Breakdown of Nächste Woche fahren wir nach Italien.
wir
we
fahren
to drive, to travel
nach
to / towards
Italien
Italy
nächste Woche
next week
Questions & Answers about Nächste Woche fahren wir nach Italien.
Why is it fahren wir instead of wir fahren?
In German, the main verb must always be in the second position of the sentence. Because this sentence starts with the time phrase Nächste Woche (position one), the verb fahren takes position two, pushing the subject wir right after it.
The translation says 'we are travelling', but isn't fahren in the present tense?
Exactly! You can often use the present tense in German to talk about the future. Because the sentence includes the time expression Nächste Woche, it is already clear that the action happens in the future, so you don't need a special future tense verb.
Why does nächste end in an '-e' here?
The word Woche is feminine (die Woche). When you specify a definite time without using a preposition (like saying 'next week' or 'last year'), German puts that time phrase in the accusative case. For a feminine noun in the accusative, the adjective ending here is -e.
Why do we use nach for 'to Italy'? Could we use zu?
When you are travelling to a city, country, or continent that doesn't have a 'the' in front of it (like most countries), you always use nach. You would use in for countries that require an article (like in die Schweiz) and zu when going to a person or a specific location in a town (like zum Supermarkt).
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