Wir fahren morgen zum Flughafen.

We are going to the airport tomorrow.

Breakdown of Wir fahren morgen zum Flughafen.

• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• wir: we
• zu: to
• morgen: tomorrow
• fahren: to go
• der Flughafen: the airport

Questions & Answers about Wir fahren morgen zum Flughafen.

What does the verb fahren mean here, and when do I use it instead of gehen?

In German, fahren means “to drive” or “to travel by vehicle.” You use fahren when you go somewhere by car, bus, train, bike, etc.
By contrast, gehen means “to walk” (on foot).
Since you’ll likely sit in a car or train to get to the airport, you say fahren.

What is zum, and why is it used here?

Zum is a contraction of the preposition zu (“to”) plus the dative article dem (“the” for masculine/neuter nouns).
So zum Flughafen literally is zu dem Flughafen, meaning “to the airport.”
The contraction just makes it shorter and smoother.

Why is the dative case used after zu?

In German, certain prepositions—among them zu, mit, aus, bei, nach, seit, von and gegenüber—always take the dative case.
After zu, any noun or pronoun must be in the dative.
Hence dem Flughafen (dative masculine).

Why is morgen placed after the verb fahren and not at the beginning or end?

Morgen here is a time adverbial (meaning “tomorrow”).
German main clauses use the verb-second rule: the conjugated verb must occupy the second position.

• With Wir as subject first, fahren stays second and morgen comes third: Wir fahren morgen…
  If you move morgen to the front, the verb still stays second: Morgen fahren wir zum Flughafen.

Can I say am Morgen instead of morgen?

They have different functions:

• morgen (lowercase) is an adverb meaning “tomorrow.”
• am Morgen (capitalized, with article) is a noun phrase meaning “in the morning.”
  So Wir fahren morgen… = “We’re going tomorrow…”
  But Wir fahren am Morgen… = “We’re going in the morning (as opposed to afternoon/evening).”

What’s the difference between Wir fahren morgen zum Flughafen and Morgen fahren wir zum Flughafen?

Both sentences mean the same thing. The difference is emphasis:

• Wir fahren morgen zum Flughafen. neutral order (subject first).
• Morgen fahren wir zum Flughafen. emphasizes tomorrow by placing it at the start.

Could I say Wir fahren in den Flughafen?

No.

• in den Flughafen (accusative) means “into the airport” (going inside the building).
• zum Flughafen (dative) means “to the airport” (arriving at the airport as a destination).
  If you want to talk about entering the building, you’d say Wir gehen in den Flughafen or Wir fahren zum Flughafen und gehen dann in den Flughafen.