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I got confused by using both bis and zu there,

Why it's "bis zum nächsten Mal"?

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up vote 6 down vote accepted

Some prepositions are used in combination with others. The construction bis zu is used with Dativ (3rd grammar case).

Bis zum (= contraction of zu and dem) nächsten Mal.

There are examples for combined prepositions in English too:

up to, as far as, due to, as for, ...

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I see, and the confusion is more cause of the English expression "till next time". the translation would be something like "till to the next time" sounds odd to my ears. – user508 Jul 17 '11 at 13:54
@Gigili: To me, "Bis zu dem nächsten Mal" sounds almost as odd as "till to the next time". Only with the contraction "zum" it sounds natural. – Hendrik Vogt Jul 17 '11 at 13:57
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This might be obvious, but note that "bis nächstes Mal" is also valid. – miracle2k Aug 8 '11 at 0:36

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