry up!"
Er muss nach Hause eilen. - "He has to rush home."
Hope this clears things up!
Julia