Breakdown of Wir sind im März nach Italien gereist.
sein
to be
wir
we
reisen
to travel
nach
to / towards
Italien
Italy
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
der März
March
Questions & Answers about Wir sind im März nach Italien gereist.
Why does it say im März instead of just in März?
In German, months always take an article. To say "in a month", you use the preposition in plus the dative article dem. These two words combine to form im. You will use im before every month of the year.
Why do we use sind instead of haben to say "we traveled"?
The verb reisen (to travel) describes a change of location. In the spoken past tense, verbs that express movement from one place to another use a form of sein (to be) as their helper verb, rather than haben (to have).
Why is it nach Italien to mean "to Italy"?
When you travel to a continent, city, or a country that does not have an article in its name (like Italy, Germany, or Spain), you always use the preposition nach. You would typically use zu for going to people or specific locations within a town.
Could I change the order and say Wir sind nach Italien im März gereist?
It would be understood, but it sounds unnatural. German word order generally follows a "Time before Place" rule. Therefore, the time information (im März) should almost always come before the destination (nach Italien).
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