Breakdown of Het pakket gaat van de fabriek tot aan het distributiecentrum.
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
het pakket
the package
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
de fabriek
the factory
Questions & Answers about Het pakket gaat van de fabriek tot aan het distributiecentrum.
Why does this sentence use tot aan instead of just tot?
While tot means "to" or "until," adding aan emphasizes the physical boundary or limit of the journey. It translates to "as far as" or "right up to," highlighting that the distribution center is the exact physical endpoint for this package.
Could we use the other lesson phrase, tot en met, instead of tot aan here?
It wouldn't sound natural. tot en met means "up to and including" and is mainly used for logical sequences like numbers, dates, or days of the week. For physical spaces and geographic locations like het distributiecentrum, you use tot aan.
Why don't we use naar (to) for the destination?
If you just wanted to say "goes to the distribution center," you would indeed use naar het distributiecentrum. However, because this sentence maps out a specific range with a starting point, Dutch pairs van (from) with tot or tot aan (to / as far as) instead of naar.
Why does distributiecentrum use the article het?