# How would a native German say I cycle to school? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2023, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958 "2023-01-10T08:00:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/1 "2023-01-10T08:00:46Z")
How would a native German say I cycle to school? Ich fahre mit dem Rad zur Schule? Ich radele zur Schule? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/2 "2023-01-10T08:04:09Z")
Octagon fährt mit dem Fahrrad zur Schule? ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/3 "2023-01-10T08:18:15Z")
Would that be the shortest way to say it. After all there is the verb ‘radeln’. Would it sound weird to use say “Ich radele zur Schule” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/4 "2023-01-10T08:21:14Z")
I’m still wondering why this German cares if you cycle to school? ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/5 "2023-01-10T08:28:13Z")
(No native speaker) I believe it should be: > Ich radle zur Schule. You should leave out the ‘e’ between d and e. An example use in third person: [Österreich radelt zur Schule](https://www.radelt.at/schule) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/6 "2023-01-10T08:43:31Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > Would that be the shortest way to say it Unfamiliar with German, I see, are we? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/7 "2023-01-10T10:14:29Z")
I wonder is that just an Austrian expression since the websites that come up for me are all Austrian. Do Germans use that expression. I have no problem using standard German: “Ich fahre mit dem Fahrrad zur Schule”. I was wondering if there is a shorter, more colloquial expression. Ich bin hier per Rad gekommen. Does that sound weird? ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/8 "2023-01-10T10:46:20Z")
You’re right, it might be an [Austrianism](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Austriazismen) or possibly colloquial German (I wasn’t taught the word). If you want to use German as spoken in Germany I’m not entirely sure, not being a native speaker. To me ‘Fahrrad’ seems too formal, I’d say “Ich fahre mit dem Rad zur Schule” (I go to school by bike). I’d also say that it would depend on the context in which you would say such a sentence (what Cervaise hinted at): is it an answer to the question by which means you go to school, or is the question where you cycle to, or what you’re doing? Depending on the context I’d be inclined to leave out something of the entire sentence, simply saying “Zur Schule”, “Ich fahre Rad” or so. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/9 "2023-01-10T11:19:38Z")
I would say from feeling that “Ich fahre mit dem Fahrrad zur Schule” is the normal way to say as a matter of fact that you use the bicycle to go to school. If you say “Ich radle zur Schule” it sounds in my ears as either: a) you are Austrian or at least from Southern Gemany, or b) you are insisting on the fact that you are using the bicycle (because it is heallthier, or more environmentally correct or whatever, but that is the important part for you). This second option sounds a bit artificial to me. YMMV, regionalisms are sometimes weird and I don’t claim to know them all. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/10 "2023-01-10T11:20:16Z")
Yes. Thanks Tuscan. If the context is known, there’s really no need to add the accusative object ‘zur Schule’. In fact I think you can leave out the article altogether. "Ich fahre mit Rad (zur Schule) if it’s a routine. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/11 "2023-01-10T11:41:41Z")
Just atting @EinsteinsHund and @Schnitte, another couple of native speakers. Duolingo would make me write “Ich fahre mit dem Fahhrad zur Schule.” ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/12 "2023-01-10T11:49:00Z")
I’m a little suspicious of duolingo. I think dropping the article for routine activities is correct. “Ich fahre mit dem Fahhrad zur Schule.” isn’t wrong but dropping the article before Fahrrad/Rad feels nicer and more practical. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/13 "2023-01-10T11:50:21Z")
I’m not a native speaker, but @Pardel-Lux is (I believe), and that’s what they recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/14 "2023-01-10T12:40:15Z")
Mother German, father Spaniard, more or less bilingual, living in Berlin as a professional interpreter, yeah, I guess I have some feeling for the German language. But a subjective one, I do not consider myself an academic linguist. Just a practical one. BTW: I consider “mit dem Rad” or “mit dem Fahrrad” to be practicallly equivalent. Any difference you spot is probably over-interpreted. See → _kopflastig_ 😉 not to be confused with _Kopfsteinpflaster_. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/15 "2023-01-10T12:44:59Z")
It’s funny, because “top heavy” in the US never means “overly intellectual”, but can mean “busty”. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/16 "2023-01-10T12:45:32Z")
Thanks Paradel-Lux. I have no quibble with using Rad or Fahrrad. When trying to use German in conversation I’m just trying to use more native conversational usage. Dropping the article seems more natural if it’s a routine activity. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/17 "2023-01-10T13:16:17Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Just atting @EinsteinsHund and @Schnitte, another couple of native speakers. I’ve got nothing to add to @Pardel-Lux’s contribution, “Ich fahre mit dem Fahrrad/Rad zur Schule” is the universal translation, and “Ich radle zur Schule” is equivalent, but rather a Southern German/Austrian variant. What I don’t quite understand is what @Octagon means with dropping the article. Which article? “Ich fahre mit Fahrrad/Rad zur Schule” would be plain wrong. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/18 "2023-01-10T13:30:18Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “Ich fahre mit Fahrrad/Rad zur Schule” would be plain wrong. Why “zur” and not “nach der”? Just curious, because I get those wrong all the time. Just a preposition thing? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/19 "2023-01-10T13:36:41Z")
Yeah, just a question of the proper preposition. Many people would colloquially say “nach der Schule”, but it’s wrong and sounds uneducated. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958/20 "2023-01-10T13:43:04Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > What I don’t quite understand is what @Octagon means with dropping the article. Which article? “Ich fahre mit Fahrrad/Rad zur Schule” would be plain wrong. It just occured to me that there is a way to drop the article: “Ich fahre _per_ Rad zur Schule”. This is perfectly cromulent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-native-german-say-i-cycle-to-school/977958.md?page=2)