Breakdown of Meine Tochter geht aufs Gymnasium.
mein
my
die Tochter
the daughter
gehen
to go
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
das Gymnasium
the grammar school (academic secondary school)
aufs
onto the (auf + das)
Questions & Answers about Meine Tochter geht aufs Gymnasium.
Wait, doesn't Gymnasium mean a sports gym?
This is a classic false friend! A Gymnasium in German is an academic high school that prepares students for university. If you want to talk about a place to work out, you would use Fitnessstudio, and a physical education hall at a school is a Turnhalle.
Why does the sentence use aufs instead of zum or ins?
In German, the preposition auf is traditionally used when talking about attending a specific level or type of educational institution. You use it to express that she is enrolled in this academic track, rather than just walking inside the physical building, which would use in.
Why does auf take the accusative case here instead of the dative?
The word aufs is a common contraction of auf das. Because auf is a two-way preposition and the verb geht shows movement toward a destination, you must use the accusative case. If you wanted to say she is currently at the school doing something, you would use the dative case and say auf dem Gymnasium.
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