Questions & Answers about Sie fliegen in den Süden.
Why is it in den Süden instead of im Süden?
in is a two-way preposition. Because the sentence describes movement towards a destination (answering "Where to?" or Wohin?), we use the accusative case. Süden is masculine, so the article becomes den. If they were already flying around inside the south, you would use the dative case (im Süden).
Why do we use in here? I thought we use nach for going places, like nach Berlin.
You use nach for most cities, countries, and continents that do not use "the" (an article). However, compass directions like the south (der Süden) always use in plus the accusative case when you are traveling towards them.
English just says "flying south". Why does German add in den?
In English, "south" can act as a direction word all by itself. In German, compass directions are treated as nouns. You cannot just say Sie fliegen Süden. You have to literally say they are flying "into the South" (in den Süden).
Are all compass directions masculine in German?
Yes! All four main compass directions (der Norden, der Süden, der Osten, der Westen) are masculine nouns.
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