Breakdown of Wo bist du? — Ich bin zu Hause.
ich
I
sein
to be
du
you (informal singular)
wo
where
zu Hause
at home
Questions & Answers about Wo bist du? — Ich bin zu Hause.
The lesson is about woher and wohin. Why does this sentence just use wo?
Wo asks about a fixed location ("where at?"), which fits perfectly here because there is no movement involved—you are just asking where someone currently is. You would use wohin ("where to?") or woher ("where from?") when asking about movement toward or away from a place.
I thought zu meant "to". Why does zu Hause translate to "at home"?
This is a classic trap for English speakers! While zu often means "to" (which sounds like movement), the phrase zu Hause is a fixed expression that means "at home" (a fixed location). When you want to say you are going home (a direction), you actually use a different phrase: nach Hause.
Why is there an -e added to the end of Haus?
That extra -e is a remnant of an old German grammar rule where certain nouns got an -e ending depending on the words before them. That specific rule is mostly dead in modern German, but it survives in a few old, set phrases. Just memorize zu Hause and nach Hause as fixed expressions!
Learn Wo bist du? — Ich bin zu Hause and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free