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I'm struggling with prepositions. What's the meaning of bei uns in this sentence?

Willkommen bei uns zu Hause.

Or another example:

Willkommen bei Twitter.

Why is it not like "Willkommen zu Twitter"?

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    Why should it be? Just because it's "to" in English it doesn't have to be the same in another language. Prepositions don't always translate directly and one of the big challenges is to just learn which one to use for which context. It's a journey that never ends. – Emanuel Jun 26 '15 at 9:18
  • Of course it doesnt have to be.But i try to integrate learning with my logic thats why i asked.İts context but i still dont understand why we dont say ''Wilkommen zu'' it doesnt have the meaning of ''welcome to'' – Bilge Jun 26 '15 at 9:41
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    Well the thing is that there isn't really an answer to the question "Why don't you say it this way"... it's simply because German doesn't. Like... why does English say "welcome to" and not "welcome by"? It's just how it is, is all. – Emanuel Jun 26 '15 at 10:01
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The confusion apparently arises from the fact that, as in the first sentence (Willkommen bei uns zu Hause) you also expect the appearence of zu in Willkommen bei Twitter, because you connect the zu with the English to. Well, that is erroneous: Bei is the preposition there that plays the role of to, whereas zu Hause is just, as a whole, home. And uns only determines whose home.

That said, bei is not the only preposition that can be used with willkommen. See this question for a longer discussion.

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  • Thanks for answer but im a bit confused and look straight and cant get the meaning i think,sorry but if ''uns'' determines whose home why it shouldnt be like ''Wilkommen bei unserem Hause'' why we say ''uns'' and use ''zu'' – Bilge Jun 26 '15 at 11:43
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    It's more we could say here. All of the follwing are possible: Willkommen bei den Scht'is - Willkommen in Stuttgart - Willkommen auf unserer Internetseite - Willkommen zu unserem Kurs - and probably more. – Takkat Jun 26 '15 at 11:49
  • Thank you @Takkat i try to learn German by myself and dont have a friend know German thats why im asking this kind of questions – Bilge Jun 26 '15 at 12:00

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