zur

Zur is a contraction in the German language formed from zu der. It is used before feminine singular nouns in the dative case to express direction toward or to a place, equivalent to “to the” in English. The corresponding form for masculine or neuter nouns is zum, from zu dem; contractions like zur and zum occur only in their respective gendered contexts.

In usage, zur appears in everyday speech and writing whenever the dative feminine article der is involved. For example: Ich gehe zur Schule (I am going to the school). Another common phrase is Ich stehe Ihnen zur Verfügung (I am at your disposal). Set phrases such as zur Verfügung, zur Sicherheit, and zur Zeit show zur embedded in longer expressions, where it remains a functional contraction rather than a separate word.

Phonology and orthography are straightforward: zur is written as a single word and is capitalized only when it starts a sentence. It is a productive part of German grammar and appears across signs, instructions, and narratives where a feminine noun in the dative case follows the preposition zu.

Beyond its grammatical use, zur can also appear as part of proper names or in contexts outside standard German grammar, where its meaning is not related to the contraction zu der. In such cases, it is not functioning as the German prepositional contraction.