Breakdown of Wir sind nach Deutschland gereist, um unser Wissen zu erweitern.
sein
to be
Deutschland
Germany
wir
we
unser
our
reisen
to travel
nach
to / towards
zu
to (infinitive marker)
um ... zu
in order to
das Wissen
the knowledge
erweitern
to expand
Questions & Answers about Wir sind nach Deutschland gereist, um unser Wissen zu erweitern.
How exactly does the um ... zu part work in this sentence?
The phrase um ... zu means "in order to". In German, you put um right after the comma, then any objects or extra information (like unser Wissen), and finally zu plus the infinitive of the verb (erweitern) at the very end of the sentence.
Why does it say Wir sind ... gereist instead of Wir haben ... gereist?
In the spoken past tense (Perfekt), verbs that describe a change of location or travel (like reisen, gehen, or fahren) use the helping verb sein instead of haben. Since wir means "we", it becomes Wir sind ... gereist.
Why do we use nach for "to Germany" instead of zu?
When traveling to a city, country, or continent that doesn't have a "the" before it (like Deutschland), you always use the preposition nach. You only use in for countries with articles, like in die Schweiz (to Switzerland).
Why is it unser Wissen and not unseren or unsere?
The word Wissen (knowledge) is a neuter noun (das Wissen). Here, it is the direct object (accusative case) because it is the thing being expanded. For neuter nouns in the accusative case, the possessive word unser does not get an extra ending.
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