zu

Meanings

1.

to, toward

(For most destinations that you DON'T enter. The main groups are people and brand names. Note that you can well use it for places that you can enter, but then the focus is that you don't really go inside.)

How useful:

Opposite (closest): von

2.

closed

(By FAR the standard and way more common than "geschlossen")

How useful:

Opposite (closest): auf

3.

for

(In the sense of something serving a purpose)

How useful:

Examples

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My Articles

When to use "zu" or "um zu"

A thorough look at the difference between "zu" and "um zu" and a quick test to find out which one to use. All as funny video, and as a more detailed text :)

"einkaufen gehen" - Why is there no "zu"

The Preposition "zu" Explained

A thorough look at the German preposition 'zu' - what's its core idea, how does it work as a prefix and which verbs and phrases want "zu" as a preposition.

Vocab:

zu, zugeben, zuhaben, zu sein, zugehen, zuhören, zumachen

The Preposition "zu" Explained - Part 2

In the second part, we'll go over zu-infinitives, zu and verbs and zu in comparisons. With lots of audio examples and a bit of fun.

Word Family

Root:
unknown (or not yet entered)

Questions and Comments

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With the pronunciation tool, you can check how well you pronounce a word or sentence. It uses an AI system that is being developed by EF languages for that purpose. The AI takes your input, and compares it to how a native speaker would sound. Then, it gives you feedback for each word and the sentence as a whole.

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You put in a word or sentence or load and example from the site. Then you hit record to start and again to stop. You'll then get feedback on how you did, for each individual word and in total. The AI grades sound, emphasis and rhythm. The recording is limited to 20 seconds and will stop automatically.

How do I know what to improve if I got a low score

That's beyond what an automatic system like this can do. It's not a tool to perfect your pronunciation. It's more about giving you a rough estimate and giving you the option to actually speak. But to really iron out mistakes, you need feedback from a native speaker.

My results vary a lot

Quite a bit depends on the quality of your microphone. If there's a lot of noise around you, the AI will struggle with that. Also, the AI does better with sentences. For short words, it's not as good. Lastly, the AI is still being developed and struggles with some important words.

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