Wir nutzen die Chance, um draußen zu spielen.

to play

Breakdown of Wir nutzen die Chance, um draußen zu spielen.

• draußen: outside
• wir: we
• um: in order to
• die Chance: the opportunity
• nutzen: to take advantage of

Questions & Answers about Wir nutzen die Chance, um draußen zu spielen.

Why is nutzen used instead of benutzen?

Both nutzen and benutzen can translate as “to use,” but there’s a subtle difference. benutzen usually refers to using a concrete object (e.g. “Ich benutze den Stift”). nutzen is more abstract and means “to make use of” or “to take advantage of” something (e.g. “eine Gelegenheit nutzen”). Since die Chance is abstract, nutzen is the more idiomatic choice here.

Why is there a comma before um?

In German, any subordinate clause introduced by um … zu requires a comma. The pattern is: main clause, comma, um + purpose clause.

What does the um … zu construction express?

The um … zu construction forms a purpose clause. It answers the question “Why?” or “For what purpose?” In English it corresponds to “in order to.”
Example: Wir lernen Deutsch, um in Deutschland zu arbeiten.
(We learn German in order to work in Germany.)

Why is die Chance in the accusative case?

nutzen is a transitive verb—it takes a direct object. Direct objects in German are in the accusative case. Since Chance is feminine, its accusative form remains die Chance (nominative die, accusative die).

Why does the infinitive spielen have zu?

In German subordinate infinitive clauses (like those introduced by um), the verb appears in its zu + infinitive form. That’s why zu precedes spielen here: um draußen zu spielen.

Why is draußen spelled with ß instead of ss?

German orthography rules dictate that after long vowels and diphthongs (like the “au” in draußen), you write ß rather than ss. The sound is [aʊs], and because “au” is considered long/diphthongal, it’s draußen.

What’s the difference between die Chance and die Gelegenheit?

They are near-synonyms and both mean “opportunity” or “chance.”

• die Chance is a loanword from French/English and is common in everyday and business language.
• die Gelegenheit is pure German and might feel a bit more formal or neutral.
  In most contexts you can use either:
  Wir nutzen die Chance …
  Wir nutzen die Gelegenheit …

Could you change the word order in the purpose clause? For example, um zu spielen draußen?

No. In an um … zu clause the typical order is:
um + [adverbial element] + zu + [infinitive verb]
Putting draußen after zu spielen (um zu spielen draußen) is unidiomatic and generally considered incorrect. The adverbial draußen should come before zu: um draußen zu spielen.